By David HaughESPN's NFL insider John Clayton today shot down reports that members of the Bears management or ownership team have reached out to former Steelers coach Bill Cowher.
Appearing on WMVP-AM (1000) this afternoon, Clayton said he spoke to somebody close to Cowher minutes before going on the air and got their reaction to the report.
"And that is 100 percent inaccurate -- no reaching out to Bill Cowher and no reaching out to Bill Cowher representatives, friends or anything of that nature,'' Clayton said. "And Bill has made it known that he doesn't want to affect any current coach, whether it is an interim coach or a head coach, who is under a contract until the end of the season because he wants to be true to all the coaches that are currently coaching. There is no contact or illusion of a contact.''
Photo: Bill Cowher led the Steelers to victory in Super Bowl XL. (Gene Puskar/AP)
Clayton added that in the unlikely event Lovie Smith was fired, Cowher would be interested.
"But in the end there hasn't happened or anything that would give him any indication that he would be contacted," Clayton said.
"But in the end there hasn't happened or anything that would give him any indication that he would be contacted," Clayton said.
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Bill Parcells GM and Coach great history where he goes
Bill Cowher Coach
Mike Holgrem GM and Coach in the steps of Bill Walsh
Boy I can't think of a better gift for Xmas than for us to get Cowher to coach in Chicago. He has FORGOTTEN more about smash mouth football than any coach we've had since "Da Coach".
Look this isn't rocket science, you go hard, you HIT hard, you strike first and fastest, and you keep pounding them until they fold up and then you stomp them into the dirt. THAT is how pro football is played, and any team that thinks they can "Out Finesse" their opponents are gonna end up just like Chicago sooner or later.
Cowher? Yeah, DO that.
regarding the gruden espn contract situation... does everyone here really think any former nfl head coach that has an agent and signs onto deals with the likes of espn, fox, cbs does NOT have an out clause in said contract to return to coaching if they have an offer?
Is John Clayton really the illegitimate love child of Wally Cox and Phyllis Diller? Inquiring minds want to know!
Who cares what Mr. Peepers has to say. He is drunk with envy.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gdzPDN68gMQ
Bill Cowher doesn't need to go thru that dude.
back up the truck and go with youth and begin anew,with a sprinkling of (proven) veterans,bring in jim harbough,as he would be eager show his coaching talents,as his past efforts to do so as a quarterback for the bears, and his misfortune of having to deal with a ego inflated coach like ditka limited him.and more importantly, hope for a change of ownership to someone who truly gives a damn about the bears history,provided by halas...even older packer fans remember
that without halas and the bears,green bay could have never kept their team...
I believe Hub's info a lot more than that weasel John Cayton.
While I like Cowher for his toughness, Gruden was run out of Tampa. Why would we want him? Look at how well the Bears-Bucs relationship has worked for us... Lovie,Gaines Adams, Marinilli,Angelo.
How about someone like Leslie Frazier? Former Bears players like Singeltary, Rivera and Jeff Fisher have proven to be great coaches. Imagine what we could have had, Singeltary as a head coach and Rivera as a defensive coordinator! Frazier would bring the Bears tradition as well as weakening a divison rival.
I would absolutely love to see a veteran coach come to Chicago next year. But Lovie isnt our only problem. Not even Cowher could win withthe losers Jerry Angelo put together. My suggestion is to fire them all and go get Shannahan and give him GM and Head Coach duties. Will this happen? Probably not. If I had to guess, we will still have Lovie and Jerry next year and have a lot of stop gap aging veterans again, and probably finish somewhere around 5-11 AGAIN!! But we might have some draft picks at that point unless Jerry wants to trade them for BUSTS one more time.
One thing that seems to get ignored here in Chicago is that EVERY great QB had a great or at least very good QB coach, O coordinator or offensively minded head coach that they learned under. Pep Hamilton and Turner are both marginal at best.
"Have Cowher or Shanny as a head coach and bring in Gruden as a QB coach. "
Like another poster stated already, Gruden signed an extension with ESPN. He is not coaching anywhere next season. Even if he did want to coach, why in the world would he want to be a QB coach for any team, especially the Bears??? He could be a head coach with a number of teams. There is no way he would take that kind of demotion.
When was the last time the Bears hired a head coach with experience? If they get rid of Lovie they will hire an assistant. To think anything else goes against their entire history. And yet the media and fans fall for this big name coach hype every time.
