MM#266--Encountering the Heart and Steel of Football: Lessons from The Steeler's Coach Bill Cowher

Welcome to the Theory to Action podcast, where we examine the timeless treasures of wisdom from the great books in less time, to help you take action immediately and ultimately to create and lead a flourishing life. Now here's your host, david Kaiser.

Hello, I am David and welcome back to another Mojo Minute. With the start of another NFL season upon us, I thought I would share my devout love for my team with a great book review. As many of you know, I'm a devout, lifelong Steeler fan. My mom and dad grew up in the Northern Panhandle of West Virginia, so they got Pittsburgh News, pittsburgh Sports and most notably, the Pittsburgh Steelers in the 1970s. Well, let me correct that the dominant Pittsburgh Steelers of the 1970s. Now I was born in 1974. The first year the Steelers won their first Super Bowl of Six that they would win over the course of all their years up until now. Growing up, I had all the Steeler gear the ball hats, the scarves, the mittens and the snow hats that we call tobaugans in my family. I've said that name elsewhere, no one knows. No one seems to know what I'm talking about, so I'm not sure if it's a Western Pennsylvania thing or not. Everyone in Ohio calls them snow hats. But regardless, growing up I had all the Steeler gear. Now, the funny thing is, by the time that I can remember the Steelers being on television, my dad would be saying, hey, we're watching the Pittsburgh Steelers. Now let me just say they were not really good. It was 1980 or 81, from my best recollection, and the Pittsburgh Steelers were on the downfall. Now I remember the black and gold uniforms all the time because I would stop turning the TV and I would yell out to my dad hey, the Pittsburgh Steelers are on. And half the time I would get it wrong, because only later did I learn that the Iowa Hawkeyes, the college football team, have the same color uniforms as my beloved Pittsburgh Steelers. Now, as a kid I thought that was the stupidest thing in the world. Why does a college football team, the Iowa Hawkeyes, get their own colors and why do they have to even steal the Pittsburgh Steeler colors? They're a bunch of frauds. Now, growing up in a suburb of Columbus Ohio, it's almost heretical to cheer for anyone other than the Cincinnati Bengals or the Cleveland Browns, and I hated both teams and I love to read about the history of the Steel Curtain defense in the 1970s. Guys like Jack Lambert and Mean Joe Green I mean, as a kid who wouldn't like a football team who had a guy with the name Mean Joe Green Out in our big side yard? My dad would always tell me to go out for passes by saying act like you're Lynn Swan or John Stallworth and go out for a pass. So it wasn't until my sophomore year of high school in 1991, when the great, legendary Chuck Knoll retired, that I got extremely excited about the Pittsburgh Steelers again In my mind. Since I was kid and watching them have five straight losing seasons, I thought it was time for Chuck Knoll to hang it up. Now I understood he was a great, great coach, legendary coach, but I had never seen him win anything. So, yes, my respect for my elders ended when they started losing football games. But I mean you have to understand. So, starting in 1992, this young and energetic coach came on the scene. His name was Bill Cower. He was fiery, he was tough, he was in your face and to me, I re fell in love with the Pittsburgh Steelers all over again. He was what a Steeler head football coach should be. He embodied the city of steel, the city of champions. Tough, hardworking, blue collar families are all around Pittsburgh who went to church on Sunday and then quickly ran home after the Sunday Mass to join in their secular Sunday church of following the Pittsburgh Steelers. Those fans of me included, would live and die stealer football and what was most important to me was Coach Cowher led us to the playoffs each of his first six seasons as a head football coach. So by that time I was all in for Coach Cowher and you've got to pronounce the word his last name the right way. Like you're from Western PA, you can't just say Cowher, you got to say cowher. I still have family that live in the northern Panhandle of West Virginia and every time I visit them they are correcting me on my pronunciation of certain names. You got to say it right. Not you guys, but you guys. And not automobile, automobile, not car, yeah, you guys. Gone down there, going down the South side. All these things bring up all these. All these favorite things bring us to today's book of the day. We're focusing on Bill Cowher's book, heart and Steel. It's a great personal memoir of Coach Cowher's life. He grew up just 15 minutes from Three Rivers Stadium and Coach Cowher was the perfect man for the perfect job as a Steelers head football coach. This book tells his story, and what a great story it is. So let me share some of the highlights with you and hopefully you can grab some nuggets of wisdom along the way. Let's go to the book for the first poll quote. As far back as I can remember, I was always surrounded by people who were passionate about one of two things work or sports. For me, as early as nine years old, it was both. I embraced work so I'd be free to play all the games I found irresistible. I didn't think there was anything unusual about the lives and routines of the families around me, because that was life for kids in the 1960s and 70s of my Pittsburgh neighborhood. We were tireless grade schoolers in the working class area of Crafton. We treated our games like full time jobs. My family lived in a brick Victorian house on Hawthorne Avenue. It was a street where the PAT public authority transit buses public city buses in Pittsburgh would sometimes wait until the end of the play before driving through our football pickup games. Even then, several years before my high school, I saw myself as a linebacker. I shared a bedroom with my two brothers, dale and Doug, and on the posters, and the posters on our wall told part of our story. One showed the Chicago Bears, dick Buccas, intense and athletic in action, and the other was of his equally strong division rival, the great, the Green Bay Packers, ray Nitsky. Both of them were in those pictures and in reality always seem to be ready for what was next. The next play, the next quarter, the next game that was me. No matter what I had to do away from sports, I could always see a path back to the games, whether playing them, were discussing them. For example, I still remember delivering the old Pittsburgh press on Sunday mornings in the fall. I had about 30 customers during the week and even more on Sundays. I'd race to finish my route and then sit with my father, laird Cowher, as he watched Notre Dame football highlights on TV. He always loved Notre Dame, then get ready for church. He followed all sports, but I wouldn't say he was athletic. He was a tall man, about 6'4 and lean. He had dark hair and a strong jawline. While Laird was given was his given name, he called people called him Bill, which made me Billy to all my friends and family. My father was our Sunday school teacher. We attended Hawthorne Avenue Presbyterian Church, about four doors down from our house. Dad's hour long lesson was structured the same way every week. If we paid attention and did what we were supposed to do in the first 45 minutes, we spend the remaining time talking sports. In a lot of ways, that arrangement was a glimpse of how my father operated. He was an accountant who had a meticulous approach to his work. In his office area in the house we could always find five sharpened number two pencils along with an orderly assortment of staples, erasers, sheets of paper and paper clips, all in the designated areas. He would put his thoughts on paper, whether it was his to-do list or his feelings about a particular topic. If any of us went to his desk for any reason, he'd loudly remind us leave it the way you found it. If one thing was slightly out of place, he could always spot it. Business and details were important to him, but so were his sports. And there you get a quick glimpse into Billy from Krafton's upbringing, bill Cower from Krafton's upbringing. He loved his work, just like he loved his sports, much like his dad had given him an example. Let's move on to the first year, that er the first time Bill Cower accepts or the only time, rather, that Bill Cower accepts the job of the Pittsburgh Steelers Head Football Coach in his hometown. How exciting. Go on to the book. I had been a head coach for just a few hours and it was already clear my new job went far beyond its description. As I thought about all the items on my to-do list I knew I had. I needed a strong understanding of business, time management, psychology and communications to be successful. On day one I barely had time to think about one thing because I felt as if I was chasing everything. I didn't have a coaching staff, so I needed to set up interviews with candidates. I didn't have a secretary. I wanted to introduce myself to the players. We were all scattered all over the country. I wanted to be looped in on our free agency and draft plans. Dozens of people were in the building doctors, accountants, public relations specialists whom I hadn't met but needed to. I didn't know if Chuck Knowles was intentional with his exit plan after 23 seasons as a Steelers Head football coach, but by the time I accepted the job in January 1992, chuck's office was cleared out. There was no sign he had ever been there. There wasn't a master handbook how to be a Steelers Head Coach to page through, and as scary and as uncomfortable as it was, it was also the best thing for me. I was 34 years old. I had my own opinions and tons to learn. Here's a key point I had to figure out how the building worked, what the dynamics were with the front office, the personnel, the PR departments and ownership. I needed to ask questions and get my own answers, not begin with preconceived notions. When I was offered the job I was humbled and nostalgic. My thought was, if I could manage to make it three years without getting fired, I'd be able to attend my 20th Carl Linton High School reunion as the proud coach of the Pittsburgh Steelers. I was still in awe at the end of the first day. I had met with a media at large in one-on-one settings and then I was told my final interview of the day was with Myron Cope. I still couldn't believe it. I still viewed him as the unique Pittsburgh legend whose distinct nasally voice blared out of our kitchen radio. Back on Hawthorne Avenue in the early 1970s my father would crack open a