Bill Cowher was known for being a coach willing to take chances. To use his entire bad of tricks. In fact, Cowher says he liked to run gimmick plays early in games just to keep defenses honest the rest of the way.
But the very first chance Cowher took wasn’t supposed to happen. That’s what he says in his new book Heart and Steel. The Steelers were playing the Houston Oilers. Falling into a quick hole, Cowher told special teams coach John Guy before the drive to run a fake punt if the offense got inside the 50, surprising and countering an aggressive Oilers’ punt rush.