Bill Cowher: Everybody Tried To Steal Signals, Not Just Belichick
PITTSBURGH (93-7 The Fan) -- Former Steelers head coach and The NFL Today on CBS analyst Bill Cowher joined The Fan Morning Show on Wednesday to talk about the NFL playoffs, the coaching searches being conducted right now and his career.
Cowher explained that his chat with Bill Belichick on The NFL Today was really the first chance that the two have had to talk one-on-one, and that the two kept chatting even after the 40-or-so minutes they spent doing so on camera.
He told the guys that he doesn't blame Belichick or the Patriots at all for trying to get a leg up on other teams during the "Spygate" years, and that he doesn't see their doing so as the reason that they defeated the Steelers in the 2004 AFC Championship game.
"We didn't lose the game because of any Spygate, because of them having any additional things," Cowher said. "I think if they're guilty of anything, they're guilty of arrogance, because they were told not to do something. But it was something that everybody does. The only thing they got caught [was] doing it with a camera. We had people that always tried to steal signals. Stealing someone's signals was a part of the game, and everybody attempted to do that.
"Part of the things we had [were] wristbands that we were using to do it. It's not even an element anymore because of the communications that take place on the field to the quarterback, to the linebacker. So it's an element of the game that doesn't exist, and really, what happened when we lost that game is they outplayed us, and it has nothing to do with stealing signals, or cheating, or anything else. They were a better football team on that day."
He also told the guys that he disagrees with what Shannon Sharpe said on their show Sunday about championships being essential for legendary quarterbacks.
"We talked about it even before we went on," Cowher said. "I totally disagree with that statement because I think that a quarterback can only do what he does. I mean, his stats are there. I think it's a fairer statement to say that about a coach, because a coach is judged based on wins and losses.
"A guy like Dan Marino, though... Dan Marino was one of the greatest quarterbacks of all time. And he never really had a running game, never had a great defense, and so you can't judge him based on that because he did what he was supposed to do," Cowher said. "It's unfair to place the championship on a player. It's more fair to place it on a coach."
He also explained that he wouldn't return to coaching simply because the right job came along.
"It's not a question of waiting for any job," Cowher said. "It's a question of whether you want to jump back into doing that specific job and doing everything that it entails, and that thought has not even crossed my mind."
The interview can be heard here: