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Bill Cowher’s house in Raleigh, N.C., is up for sale, and ...

There is a fantastically juicy Internet rumor swirling out of State College that Cowher visited Penn State in late February and stayed at athletic director Tim Curley’s house.

Hmmmm. Interesting.

The thought of Cowher succeeding Joe Paterno is no doubt exciting, but is it a realistic possibility?

Apparently not.

The Internet is filled with fascinating stuff, but don’t be suckered into thinking it’s all true.

For starters, let’s tackle that juicy rumor that Cowher stayed over at Curley’s house.

‘‘I can confirm that he did not stay at his house,’’ Penn State spokesman Jeff Nelson said. ‘‘I spoke to Tim, and [Cowher] did not stay at the house.’’

Nelson did add, ‘‘It’s possible that Bill Cowher was on campus,’’ so perhaps there is reason for Nittany Lion fans to be excited.

Nope.

By late Tuesday, the rumors of Cowher’s interest in PSU were dead, with confirmation straight from the source.

Cowher told the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette he’s ‘‘not going anywhere’’ and added the Penn State speculation can be put to rest.

What about the former Steelers coach selling his house, which was reported Tuesday by a Raleigh TV station?

That part is true. Cowher said he and his family will be moving two miles down the road to a new house being built on a golf course.

OK, but why would Cowher visit Penn State, if indeed he did? It could be any number of reasons, the most obvious that he’s helping his daughter, Lindsay, find the right school to play college basketball. (Cowher’s daughter Meagan, remember, played at Princeton.)

So, Cowher won’t be coming to Penn State, at least not anytime soon. This round of rumors may be false, but isn’t it possible he may consider the job at some point? Possible, but doubtful.

Cowher will be 51 in two months, he’s rich, he’s won a Super Bowl and he’s never coached in college. Whoever replaces Paterno will walk into an outstanding situation, but why in the world would Cowher want the job?

If Cowher wants to coach again, he can command $5 million or more per season in the NFL. Penn State can’t come close to matching that.

There are a couple of things, however, that favor the college game. Coaches generally have much greater job security in college — Cowher definitely would have that at PSU, which has had two head coaches in 57 years — and the argument can be made that coaching in college is easier than the NFL.

The NFL regular season lasts 16 games, four more than college, and there’s more pressure because every game is a grind. That’s not the case for a program like Penn State, which can schedule three or four easy wins every year. There’s also the luxury in college of a six-week break to rest up for the bowl game.

The offseason may be a little easier for NFL coaches, though they do have to spend a lot of time on the draft and free agency. College coaches have to travel more for recruiting, and Paterno’s inability to do that part of his job is a major concern for the program.

Cowher would be an excellent fit at Penn State. He probably would contend for a national championship within five years, he would insist on accountability from his student-athletes on and off the field, he would get the most out of his players like he did with the Steelers and his hard-nosed approach would be perfect in the Big Ten.

Too bad the rumors aren’t true.

Cory Giger is at 949-7031 and cgsports12@aol.com'>cgsports12@aol.com

 

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