Cowher Hired By CBS

Former Pittsburgh Steelers coach Bill Cowher is returning to the NFL -- as an analyst on CBS' Sunday "The NFL Today" studio show.

Cowher resigned as the Steelers' coach last month following 15 seasons and less than a year after winning the Super Bowl. He plans to spend more time with his family at their new home in Raleigh, N.C., but said working on the CBS show allows him to keep his ties to the league.

CBS is adding Cowher to the show without any of the other analysts leaving -- Dan Marino, Shannon Sharpe and Boomer Esiason will return, as will host James Brown and former NFL general manager Charlie Casserly.

As the NFL's most desirable coaching free agent, Cowher understands he will be subjected to season-long rumors tying him to this job or that job. He has insisted that money wasn't an issue in him leaving the Steelers, but it is believed to have played a major role.

It is likely he could land an offer in the $8 million a year range or more should he want to get back into coaching next year, or about twice as much as he was making in Pittsburgh. He is expected to attract considerable interest because he remains relatively young for an NFL head coach -- he doesn't turn 50 until May.

Once Cowher left the Steelers on Jan. 5, his agents contacted the networks that carry NFL games to gauge their interest in hiring him. Cowher felt it was a natural transition to sign with CBS, which carries AFC games, and he had a tryout of sorts with the network during its Super Bowl telecast on Feb. 4.

Cowher's hiring creates the possibility that he and former Steelers running back Jerome Bettis, who was close to Cowher as a player, will offer differing opinions on different networks.

Bettis works for NBC and on his first telecast last summer said he was convinced Cowher would leave Pittsburgh after the season ended -- a prediction that proved accurate.

Cowher's 161-99-1 record ranked him fourth among active coaches last season in career wins. He won a Super Bowl in February 2006 after six trips to the AFC Championship Game and 10 playoff appearances with the Steelers. They missed the playoffs after going 8-8 in his final season with them.


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