Timing is everything.

Bill Cowher retired one season removed from a Super Bowl championship by the Steelers, and his celebrity was such it earned him a prime spot on "The NFL Today," the studio show that surrounds NFL games on CBS every Sunday.

Cowher did a solid job in his first season last year and will return to join James Brown, Dan Marino, Boomer Esiason and Shannon Sharpe in the show that is in its 49th season.

Like Cowher, Brian Billick was a Super Bowl champion coach without a job. But Billick's title was won in 2001, and he did not leave the Baltimore Ravens voluntarily. Which means, while that title still has some cachet, it was good enough only to land him an analyst spot on a secondary Fox announcing team.

Billick is one of the few new faces in the network lineups for the coming season.

Another new face is a familiar one. Dan Patrick, formerly of ESPN SportsCenter fame, has joined the star-studded cast of "Football Night In America," which is the studio show for NBC's "Sunday Night Football."

With Bob Costas, Keith Olbermann, Cris Collinsworth, Jerome Bettis, Tiki Barber and Peter King already on board, there wouldn't figure to be much room for Patrick. But he'll be slotted in a familiar role, doing the highlights of the day with his former SportsCenter partner Olbermann.

Al Michaels and John Madden continue in their roles as the game announcers for NBC.

Another new face Sunday afternoon will be former New York Giants star Michael Strahan, who joins "Fox NFL Sunday," the studio show around NFC games. He'll team with host Curt Menefee, Terry Bradshaw, Howie Long and Jimmy Johnson.

The long-running "Inside The NFL" has departed HBO and will be seen on Showtime at 9 p.m. Wednesdays and rerun at other times during the week.

The show, in its 31st year, will be produced by CBS Sports and NFL Films and will be hosted by James Brown with Phil Simms, Collinsworth and newcomer Warren Sapp, a former NFL great, as analysts.

CBS, the network that will carry most Steelers games, has assigned its announcing crews this way:

The top crew, the one that usually gets the most important game, again will be Jim Nantz and Phil Simms. After that the crews, in order or importance, are Greg Gumbel and Dan Dierdorf; Dick Enberg and Randy Cross or Dan Fouts; Kevin Harlan and Rich Gannon; Ian Eagle and Solomon Wilcots; Gus Johnson and Steve Tasker; Don Criqui or Bill Macatee with Fouts or Steve Beuerlein.

At Fox, the top crew will be Joe Buck, Troy Aikman and Pam Oliver.

Other crews, pretty much in order of importance, are Kenny Albert, Daryl Johnston and Tony Siragusa; Dick Stockton, Brian Baldinger and Laura Okmin; Sam Rosen, Tim Ryan and Chris Myers; Thom Brennaman and Billick; Matt Vasgersian, JC Pearson and Nischelle Turner; and Ron Pitts, Tony Boselli and Carissa Thompson.

Locally, Steelers games will be carried on the Steelers Radio Network with WDVE-FM (102.5) being the flagship station. Bill Hillgrove will handle the play-by-play again with Tunch Ilkin as the analyst and Craig Wolfley working the sidelines.

Hillgrove also will be the play-by-play man for Pitt games, carried locally on WWSW-FM (94.5). Bill Fralic and Foge Fazio will work with Hillgrove.