Coaches try to play the 'retirement' card

[TheShadow]

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John Czarnecki / FOXSports.com




A lot of head coaches talk about burnout and eventually heed their woe-is-me thoughts and quit. But only one really meant it.

John Madden said 10 seasons was enough with the Oakland Raiders, and despite years of visibility on TV, never was enticed to lead a locker room again. Fear of flying caused the Hall of Famer to chuck his sideline clipboard forever.

But in this new NFL, head coaches say a lot of things about burnout, complain about their role with their respective franchise and actually mean something else. It generally means one of two things. They want their freedom to explore other jobs with perceived better ownership, and they definitely want more money. In the last decade, some of them have been the most resourceful free agents in the game. And they wonder why players often show no loyalty.

Now, we aren't one to demean anyone for going after the brass ring and seeking the richest contract out there. It's just that head coaches have a sneaky way of going about it. They toss out a retirement nugget and then decline to go into detail about what they are really thinking. They prefer that we all become involved in this guessing game about their future, when they actually have some hidden agenda up their sleeves.

Bill Parcells, now the Dallas head coach, could be accused of being the inventor of this elaborate art form. Granted, you must be a great coach like Parcells to take advantage of your current owner in order to maneuver yourself to a better opportunity. He hasn't won a Super Bowl since his stint with the Giants, but there is no question that he transformed moribund franchises like New England and the New York Jets into winning franchises while on the job. He is on the cusp of doing it again with the Cowboys and, heaven help me, with Terrell Owens.

The newest coach to allow his coaching future to become totally unclear is Bill Cowher. He is under contract through the 2007 season with the Pittsburgh Steelers. But last week he replied, "I'm just taking it year to year," when asked if this could be his final season.

And here we all thought that The Chin would forever be the scowling face of the Pittsburgh Steelers. I mean, Cowher is perfect Sunday theater.

But, isn't it interesting, after losing three AFC championship games at home and while owning an 8-9 playoff record, Cowher finally sweeps his resume slate clean by winning his first Super Bowl; and suddenly every Steeler fan is worried that he plans to retire to Raleigh, N.C.?

Cowher, 49, is entering his 15th season with the Steelers, and that's a very long time in one place these days. He may actually need to relocate and relax for a season or two and regenerate himself, only to return to the highest bidder. The possibilities for him are endless, really.

Cowher might even be thinking about Joe Gibbs. Gibbs retired at age 52 after coaching the Washington Redskins to three Super Bowls only to return to the sidelines in Washington as the NFL's highest-paid coach. Gibbs rejected Atlanta first, his ego wanting to see if he could actually do it again with the same franchise.

Today, the speculation is that Mike Holmgren is the game's highest-paid coach at somewhere above $7 million.

You may recall that Holmgren, who lost Super Bowl XL to Cowher, talked in March about maybe playing out his last season with the Seahawks, despite an overture from billionaire owner Paul Allen to renew his contract back in January.

Holmgren spoke of possibly wanting to be a general manager again, a position he lost in Seattle because of his many personnel failures. Wanting to be a GM, and free of Ron Wolf in Green Bay, got Holmgren to Seattle in the first place. Or, was leaving the Cheeseheads really all about wanting more money?

In the end, it was apparently so much idle conversation of new opportunities this time around for Holmgren. He recently added two new lucrative seasons to his contract, and all is well in the Northwest (and definitely in the Holmgren household).

This is reality in the NFL.

Remember, a few years back, Mike Shanahan toyed with the idea for about 36 hours about leaving Denver for the University of Florida when Steve Spurrier signed a $5 million deal with Daniel Snyder. Broncos owner Pat Bowlen really thought Shanahan was so serious that — guess what? — he gave his coach a new contract extension.

Last season, Herm Edwards was so fed up with the future of the New York Jets, having lost faith in then-GM Terry Bradway, that he orchestrated his departure and found a financially rewarding landing spot in Kansas City.

Dick Vermeil won a Super Bowl in St. Louis but, believing he was pushed out the door for Mike Martz, retired only to return for even more money.

And who can forget Jon Gruden telling everyone in Oakland, including his good friend Bruce Allen, that he intended to return to the Raiders while his agent was securing his $3.5 million exit to Tampa Bay? Al Davis received $7 million and a bag full of draft choices for Gruden, but the coach secured his freedom.

There are two ways of viewing the Cowher remarks. He is serious about beginning a new contract conversation with the Rooney family or he knows they won't ever pay him $7 million a season; so he's actually headed toward a temporary retirement only to return when there is an owner out there that will pay him $7 million a season.

And you can bet there is one.