WFAN Sparks Bill Cowher to Jets Rumors

 Here we go again with the annual Bill Cowher is coming out of retirement to coach "X-team in the next year" rumors. 

This time WFAN's Boomer Esiason, who should know better than to throw his NFL Today colleague into the fire like this, broached the subject on his morning radio show with his partner Gregg Gianotti. Gianotti said that Cowher in New York would be great, but it would never happen. 

Esiason then opined basically saying never say never. "He was saying to me, he was the one who said the Jets job is going to be very attractive, and they could hire whomever they want, and he told me he loves Joe Douglas," Esiason reportedly said. 

Boomer added that Cowher's wife is a huge Jets fan. 

So is it possible that Cowher would consider breaking from his 15-year retirement, a retirement that includes being elected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame at the end of last season to coach the Jets? The same Jets team that right now looks like a colossal front office disaster as the team stares at an inevitable 0-16 season? 

Never say never, but let's get real, it's not likely to happen. For starters the Jets have been linked to Cowher in the past and nothing has come of it. The Jets tried to get him in 2008 but he was not interested in the job. The Jets instead went with Rex Ryan heading into the 2009 season. 

Cowher has also been linked to the Giants job for years, but nothing ever came of it. Cowher remained in television. 

If Cowher were to come out of retirement, he wouldn't be the first to return after a long layoff. Dick Vermill returned to the sidelines in 1997 to coach the St. Louis Rams after a 15-year absence from coaching after he left the Eagles in 1982.  After a rough two seasons in St. Louis, Vermill ran into some incredible luck when he had Kurt Warner fall into his lap in 1999 and the Rams won the Super Bowl. 

Vermill retired after the Rams Super Bowl victory in '99, stayed out of the game for a year, and returned in 2001 to coach the Kansas City Chiefs for five years until 2005. 

 

Joe Gibbs two stints with the Washington Football team were separated by 12 years. Of course his initial stint in Washington was much more successful as he won three Super Bowl titles. His return to D.C. in 2004 was not as good. 

Jon Gruden is the latest example having left coaching initially in 2008 after he was fired by the Buccaneers, only to return to the Oakland/Las Vegas Raiders 10 years later in 2018. Gruden has his Raiders on the precipice of the seventh seed in the AFC Playoffs this year. 

It's hard to figure what a Cowher return to coaching would look like. 

Players in 2020 are not the same as the players he coached in 2006. 

The game has changed a great deal with a focus now exclusively on the vertical passing game. Cowher would need to surround himself with some young coaches who can help update his tactics. 

At the same time, he would bring instant credibility to the Jets franchise were he to leave the TV studio. If the Jets get the number 1 pick and select Trevor Lawrence, Cowher will lean heavily on his own experience with a young Ben Roethlisberger as a blue-print for success with Lawrence. 

Cowher would almost certainly be a short term answer for the Jets -- almost like Bill Parcells was in the late 90s. Someone with instant credibility, who can change the culture, but ultimately will be gone within three years. 

My guess is Cowher will remain in TV, while the Jets either hire one of the many young coordinators out on the market, or dare I say, keep Adam Gase around considering he still has friends in the organization.