Yeah, let's see who we should trust - ESPN and their machine of self-promotion, or a group that has been devoted to NFL Football for 40+ years? I can't tell you how many times ESPN is scooped by the NFL Network or Yahoo sports (yahoo for crying out loud!).
Now, do I think the Bears are going to blatantly ask Cowher (or one of "his guys") if he's interested during the season? No, because that would be perceived poorly (almost as poorly as the botched Dave McGinnis hiring). But I wouldn't be surprised if someone mused "I wonder if so-and-so might be interested, just in case we had to do something....hey Fred, next time you talk to so-and-so's friend, maybe you can ask him whether he thinks his pal is looking to get back in the game or not". I don't think it was a direct inquiry, and I'm sure Cowher is covering his own butt in saying that no one asked, in part because no-one officially did ask. But unofficially, if I'm trying to see if you'd like a new job, I don't need to ask you - usually your friends can tell me whether you're satisfied in your current job or not. And that's what I think went down. That's why they call them "feelers" - no direct question was asked, which gives Cowher "plausible deniability". And that's what the alleged "sports leader" is holding to - Cowher can deny that he's been contacted.
Remember, ESPN is the same network that keeps force-feeding us Chris Berman and his "rumblin' stumblin' bumblin'" lines and bad name puns, Tony Kornheiser, and Jay Mariotti. How credible can they really flippin' be?
It would be refreshing, in a way, to see Cowher grab Urlacher or Cutler or any Bear for that matter, by the jersey and scream in their face that they screwed up. The stone with eyes, Lovie, just stands ther wirh a vacent look on his face.
What does John Clayton know?
He has never provided information of this type to begin with.
what do expect cowher to say? yes, we've had talks. he is a classy guy. he is not going to be public about this. I believe %100 he was contacted. john clayton is a clown.
what do expect cowher to say? yes, we've had talks. he is a classy guy. he is not going to be public about this. I believe %100 he was contacted. john clayton is a clown.
Gruden is not going to coach! He just signed a new contract with ESPN.
Have Cowher or Shanny as a head coach and bring in Gruden as a QB coach. He used to be a QB coach back then so perhaps he can help Jay Cutler rebuild his confidence after being tamed by Ron Turner.
Man, am I the only one wanting to give Lovie a break. Angelo is the problem. How is this guy not getting more heat than lovie.
I just watched Lovie's video on Chicagobears.com explaining how we will lose to the Rams. Can we please get a coach that wants to win instead of rubbing necks and making excuses on their poor performance? I will not buy any more Bear's gear until will get a coach that wants to win!
Shanahan is my first choice but Cowher is a close second.
Wouldn't it be amazing if the Pit front office came with him?
Any chance of getting a family member to replace Michael McCheapsky?
Virginia are you sleeeeeepinnnnnnng?
WAKE UP VIRGINIA!
I know you wont get rid of your son BUT AT LEAST GET RID OF PHILLIPS, ANGELO, LOVIE & TURNER!
Virginia time to come out of hibernation!
Okay, so Cowher will wait until a present coach is fired before actually talking to a team...FIIIIIIIRE LOVIE NOW!! And true, Gruden is also a good alternative, and he may come up cheaper. And oh yeah....FIIIIIIII-RE LOVIE NOW!! I would love to see a NEW SHERIFF in-town to clean up the Beartown CRAP!
There's some progress in Chicago! Now your clock is 10 minutes FAST... Can't someone innoculate this fast time into all the Bears players?
You're right about Hillenmeyer but what spoils his efforts is the lame attempt at faking a blitz (which doesn't worry the Vikings one bit) then, trying to cover trhe middle of the field 15 yards downfield. Against Harvin if you can believe it.
Cowher's my main guy but we'll nver see hime in my lifetime. Of course, I'm going on 80.
Fire Lovie,Angelo and the whole staff.BRING IN COWHER !!! and get back to "D" and running the ball.I'll endure the rebuilding process knowing better times are coming.Lovie and Angelo cannot evaluate talent.
There are reports that where ever Cowher goes, the front office of Pittsburgh will follow, and that includes their current GM.
I don't know about you, but I'm very, very willing to take the football people from Pittsburgh and the success they have had for a long time now.
I do not think it is more important for the Bears to spend their money on an expensive coach. I think Jon Gruden would be just as effective.If need need be keep Lovie Smith just get the receiver, and some athletic lineman.
I'm not sure why this is a story. I don't believe anything from ESPN anyway, but everything is going to be deny, deny, deny right now.
Oh man...I would be scared if Bill Cowher was our next coach! He might actually hold me accountable!!!