Character counts, the
case against Bill Cowher:
Saturday shut the book on William Laird Cowher.� That has nothing to do with the game result; it has everything to do with Mr. Cowher�s tantrum at the close.� While running down the officials to excoriate them rather than coming to mid-field to congratulate Jeff Fisher on a well-deserved win, Mr. Cowher revealed that his deficiencies as a coach arise strictly from his deficiencies of character.�
We saw a great game that day; five lead changes, impact plays on both sides of the ball, courage on both sides of the field.� We saw the Steelers compete, despite their battered state coming in; we saw the Titans adjust to leveling in-game injuries to Eddie George and Zach Pillar.� Finally, we saw the Steelers sink under the weight of their substandard secondary, especially those zero-sum safeties; this was their problem from Game 1 and this is what sealed their fate.
It was a great game; better it didn�t end on a call that, while legit, could easily have been no call at all but then again, that went both ways.� Surely, the Titans had a beef about the Schulters play when, as was obvious that safety did all he could to avoid a helmet-on hit with Hines; maybe, they had a beef on the Haynesworth call when that man corkscrewed Amoz down after a whistle which, in the heat of action, could have been inaudible to him.� There were debatable calls both ways; either these cancelled or they didn�t but finally, the Steelers lost on merit.� Aside from their overtime failures on both defense and special teams, their offense had their last shot in regulation at mid-field but couldn�t get it in.
Playing (as he might say) the �blame game� at the end, Mr. Cowher demonstrated that he lacks the emotional maturity that many of his players (notably T-Max and Ward) demonstrated post-game.� That so, he is, on the face of it, ill suited to lead those men.� Blaming others is kid stuff; Saturday, whatever poise he might possess simply blew away to reveal the bullyboy below Bill Cowher�s so-cool sideline pose.��
Maybe the tough-guy stuff plays in the locker room but maybe not.� Sunday morning, the NY Times carried this quote, from former Steeler Levon Kirkland.� Kirkland was speaking in praise of Eagles coach Andy Reid when he said:
�� You want a coach who is consistent, not someone who won�t talk to you when things are bad and tries to give you kisses when things are good.�
Kirk has spent less than a year with Reid; he spent one season with Mike Holmgren; he spent nine with Bill Cowher.� Of the latter two, which do you think was the root of his comparison to Reid, the notably undemonstrative Holmgren or our own Stewart-smooching HC?
Poise under pressure separates leaders from those they lead, or should anyway.� Perspective provides poise but in Nashville, Mr. Cowher revealed his too-narrow limit.� A proper perspective would have placed this game as a segment of human endeavor constrained by the rituals of sport.� Those include placing congratulation when that is due and, surely, that was the case Saturday.� The Titans played hard, they played well enough to win; Mr. Cowher should have acknowledged that fact before turning his attention to the officials but he did not.�
This failure of perspective contrasts sharply with that demonstrated by the Titan leadership when, a couple months ago, Coach Fisher came with several of his players to visit then partially-paralyzed Tommy Maddox in his hospital bed.� You could say that showed class; you could say that showed compassion; both are true in my view.� Beyond that, it showed a depth of character and it is that depth into which the Titans dipped repeatedly this season in rising from their 1-4 opening to the brink of a championship.� Breadth of vision or depth of soul, whichever; either place the game as a fractional portion of existence and, by so doing, permit far broader reserves to come into play on any game day.
Precisely, those are the kind of forces that commend Maddox and Ward; precisely, the lack of same condemns Mr. Cowher.�� The arrogance that caused the Steelers to stand pat secondary-wise this winter despite the warning shot out of Cin-City in Game 15 last year; the opacity that caused the Steelers to exit the tunnel ill-prepared to deal with the Raider O-side this year in Game 2; the constant failures to adjust against quality opponents in-game or at the half; all these are of a single piece.�� From all appearances, William Laird Cowher exists solely on the surface of events, grinning when things are going good but otherwise sputtering.� Meanwhile, those formative factors that exist do so beyond his scope and, until that somehow broadens, a championship shall remain just that far beyond his grasp.��
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