Bill Belichick snubbed CBS after loss then got ripped by Shannon Sharpe
Grouch
Bill Belichick may not be a poor sport, but he plays one on TV. The New England Patriots coach continued his long history of petulant behavior when he declined an interview with CBS following his team’s loss to the Baltimore Ravens in the AFC championship.
During the network’s postgame show, host James Brown told viewers that sideline reporter Steve Tasker had requested an interview with Belichick, but that the coach declined. The Patriots sent out third-year safety Devin McCourty instead, which is like asking for an interview with the president and getting Joe Biden’s secretary.
When CBS cut back to its studio set after the brief chat with McCourty, analyst Shannon Sharpe was seething.
There’s something to be said about being gracious in defeat. We’ve seen the New England Patriots five times in the last 12 years be victorious. And we’ve seen the opposing coaches that lost come out and speak to our Steve Tasker. Coach [Bill] Cowher [who was sitting next to Sharpe] did it when they lost. We saw this last week. Bill Belichick makes it very easy for you to root against the Patriots. You can’t be a poor sport all the time. You’re not going to win every time. And he does this every time he loses. It is unacceptable.
Bill Cowher says he’ll be an NFL coach again
The Chin
Ever since Bill Cowher rode off into the sunset, we’ve been wondering when he’ll return to coaching in the NFL.
Nearly six full seasons later, Cowher is still retired. So will he ever return to the sidelines?
“Yes,” Cowher told Newsday
Given his plethora of NFL experience, winning pedigree and a Super Bowl title to his credit, it stands to reason that any team that eventually lands Cowher would put itself in a great situation. However, it’s been so long since he’s coached, and the NFL landscape has changed so much in that time, you have to wonder if he’ll be able to acclimate upon his eventual return.
Cowher, though, sees this as a “non-issue,” citing that he’s still on top of his game just by serving a CBS studio analyst.
“I did it for 27 years. You don’t just forget things overnight,” Cowher said. “One thing about this job is it’s been really good, because it allows me to study the game and do features on the game. I want to know what I’m talking about, so I’m watching tape. It’s not like I’m out of it. I know how the game is changing.”
Bill Cowher Has Turned Down At Least 3 NFL Teams
The Chin
At least three NFL teams have called CBS analysts and Super Bowl winning head coach Bill Cowher with coaching offers this season only to be turned down. Cower was on the Dan Patrick Show today and, with Bonnie Bernstein subbing as host, was asked whether his coaching offers were over or under two.
Cowher laughed, then said, “Oh, it’s over,” while not specifying which teams were interested.
As for coming back after a five-season hiatus from the coaching ranks as an analyst for CBS, Cowher added:
“I don’t know if I’ve ever been that ready, honestly . . . Let me tell you, if there’s any doubt, then there’s no doubt you’re not ready to come back. You have to be all in to take that job.”
Cowher acknowledged miss some aspects of his 15-year tenure as head coach of the Pittsburgh Steelers, but said:
“That’s all I did my whole life. Right now I have a chance to have an offseason, a chance to do some traveling and do some things I’ve never had a chance to do before, and to be honest with you I’m enjoying that . But with CBS I’m still able to be part of the game, watching the game, watch it evolve, still be somewhat on the inside, but it’s not the all-encompassing part of it.”
Entire CBS Crew Tebows After Denver Broncos Win
Jesus I'm Rolling With You
Just a week ago, it seemed the Tim Tebow craze was perhaps dying down, but after this overtime playoff win over Pittsburgh Steelers you can rest assured it’s going to be bigger than ever.
Following the Denver Broncos improbable victory over the Steelers, the members of the CBS studio crew didn’t go into specifics in describing the team’s chances against the New England Patriots next weekend. Instead, they chose just Tebow’d.
That’s right Emmy winning James Brown, Hall of Famers Dan Marino, Shannon Sharpe, Super Bowl winning head coach Bill Cowher and former Pro Bowl quarterback Boomer Esiason all Tebow’d.
TV Gig Maybe Permanent For Bill Cowher
The Chin
CBS football anaylst Bill Cowher squashed speculation on CBS pregame show yesterday that he is entertaining leaving the studio desk for NFL sidelines.
“I do not plan on coaching next year.…I plan on being back in the same seat next year.” The ex-Pittsburgh Steelers coach suggested he might stay in TV permanently: “That’s a distinct possibility. I like the fact that what we do is about the game. There’s no froufrou about it.…We give insight, and compared to other (TV) stations, we talk about the game.”
CBS Sports Chairman Sean McManus says he wasn’t surprised by Cowher’s announcement. “I talk to him all the time. I knew right now that for his lifestyle, he wants to be a broadcaster.…He’s become an integral part of the (on-air) team in every way.”
Like ESPN recently signing Jon Gruden to a new five-year deal, McManus says Cowher knows CBS wants him for the long run. “Coach knows we want him here for a long time. We won’t have any issues for completing a contract for as long as he wants to be here.”
He said he made his announcement Sunday because such speculation “affects the lives of many people that are in the (coaching) profession.” As well in today’s media world it has a chance of taking a life of its own if he didn’t address it.
Bill Cowher Is “Holding Out” For The New York Giants Job
Simply Known As The Chin
Bill Cowher has gone another season of not accepting an opening to be once again a head coach in the NFL, making it now three years since he stepped away from the game. Accorrding to his former player Jerome Bettis he says the reason that Cowher hasn’t returned to coach is because he’s “holding out” for the New York Giants job to open up. In fact, he told Chris “Mad Dog” Russo today on Sirius XM’s Mad Dog Radio that Cowher would have gotten the Giants’ job in 2008 if Tom Coughlin hadn’t taken the Giants on that magical, Super Bowl XLII run.
“That’s the team that he really coveted,” Bettis said. “This is where he always wanted to be. The Mara family, he’s been very close to them. … He’s known them very well and was on the inside track — before the Giants won the Super Bowl — for that job. And I think he’s holding out for that opportunity if it presents itself.”
Bettis has previously said that Cowher will make sure his new team has a franchise quarterback with whom he can work because Cowher endured the inconsistencies of a franchise without steady quarterback play in Kordell Stewart and Tommy Maddox.
Watch your back Tom.
Entire Coaching Staff Fired From Buffalo Bills
That's A Clean House
The Buffalo Bills have fired all of their coaching staff which includes longtime assistant special teams/assistant head coach Bobby April.
It’s unclear of interim coach Perry Fewell is still interviewing for the head coach position, but the latest news out of Orchard Park is that former Steelers coach Bill Cowher has already held a meeting with Bills ownership.
Buffalo Bills Want Charlie Weis To Be Their Head Coach?
I Can See It
With Mike Holgrem now in Cleavland as the teams preseident and Mike Shanahan’s name pretty much cemented by Redskins fans as their head coach and Bill Cowher’s name already being attached to an non-vacant spot in Tampa Bay where do the Buffalo Bills turn?
Well according to WIVB-TV in Buffalo, the Bills have contacted former University of Notre Dame former coach Charlie Weis to be their new head coach. Sources says that the Bills made a back-channel approach to Weis to see if he’s interested in the job and the two sides have had a formal discussion about the Bills coaching job. The Bills thought about hiring Weis back in 2004 as their head coach but eventually hired Mike Mularkey.
Weis was fired at Notre Dame after five years and a 35-27 record. His Fighting Irish finished 6-6 in 2009 , ending a three-year run that saw them win 16-games and lose 21. Before his tenure at Notre Dame, Weis spent five years as Offensive Coordinator for the New England Patriots. He served on the staffs of Bill Belichick and Bill Parcells in the NFL.
