How NC State ‘forged’ Hall of Fame NFL coach Bill Cowher’s approach

As Bill Cowher sat in NC State coach Dave Doeren’s office after a spring coaches clinic earlier this year, the Wolfpack coach delivered a surprise to the Super Bowl Champion coach: he was set to be inducted into the program’s Ring of Honor. 

Cowher, who returned to Raleigh for the ceremony during the Wolfpack’s 13-10 loss to Louisville, said it was a “very moving” moment when Doeren told him of the honor. 

The former NC State linebacker was appreciative of being added to the program’s storied list of legendary players, but he noted how much the program and university changed his life — including how he met his future wife, Kaye. 

“It shaped my entire life,” Cowher said. “Coming back here is very special, and tonight is very special. I feel very humbled by it all.”

But as Cowher reflected on his time with the Wolfpack 43 years ago, he mentioned how his time at NC State formed who he would become as a football coach. That cultivation helped Cowher lead the Pittsburgh Steelers to the pinnacle of professional football, and it later landed him in the Pro Football Hall of Fame. 

While he was at NC State, Cowher majored in education, and he realized how much that helped in his coaching career.

“I always say, before coaching there’s teaching,” Cowher said. “I learned so much being here through that. I think the four-and-a-half years I spent here were very instrumental in my upbringing.”

While the classroom helped teach Cowher how to educate the game he loved, NC State’s blue-collar mentality on the field did too. He learned to deal with adversity, to bounce back up after he got knocked down, and to earn everything he did. 

And most importantly, Cowher mastered how to overcome a challenge. He said when he was on the field with the Wolfpack, it was all about being united as one with the rest of the defense, which allowed Cowher to get past those tough situations. 

“When I left here, I was a more confident person than when I came,” Cowher said. “Very blessed to have had the opportunities that I had here.”

Cowher was a star in the middle of NC State’s defense during his playing days. He ranks seventh in program history for career tackles (371), while his 195 stops in the 1978 season are the most by a player in a single campaign.

While the games against the teams that didn’t recruit the then-undersized linebacker from Crafton, Pa., were fun for Cowher, he said he remembered the people at NC State the most since leaving. Hours before he arrived at Carter-Finley Stadium, Cowher spent time at Amedeo’s with a group of his former teammates and coaches, including former NC State coach Chuck Amato. 

That culture which was built at NC State while Cowher was on the team was the precipice of his approach to coaching. 

“Leaving here, finding myself coaching five years, six years later, just remembering that’s the kind of culture that I want to build,” Cowher said. “It takes time to get the right people who believe in the same things or are committed to the right things. That was forged here.”

It started with relationship building, which led to holding people accountable — both in his time as a player and later on as a coach. Cowher valued the sense of commitment and sacrifice that were shown to him with the Wolfpack, and he carried that with him throughout his entire coaching career. 

That NC State mentality eventually led Cowher to a head coaching position, a Super Bowl ring and eventually a bust in Canton, Ohio. 

“Those are the little things that separates teams, separates organizations, and separates culture,” Cowher said. “Sometimes it’s not what you’re willing to contribute, it’s what you’re willing to sacrifice. … I think that’s what you’re trying to build, and a lot of those qualities were forged down here.”