By Mike Kahn
CBS SportsLine Executive Editor
Sept. 23, 1998

Contrary to popular belief, Bill Cowher has a sense of humor about his rather confrontational personality. He has crafted and nurtured this flaming approach for all 41 years of his life -- the last seven as the guy who replaced Chuck Noll as coach of the Pittsburgh Steelers.

So don't even begin to think he stole that toughness from Noll or any other football coach. And while he might not be angry at the moment ... don't blink. This is just the way he works.

"No (this has nothing to do with anybody else), it's just me," Cowher said. "At home, I'm certainly a father of three, a husband to my wife. Even then, I'm not one who hides emotions. But even then, I'd say it's a lot more love at home than you see the screaming on the sideline."

WE CAN ONLY HOPE HE'S NOT the same guy at home, unless he and his wife, Kaye, a former professional basketball player, are playing one-on-one in the driveway. Another popular story is how neighbors would gather to watch the elbows and tempers fly. He met Kaye, a basketball star at North Carolina State, when he was a linebacker there, and their mutual intensity adds more than a few sparks to the neighborhood.

Still,

Bill Cowher is 71-39 so far as coach of the Steelers. (AP)

basketball with Kaye and the kids tends to be for fun. Football? That's a different story.

It was exactly a year ago Tuesday that he nearly tackled Chris Hudson on Monday Night Football when Hudson was racing down the sideline with a blocked field goal on the last play of the game, clinching a 30-21 victory for Jacksonville over Pittsburgh. Right in front of the camera, the restraint he forced upon himself was easily the most emotional shot of the game.

His pronounced jaw and explosive temper have become mythical as the Steelers have fashioned a 71-39 (.645) record in his first head coaching job.

Nonetheless, following last week's 21-0 loss at Miami, Cowher was perceived as treating the team as if it were 0-3 rather than 2-1. It's all a matter of perspective, says quarterback Kordell Stewart.

"It all starts with the head coach," Stewart said. "We know we have to play better and it's his job to tell us that. It helps a lot because you always know what to expect from him, and the rest of the team feels it. You can sense that and it makes the team get stronger as the season goes on. Everybody knows where they stand."

Or sit, which ever the case may be.

IF NOTHING ELSE, THE ABILITY OF the Steelers to continuously dominate the AFC Central and compete for the AFC title every year despite losing players and coaches to more money on an annual basis is a testimony to Cowher's talent, if not resolve.

"I've never been one to talk about myself, it's something I'll let other people assess," Cowher said. "The only thing I try to do is be very up front with players, be very up front with people. The thing is everybody kind of knows where they stand. The thing is, if people understand what you expect from them and they know what their role will be, while they may not like it, I think they can respect you."

It is that fine line that is the difference between loving and loathing a coach that has been the difference for Cowher. As the Steelers enter this week's game against the Seattle Seahawks, they are once again starting off slugglishly because of an off-season of transition. They have been 2-2 in four of their first six seasons under Cowher.

Traditionally, they get better as the year progresses, as the Cowher intensity and focus swallows the transition. This year's offensive struggles can be attributed immediately to the loss of offensive coordinator Chan Gailey, now coach of the Dallas Cowboys.

"I'd like to think that's not the case, but there is a degree of accuracy to (that) statement because you have new faces and you have new people involved in integral parts of what you're trying to do," Cowher said. "It's a lot different from the preseason to the regular season. You get to the regular season and all of a sudden, the bullets are starting to fly.

"It does take some time to get acclimated. It does take some time to get a feel for one another, both on and off the field. There is a period of transition. The fortunate thing at this point is we're sitting here at 2-1, and a lot of people feel like we could be 0-3. But the facts are that we're not, we're 2-1, and what we've got to do again (is) not dwell on where we were, but the direction we need to go."

HE WAS GETTING EXCITED, OF COURSE. Once you get Bill Cowher going, he tingles with energy. It doesn't take a soothsayer to figure out what position the Pittsburgh native played ...

Time's up. Linebacker ... and designated special teams maniac. For three years, he played for the Cleveland Browns (1980-82), then two more with the Philadelphia Eagles (1983-84). Cowher's size and speed limitations became apparent, even to him, and his playing career ended. A fellow Pittsburgh native, Marty Schottenheimer, hired him immediately as special teams coach of the Browns at the age of 28. He graduated to secondary coach in his third season and moved with Schottenheimer to Kansas City in 1989 as a 32-year-old defensive coordinator/linebackers coach.

Three years later, the Steelers hired him to replace Noll, and they won the division with an 11-5 record.

Nobody has bemoaned the retirement of Noll since.

The big deal really was when the Steelers president decided on Cowher instead of Dave Wannstedt, who has been languishing ever since with the Chicago Bears.

"Dave's a good guy, and I thought he'd be good for the Bears," Rooney told reporters at the time. "But we're very pleased with Bill, obviously. Bill's perfect for here. It was a good move."

A move nobody in Western Pennsylvania will ever forget. It's the way of the region. Noll, Chuck Knox, Joe Namath, Joe Montana, Dan Marino ... the list goes on forever. But this Cowher character, he's in a class by himself as a coach.

"It's a process that happens over a period of time," Cowher said. "People may hear what you're saying, but how much they believe it ... that does take time. Trust takes time. Relationships take time. I think it's built over a period of time and getting the right kind of people."

In other words, those who listen. As for those who don't ... they'd better duck.