TV Talk: Former Steelers coach Bill Cowher on ‘NFL Icons’

Trib Total Media TV writer Rob Owen offers a viewing tip for the coming week.

An NFL Hall of Famer, former Steelers coach Bill Cowher is the subject of this week’s episode of “NFL Icons” (10 p.m. Oct. 28, MGM+).

The hourlong episode explores Cowher’s youth in Crafton, his stint as an NFL player and his rise in the coaching ranks to eventually lead the Steelers back to the Super Bowl. Rich Eisen narrates “NFL Icons.”

The Cowher episode, with a new interview filmed in the expansive Gotham Hall events venue in Midtown Manhattan, opens with Cowher for the first time reading note cards the late NFL Films president Steve Sabol kept, describing Cowher as “a warm-hearted family man who savors his reputation as a cold-blooded (hot-blooded) competitor.”

“Cold-blooded — it was the fact that I would do anything to compete,” Cowher says in the episode. “Hot-blooded was I got very frustrated at times and showed my emotions. I went through both elements of it.”

In a phone interview this month, Cowher said he was flattered to be profiled in an “NFL Icons” episode and he appreciated his relationship with Sabol over the years.

“It started as a player and even as an assistant coach and when I became head coach, going to all of the league meetings where we’d play golf together,” Cowher said. “He always wanted to mic me up, and I had this unwavering trust.”

Cowher said Sabol would run recorded video footage by Cowher for his approval.

“He came into every locker room, he could be on the sidelines. He’d put a mic on me and I didn’t think twice about what I was saying. I knew Steve was trying to make sure the NFL brand, the game, was being shown in a positive way because he had this passion for the NFL,” Cowher said. “I never worried about him having information that would taint the image of me. It was always just to give the fans the inside view of what was being said on the sidelines. I trusted him.”

“NFL Icons” also makes note of Cowher’s exhortation to players: “Let’s go!”

“I knew I used it often,” Cowher said. “I didn’t know I used it that often.”

Cowher said he’s happy with his “NFL Icons” episode and was surprised by some of it.

“There was a lot of footage in there that I’ve never seen before,” he said. “Hearing (former NC State football coach) Lou Holtz talk about me, seeing Marty (Schottenheimer, who hired Cowher to be special teams coach for the Cleveland Browns in 1985) and all the things he had to say, it was special.”

“NFL Icons” visits Cowher Way, an alley behind Cowher’s childhood home in Crafton where Cowher played catch with his dad.

“I think (‘NFL Icons’) really did capsulize my career,” Cowher said. “I talk about the highs, the lows. What I liked about it is it was (it showed) my football family and my family at home. They were part of my journey every step of the way, and I liked how they depicted that because that was the true essence of who I was. The line I remember most was I used to say, ‘We have the biggest family in Pittsburgh: I’ve got three daughters at home and 53 boys at work.’ ”

The episode also explores Cowher’s transition from NFL coach to broadcaster. He’s now a studio analyst for CBS Sports’ “The NFL Today.” Cowher said his weekly press conferences after Steelers games in front of the Pittsburgh media and his weekly coach’s show on what is now SportsNet Pittsburgh laid the groundwork for going national on CBS.

“I enjoyed talking about football and about the league and it was around the same time I had my own show in Pittsburgh, my own coach’s show,” Cowher said of his first appearances on CBS’s NFL coverage when the Steelers didn’t make the playoffs in the 1998 season. “Working with the media was part of my responsibility (as head coach). When I did step down, I wasn’t trying to get away from the game, and the (‘NFL Today’) opportunity presented itself.”

As for his thoughts on this year’s Steelers team, Cowher assessed, “It’s a work in progress on offense. I think they’ve got a very good defense. I’d like to get the offense being more productive.”