beer, listen to Myron's popular show on WTAE and confirm many of Myron's opinions. You tell a Myron, my dad would say an approval. Now Myron Cope, the creator of the iconic terrible towel, was asking me questions about my plans for the Pittsburgh Steelers. As much as a part of me wanted to lean back and appreciate it all. I did not have that luxury. I never been in control of any large organization in my life, but during my playing career and as an assistant, I had begun to develop my own philosophy. What I didn't know how to do was implement it. I knew that my first decisions as head coach would set the tone for our structure and our system and, ultimately, our expectations. None of the people working for the Steelers knew what to do or what to expect from me, as every leader should have the opportunity to do. I was starting from scratch. Kay, his wife and the girls were back in Kansas City in those first few weeks, so my headquarters was the William Penn Hotel downtown. I felt as if my days were packed with interviews and briefings and I'd reached the end of each day totally exhausted. I projected certainty and calm as the new head football coach of the Pittsburgh Steelers, but I share my true feelings with Kay. I think I'm maybe over my head. I told her one night on the phone. She listened to my concerns about all the unknowns that I had suddenly faced and said give it time, one day at a time and that's a solid nugget of wisdom. And no matter what you're confronting, no matter how big the new job is, no matter how uncertain the unknowns in life are, you can only give it one day at a time and eventually, as you move through those days, if you're perceptive, if you ask questions, if you're humble, you will learn and then you'll begin to implement your own philosophy of life, or perhaps as the new head football coach for the Pittsburgh Steelers. Let's move on to another important nugget of wisdom told to us by Bill Cower. Going to the book To bring the vision to life, I needed help. I understood that any good head coach had a talented coaching staff to support him. What I hadn't thought of until Marty Schottenheimer reminded me Marty Schottenheimer, as an aside, was the first head football coach to hire coach Cower as a coach. He hired him as a special teams coach and Bill Cower had cut his teeth in the NFL as a special teamer. He wasn't the most gifted physically, he wasn't the most talented physically, but he was hardworking, determined, always showed up 15 minutes before meetings. He did everything you would want the least talented player on the field to do to make a 53 man NFL roster. So to bring the vision to life. Going back to the book to bring the vision to life, I needed help. I understood that any head good head coach had a talented coaching staff to support him. What I had not thought of until Marty Schottenheimer reminded me was that a good secretary was also essential. He pointed out that the right person would know how to prioritize my time without alienating people who need or demand something from the head football coach. The right secretary would be able to keep me organized and on schedule and protect me from diversions. I barely knew how to conduct an interview for that job. When I was looking for a secretary, a nice young woman who had been highly recommended by a friend of our owner applied and by a friend of the owner that seemed like all the qualities she would need. I was ready to hire her. We sat there for about 20 minutes talking about the job, what the job entailed. She would have to work long hours, I explained, including some nights and weekends. I reviewed the multiple responsibilities of the position and told her she would be working around men with emotions and warned that could get difficult at times. We went through everything I could think of and everything was great until I mentioned she would have to type out our weekly game plans. She interrupted Wait, I have to type. I naively assumed every secretary could type. Well, yeah, why Can't you type no. Cheerfully she added. But I can learn. I appreciated her enthusiasm, but I wanted someone who could jump into the job right away. Hiring my first football coaching staff wasn't nearly as tricky. The one thing I knew right from the beginning was I didn't want to surround myself with yes men Also, who would tell me whatever they thought I wanted to hear to get the job. That's an important nugget of wisdom. Going back to the book, At times during my interviews I try to catch them. Maybe early in the meeting I'd say something like you can't be a team that just runs the football. You have to be able to throw it to win in the NFL. Usually the person I was interviewing would agree with that, but then much later I might say I really believe you can't win games just by throwing the football. You have to move the ball on the ground to win the championship. I had people sit there nodding and agreeing with me whatever I said. Those were the people I did not hire. Whether you're in family or whether you are part of an organization and whether you lead an organization, the best thing to be as a good friend, a good teammate and a good co-worker and a good family member for that matter, is not to be a yes person. You have to tell people the truth. You have to be honest with them. Sometimes they need to hear the hard no