The Wolfpacker: An Independent Magazine Covering NC State Sports
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/1407083
36 ■ THE WOLFPACKER Pennsylvania team, Sherrill's 16th-ranked Pittsburgh Panthers, in the Tangerine Bowl. Cowher, who had never received recruit- ing attention from Pittsburgh nor Penn State, took it upon himself to inspire his teammates before they went onto the field that day in Orlando, Fla. "I'd be happy to repeat [the speech]," Cowher said in 2001, "but I don't think you could print any of it. It was one of those things that came from emotion. It was my last game as a senior and we were playing Pittsburgh, which is where I am from. "It got pretty emotional." The Wolfpack jumped out to an early lead and won going away, 30-17. It's re- membered by many for being Brown's fi- nal game in a Wolfpack uniform, but it was also the final game for Cowher and Wescoe, a pair of three-year starters at line- backer who were a major part of a 27-18-2 record and two bowl wins during their four years on campus. At the time, defensive statistics were just being recognized officially, and tackles were introduced in 1977. Cowher finished his career with 371 stops and Wescoe had 348 — in just two years. Both still rank among the program's top 10, even though all other players include four-year totals. Cowher had 195 tackles as a senior in 1978 and 176 tackles as a junior in 1977, totals that rank first and third, respectively, on the school's single-season list. A Remarkable Coaching Career Cowher stuck around in 1979 to finish off his degree in education from NC State and to be a graduate assistant for the football team, but he was signed as a special teams player in 1980 by the NFL's Cleveland Browns and played there for two seasons before heading to Philadelphia for two sea- sons with the Eagles. In all, he played in 45 games, mostly on special teams. When Cowher finished playing, Cleve- land head coach Marty Schottenheimer immediately hired him to be the Browns' special teams coach. When Schottenheimer left to become head coach at Kansas City, he took Cowher along as one of the NFL's youngest defensive coordinators. It's little wonder that Cowher lobbied hard in his enshrinement speech for the late Schottenheimer's election to Canton. Cowher began what turned out to be a relatively short grind as an assistant coach, spending time in those years starting a fam- ily with former NC State women's basket- ball player Kaye Young. The couple had three daughters, all of whom attended Wolf- pack women's head coach Kay Yow's bas- ketball camp in their youth. At the exceptionally young age of 35, Cowher was hired by the Rooney family to succeed the legendary Chuck Noll as head coach of the Pittsburgh Steelers in 1992, a truly remarkable journey from Pennsylvania reject to returning prodigal son. There was some history on Cowher's side, besides just his ties to the Steel City. The Rooney family thought highly of NC State from the time founding owner Big Art Rooney sent his first cousin "Little Artie" Rooney down to Raleigh to play for long-time coach Doc Newton in the late 1930s. Rooney was a triple-threat offensive player and among the best quarterbacks in the Depression-era Southern Conference. He entered military service and ended his career as a lieutenant colonel after serving in the U.S. Army in the European Theater of World War II, in Korea and in Vietnam. He and his wife, Caroline, settled at Fort Bliss in El Paso, Texas, where he died on March 31, 1985. Big Art's son Dan, who took over the team in 1988, made the decision to hire Cowher, and was on hand to introduce his former coach at the Canton enshrinement ceremonies. Within four years, Cowher led the Steelers back to the American Football Cowher guided Pittsburgh to the franchise's fifth Super Bowl championship, with his Steelers defeating the Seattle Seahawks 21-10 to cap the 2005 season. PHOTO BY DAVE ARRIGO/COURTESY PITTSBURGH STEELERS