Bill Cowher

Texans need Cowher Ken Murray Baltimore Sun ESPN's Chris Mortensen reported that Bill Cowher has a wish list of three teams — the Texans, Dolphins and Giants. Of the preferred three, the Texans are best situated to make a rapid rise. Their offense is top-notch, though their defense is not. But Cowher knows defense. The Dolphins are the team that Bill Parcells built — and abandoned when he saw it wasn't going to work. The Dolphins have no quarterback.

FORT WORTH, Texas — Facing third-and-6 at the Jets' 40 with 2 minutes left in the AFC championship game they led 24-19, the Steelers made a call that reminded us why Mike Tomlin was the one making it. Instead of running the clock down to put the game in the hands of the NFL's fiercest defense, the Steelers dared to fail. Ben Roethlisberger dropped back, scrambled to buy time and completed a nifty 14-yard pass to unproven rookie Antonio Brown . "We weren't going to play not to lose," Tomlin said.

Despite the final results of 2007, in announcing the Ravens would seek a new coach, owner Steve Bisciotti left the definite impression that he feels his team is closer to the top of the NFL dog pile than it is the bottom. "I believe we have the nucleus of a team that can get back to the Super Bowl," he said earlier this week. If that's the case - if Bisciotti thinks success is right around the corner and not along the horizon - the Ravens might not have as many options in their coaching search as they're letting on. In fact, among the six-pack of candidates the search apparently has focused on, only a couple inspire the confidence they can take the current roster and produce immediate results.

Texans need Cowher Ken Murray Baltimore Sun ESPN's Chris Mortensen reported that Bill Cowher has a wish list of three teams — the Texans, Dolphins and Giants. Of the preferred three, the Texans are best situated to make a rapid rise. Their offense is top-notch, though their defense is not. But Cowher knows defense. The Dolphins are the team that Bill Parcells built — and abandoned when he saw it wasn't going to work. The Dolphins have no quarterback.

TEMPE, Ariz. -- It was midway in the third quarter of the game against the Buffalo Bills when Pittsburgh Steelers defensive Ray Seals was involved in a shoving match with quarterback Jim Kelly and one of his overly protective linemen.But as soon as Seals reached the Pittsburgh sideline, that's when the real fight began. Steelers coach Bill Cowher stood on his toes and began screaming in Seals' face.The veins were bulging from Cowher's neck, and the spit was flowing from his mouth. Cowher has never been able to control his emotions, or his saliva.

Good morning -- Bill Cowher -- After 15 years, time to kiss those helmets goodbye.

THE TOP FIVE 1 Titans (13-2) Re-established control in AFC. 2 Steelers (11-4) Too many high-wire acts. 3 Colts (11-4) Must play outdoors this postseason. 4 Giants (12-3) Play them or sit them? 5 Panthers (11-4) Run defense shredded by Giants. THE BOTTOM FIVE 28 Bengals (3-11-1) Too little, too late. 29 Browns (4-11) Is Bill Cowher on deck? 30 Chiefs (2-13) Decision due on Tyler Thigpen. 31 Rams (2-13) Bill Devaney takes over. 32 Lions (0-15) Who cares more in Green Bay today?

CENTRAL%Division predictionThe Pittsburgh Steelers and Cleveland Browns are virtually seeded into the playoffs because both are likely to sweep the other three teams in the division -- Houston, Cincinnati and Jacksonville.1. Pittsburgh Steelers:1994 record: Won division with a 12-4 mark, lost AFC title game to San Diego.Coach: Bill Cowher (33-19).Key additions: OL Tom Newberry, RB Erric Pegram, CB Alvoid Mays and TE Mark Bruener.Key losses: TE Eric Green, OL Duval Love, RB Barry Foster, DL Gerald Williams and DB Gary Jones.

Good morning --Bill Cowher -- Looking for a healthy quarterback to face the Ravens? We hear Kordell's available. THEY SAID IT "Defending Nextel Cup champ Kurt Busch was suspended after cops stopped him for reckless driving and suspicion of DUI. Wait. Let me get this straight. Drinking ... reckless driving ... I thought that was NASCAR!" Greg Cote The Miami Herald "I guess I trained him pretty well." Gary Dobry Former boxing coach of Olin Kreutz, who broke the jaw of Chicago Bears teammate Fred Miller in a fight Question of the day What is college football's greatest rivalry?

As he walked past the four Super Bowl trophies that glisten under a spotlight just outside his office, Pittsburgh Steelers coach Bill Cowher decided something was missing.A fifth trophy.Call it the confidence of youth, but Cowher obviously isn't intimidated about replacing Chuck Noll, who won more games than all but four coaches in NFL history.Cowher, who signed a four-year contract yesterday, is the NFL's second-youngest head coach at age 34 (the Cincinnati Bengals' David Shula is 32) and is only the second Steelers coach in the past quarter-century.

It isn't easy to get Brian Billick to sit down. He hasn't missed a beat since he was replaced as Ravens coach after the 2007 season, moving into a television analyst role with Fox, writing a well-received behind-the-scenes book about the NFL ("More Than a Game") and — for no more than a couple of days a week during the football season — enjoying life at his picturesque riverside home on Maryland's Eastern Shore. He's a busy guy, but on the occasion of the 10th anniversary of the greatest season in Ravens history, he invited The Sun's Peter Schmuck into his home for an extended conversation about the 2000 regular season, the playoffs and the Ravens' 34-7 victory over the New York Giants in the Super Bowl.

Kaye Cowher , the wife of ex-Steelers coach Bill Cowher and a former basketball player at North Carolina State and in the now-defunct Women's Professional Basketball League, has died of skin cancer. She was 54. Cowher died Friday in her native North Carolina, where the family relocated at her urging during Cowher's final year as coach in 2006, one season after the Steelers won the Super Bowl. The family had lived in Raleigh since. The Cowhers met at North Carolina State, where Bill played linebacker.

THE TOP FIVE 1 Titans (13-2) Re-established control in AFC. 2 Steelers (11-4) Too many high-wire acts. 3 Colts (11-4) Must play outdoors this postseason. 4 Giants (12-3) Play them or sit them? 5 Panthers (11-4) Run defense shredded by Giants. THE BOTTOM FIVE 28 Bengals (3-11-1) Too little, too late. 29 Browns (4-11) Is Bill Cowher on deck? 30 Chiefs (2-13) Decision due on Tyler Thigpen. 31 Rams (2-13) Bill Devaney takes over. 32 Lions (0-15) Who cares more in Green Bay today?

In the day's biggest upset, it took nearly 30 minutes before a message board poster first posited: Maybe the Ravens should hire Joe Gibbs. Such is the nature of the 21st-century coaching search. While owners and team executives embark on meticulous searches, fans make their dream hires by pulling names from a hat. Or elsewhere. No, Gibbs, who resigned his position yesterday as Washington Redskins coach, isn't heading this way, but the more intriguing question in these parts is this: How will the Ravens' hunt for a new coach be affected by a parallel search just an hour down the road?

Despite the final results of 2007, in announcing the Ravens would seek a new coach, owner Steve Bisciotti left the definite impression that he feels his team is closer to the top of the NFL dog pile than it is the bottom. "I believe we have the nucleus of a team that can get back to the Super Bowl," he said earlier this week. If that's the case - if Bisciotti thinks success is right around the corner and not along the horizon - the Ravens might not have as many options in their coaching search as they're letting on. In fact, among the six-pack of candidates the search apparently has focused on, only a couple inspire the confidence they can take the current roster and produce immediate results.

The Ravens' search committee engaged in an all-day meeting yesterday to discuss potential coaching candidates. While team officials aren't about to mention possible successors to Brian Billick, they do have one prediction. "I think that any potential head coach that looks at Ozzie Newsome's history of drafting Pro Bowl players and sees the Pro Bowlers [already on the team] ...

SEATTLE -- About the only thing Bill Parcells and Mike Holmgren appear to have in common are long coaching careers and Super Bowl wins. But don't completely believe what you see. Parcells is the iconic, 65-year-old Dallas Cowboys coach who has a 19-year NFL head-coaching pedigree built upon rugged defenses. His reputation is also rugged, hardened by coaching both New York teams for a combined 11 years. Parcells is irascible, often caustic, to inquisitors - many, he believes, try to "antagonize" him. "A legend," is what Holmgren calls his self-described friend on the eve of their first postseason meeting since the Super Bowl in January 1997.