In 2006, Bill Cowher bought a house in North Carolina.  This led to speculation and rumors that he would retire as head coach of the Pittsburgh Steelers at season's end.  Even his former star running back Jerome Bettis publically said he thought Cowher would retire.  Cowher was upset at all the rumors...but it turns out everyone was right, because he did step down after the 2006 season.

In 2007 he joined the NFL Today crew on CBS, and has stated many times since then that he does not want to return to coaching.  Well, Cowher has some explaining to do again if the latest rumor has any truth to it.  He supposedly just bought a house in Strongsville, Ohio, which is a hop, skip, and a jump from Cleveland.  As you may expect, the rumor mill has been fired up again, with speculations that he'll soon return to the sidelines as the new head coach for the Cleveland Browns, whom he played and coached for years ago.

There are a lot of unanswered questions though, questions such as does he have a crystal ball telling him that Romeo Crennel and GM Phil Savage are about to be canned?  How does he know he's even going to get the job?  Did he buy the house because of an opening on the sidelines in Cleveland, or did he just not like North Carolina and decided he'd move closer to home?  Probably the biggest question is did he even buy this house in the first place?

If he did buy the house, I'd say he bought it to move closer to home, and here's the reason why.  He has said like a broken record that he doesn't want to return to coaching, but if he did have a change of heart, he wouldn't be able to just waltz right into the Browns' front office and get the job.  That's thanks to the Rooney Rule, which states that all teams must interview at least one minority candidate before making a decision on who to hire as a new head coach.  Add to this the fact that he'd have to have some inside information about firing Romeo Crenel and Phil Savage.

I'm sure we'll find out the truth sooner or later, and for the sake of football, I really hope it comes sooner.  I can see Steelers fans now, crying that Cowher is a backstabber if he does indeed decide to coach the Browns, but remember, this is all just steam from the rumor mill right now, because we're not even sure if he bought the house in Strongsville at all.

BK over and out