instead of the nodding yes all the time. That's the best way you can respect people and that's the best way you can earn respect. Now let's visit coach Cower in kind of a funny moment, but coach Cower didn't think so. Going back to the book, these were some of the things we began to refine in our in the first year, and the result after the regular season was a division title, a record setting season for the running back, barry Foster, a Steelers best, 1690 yards rushing and the second few points allowed in the NFL. Since we won the division and qualified for our first round by, we had an extra week of rest to get healthy. I thought the rest would benefit us because it would allow Neal O'Donnell to start the playoff game against the Buffalo Bills. It was a controversial move that was debated around the city. Can a player lose his job due to an injury? Was it a good move to put O'Donnell in a playoff game after he had been out for a month? At the time, my answer to the first question was a resounding no. Neal O'Donnell was our starter. I didn't see any reason to have our starter sit for the most important game of the year. Unfortunately, that game was over quickly. Our scoring troubles continued and O'Donnell look rusty. We lost to the Bills 24-3. The conclusion from the game and the season was that we were no longer a franchise that hoped to win. We expected it. We had become a unified group that not only played for one another, but grew to love one another too. With the season over, my parents invited all the families my brothers and mine to craft and for dinner. The huge gathering had plenty of food and drinks and conversation. I exhale, thinking that it was good to be home again. Once I piled a high plate with food, I sat across from my father. He was relaxed and began his normal sports-centered conversation at the dinner table. And how about those stupid Steelers? He took a swig of beer. They have O'Donnell out for a month and they still put him in a playoff game. Why did they do that? I looked at him. He was so used to having these conversations over the years he didn't realize what he was saying. Now, wait a second. Dad, you say the Steelers. That's actually me. I made that decision, not the Steelers. I was sensitive and ticked off about it because I knew he was right. I probably shouldn't have started O'Donnell in that situation, oh Dad said, trying to clean it up. You probably had a good reason for that decision you made. My family still had to get used to me as the Steelers decision maker and I still have plenty to learn in that role. Yeah, sometimes even all of us don't have the self-awareness of what we're saying to the people we're saying with it. So the nugget of wisdom is self-awareness is always a good thing and I'm sure Mr Cower, bill's dad, learned that as his son was the Steelers' main decision maker. After that, let's move on to hear Coach Cower impress upon us the need for humility. Going back to the book, there wasn't a playoff team we knew better than our first round opponents, the Bengals. This is during the Super Bowl run in 2005 season. We played them twice a year and we had memorable games against them, even when the result didn't affect the playoffs. I remember one season when we had a mini losing streak. Prior to a game with the Bengals, at the team meeting the night before, I told the players our problems had nothing to do with technique. What we needed was more passion and investment in their jobs. And then I showed the great scene from the network, the movie in which Peter Finch's anger builds and builds until he's finally telling people to shout out their window. I'm mad as hell and I'm not going to take it anymore. Unlike some coaches, I wasn't big on bringing in outside speakers to talk to the team before the game. I found some people listen more carefully to the people they know and respect people that have shared experience with in the common goal. I wanted our players to leave our pre-game meetings feeling inspired, confident, prepared and excited to play the game. I knew that being in the playoffs against the Bengals was motivation enough, but I couldn't resist something else. The Bengals were the last team we had lost to before starting our winning streak. They had beaten us in Pittsburgh 38-31, and after that game, bengals, by receiver TJ Hushmanzana, took our team and city symbol, the bright yellow, terrible towel, and wiped his shoes with it. As soon as I saw that clip, I thought I'll remember that one. I doubt the Bengals expected to play us in wild card football game a month later. At our team meeting the night before, I told the players I can show you clips of our last two games this year against the Bengals, but I think you know the team and I think they know us Well. What I'm not so sure is you're aware of what is happened the last time we have played them. I want you to show what one of their players did. Something I think may be disrespectful is any act I have ever seen. I then showed the clip. There wasn't a sound in the room. When we win, we win with humility and if we lose, we lose with grace. That wasn't humility. So tomorrow when you go out there, just think about him wiping his shoes with something that signifies us as a team and if you have a chance tomorrow, let him know. You didn't appreciate it. That's it. Good night. That clip