Bettis' comments on coach's future irk Cowher

LATROBE, Pa. -- Late Sunday night, after his debut on the NBC Sunday-night NFL broadcast team, former Steeler Jerome Bettis said he hoped that his old coach, Bill Cowher, would be OK with Bettis revealing a personal conversation they'd had about the coach's future.

On Monday, Bettis found out. And Cowher was not OK with it.

During his network debut Sunday night, Bettis predicted that Cowher's 15th season as the Steelers' coach might be his last now that the team has won a title.

"I really think this is the last year for Coach Cowher in Pittsburgh," Bettis said. "I talked to him after the season was over and I really think he was really a different coach, a different guy."

Miffed by Bettis' comments on national TV, Cowher said he has not decided whether this will be his final season piloting the Super Bowl champions.

"I was very disappointed in what Jerome said," Cowher said late Monday afternoon after the Steelers' lone practice of the day at training camp. "Jerome and I talked back in March and there was no confidential information shared. There has been a lot of speculation about my future, and that's what it is -- speculation. I have not made a decision about my future beyond this year."

But what Steelers officials said Monday afternoon would only increase that speculation. Club president Art Rooney II told SI.com that Cowher told the team this summer that he wanted to put off any discussion of a contract extension until after this season. The coach's contract expires at the end of the 2007 season, and the Steelers traditionally have renegotiated his contract with two years remaining.

Cowher fueled speculation on his future after last season when it was learned that he had bought a new family home near Raleigh, N.C., and his wife and high school daughter had moved there. That along with Cowher's putting off any contract discussions and the fact that several NFL friends of Cowher have said this month that he is worn down by the NFL grind all combine to paint a picture of a coach who might be a lame duck. But let's stress that word: might.

"Bill has said he wants to take coaching at a year-to-year basis," said Rooney. "I think with his record and his service to the Steelers he has earned that right. I'm still hopeful and optimistic about him coaching here in the future, but you have to be realistic."

Cowher seemed peeved that Bettis spoke about their five-month-old conversation at halftime of NBC's Football Night in America telecast Sunday. Not necessarily that Bettis spoke about their conversation, but that he did not say that the conversation took place in March.

"With the wear and tear you take in this game," Cowher said, "you're gonna feel different in March than you will in August. Time has a way of refocusing people, and I'm no different. I think if you asked Jerome in his last couple of years how he felt in March, it would be a lot different than how he feels in August. And right now I am very focused on getting this team back to top form this year."

Cowher, however, said he surely would not stay angry with Bettis.

"This will not come between us. He's done too much for me and for this organization. Jerome is a good guy," Cowher said.

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