Get Ready to Hear a Lot About Bill Cowher

The Bus predicts Cowher's next stop

When the Giants season wrapped up and they decided to react to the second half collapse by firing assistant coaches, we pointed out that one byproduct would be increased speculation about Tom Coughlin's job status next season. It's the nature of the beast and that script is starting to play out eight months before the 2010 season gets underway.

Jerome Bettis was on Chris Russo's satellite radio show Thursday and the Bus told the Mad Dog something very interesting indeed about Bill Cowher.

"I believe he's going to be with the Giants," Bettis said. "I think that's the team that he really coveted. This is where he always wanted to be. The Mara family, he's been very close to them. He's known them very well and was on the inside track, before the Giants won the Super Bowl, for that job and I think he's holding out for that opportunity if it presents itself."

Is this a case of a former player merely offering his opinion about his former coach? Perhaps, but Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk points out that Bettis correctly predicted Cowher's departure from Pittsburgh during the 2006 preseason. The thought of Cowher going to work for the Maras also makes a lot of sense. He worked for the Rooneys, the other grand old football family in the NFL, and the two families have, in the manner of European royal families, intermarried over the years which should make it a pretty comfortable landing spot.

In some respects, it doesn't even matter if Bettis has insider information. The mere suggestion of Cowher's interest will mean that every bad turn suffered by the Giants will result in a flood of blog posts, talk radio calls and telegrams calling for the team to make a change at coach.

Sort of overshadows Perry Fewell being hired as the new defensive coordinator, doesn't it? 

Josh Alper is a writer living in New York City and is a contributor to FanHouse.com and ProFootballTalk.com in addition to his duties for NBCNewYork.com.

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