did the trick throughout the whole game. At every opportunity, someone hit Hushman's Ana, I suspect he walked around wondering what he did. We won the game 31-17. I thought we were already matched up well with him, but the lack of respect raised our pissed off factor and put each of our players in the right mental state. Yes, if you win with humility and you lose with grace, you can almost always never go wrong. Now let's pick up Bill Cower in the Super Bowl against the Seattle Seahawks. Going back to the book for our final quote. As for the Super Bowl against the Seahawks, I felt good about our playing until the day before the game. As we did a morning walkthrough in the hotel ballroom, I noticed one of our defenses, when matched against a popular Seahawks offensive formation, left their slot receiver uncovered. That afternoon I sat down with Dick LeBeau, our legendary defensive coordinator, and drew up a new defense. We called it tightsam 2 backer against this formation. The only time we got to practice it was in the ballroom on Saturday night. We talked through it and decided that we'd use a 4 man rush with some zone behind it. The twist that we would utilize Troy Palamalu in the robber position, which freed him up to be a playmaker. We'd use the just created defense 18 times during the game with an unbelievable no issues. That's what happens when you have disciplined players who are smart. They trust that the coaches are giving them something that will make them successful and they know to trust you. When I think about our journey to Detroit, which I believe started with our team meeting back in December, I can see how it utilized every aspect of our organization Everything we taught, everything we practiced, came together during that run and in the Super Bowl itself. We scored 3 touchdowns in the 21-10 win, and the story behind this touchdown gives a glimpse of what it means to be a stealer. Big Ben, our first round draft pick quarterback, scored first. In the beginning of the third quarter, our undrafted running back, willie Parker, broke off a 75 yard run, the longest rushing play in Super Bowl history. And in the fourth quarter of the versatile Antoine Randall L became the first wide receiver to throw a touchdown pass into Super Bowl and he threw it to another all around great player, heinz Ward. As the clock ran down, I felt a rush of cold Gatorade over my shoulders, my head and shoulders, and I was drenched in ecstatic. I saw my girls, kay, megan, lauren and Lindsay. Our family was really really close, me and those girls. This was our small moment to share, surrounded by thousands and watched by millions. This was our bubble. I told them this was their Super Bowl too, and they were the most important people in my life. We went at girls. That's what I told them. We endured, we persevered, we kept coming back, we hugged and kissed and had a family high five. When I saw Mr Rooney, I hugged him and whispered. I still have those rosary beads with me right now. Seeing him smile, knowing that he was leaving Detroit with a Lombardi trophy, was beyond satisfying For a moment. Standing on the championship stage, I wasn't coached Cower, I was Billy from Kraft and again, I rooted from afar for the Steelers teams that I didn't know personally, but I felt as if I did, due to the way they played. Now, this was the team that I knew, this was my team and, as it was when I was growing up, this was my team, my guys that I coached. I didn't know those players. I did know those players and I loved these players. I thought of Marty too, the great Western Pennsylvanian who talked to his team about the gleam of the Lombardi trophy. He had never got a chance to see it, his own reflection in it. Since I was his student, his mentee, I held the Lombardi trophy for Marty as well, and even though we were in Michigan, all I could see was black and gold. I could see here are fans singing the sing song here we go, steelers, here we go. Someone threw me a terrible towel and I waved it freely and excitedly over my head as I celebrated with a crowd In those few seconds. The only one who could have handled that terrible towel better was Myron Cope himself. What a night Soon. The Super Bowl party would begin and I'd be able to enjoy it with the people that I loved the most. Back at the hotel and on the elevator, I let it be known that there wouldn't be any restrictions on our fun. The Commodores were performing at the official team party and my announcement produced immediate silence. I'm a huge fan of the Commodores. I told everyone I can't wait to meet Lionel Richie. There were stares for a few seconds before everyone broke the news. Lionel Richie isn't with the Commodores anymore. He has been solo for years. Now he's not here tonight. Everyone laughed, knowing how special the night was and was going to continue to be Laughter. For the first time in my football career, the last game of the season ended with laughter. A party and a championship. And there you go. A great little look into the Pittsburgh Steeler former head football coach, bill Cower, billy from Crafton. I hope you found some of these nuggets of wisdom beneficial to apply in your own lives. I found it rewarding to read this book fantastic book as we embark upon a new NFL season, at least from this Steeler fan, I have to say let's go Stullers.