Dick LeBeau and Steelers agree to part ways

[buccoray61]

[QUOTE=phillyesq;634931]

Kindly point out where I said that. Thanks.

It looks like I said that,but I quoted a quote and it came out like that,if that makes sense LOL

[phillyesq]

[QUOTE=buccoray61;634933]

It looks like I said that,but I quoted a quote and it came out like that,if that makes sense LOL

Yeah, it makes sense. Sorry, didn't mean to reply to you. I know that it came from Steelhere.

[buccoray61]

[QUOTE=phillyesq;634934]

Yeah, it makes sense. Sorry, didn't mean to reply to you. I know that it came from Steelhere.

It's all good. LOL!

[Steelhere10]

[QUOTE=phillyesq;634934]

Yeah, it makes sense. Sorry, didn't mean to reply to you. I know that it came from Steelhere.

wrong again, I wasn't referring to you...

[Chadman]

I'm still not sure how we get to this namecalling stage over coaching hires & fires...or even over player abilities...or lack there of.

LeBeau was great for the organisation, and it would have been great if he could 'retire a Steeler'. That said, he's not ready to throw in the towel, so good luck to him in whatever venture he takes from here. Personally I think LeBeau's "downfall" over the last couple of years has as much to do with firstly, older slowing down players, before secondly- switching to a vastly inexperienced group of players, in a short period of time as it does with any kind of 'loss of coaching ability/ideas' on LeBeau's part.

Whoever is brought in will be working with essentially the same group of players, so I'm personally hoping that we see some growth from those guys to help out the new DC, as well as some new ideas to maybe freshen it up.

For mine, this puts next year's D in the same space as this year's D- it'll probably be wildly inconsistant until we see some form of familiarity with the players.

[Oviedo]

I'm still not sure how we get to this namecalling stage over coaching hires & fires...or even over player abilities...or lack there of.

LeBeau was great for the organisation, and it would have been great if he could 'retire a Steeler'. That said, he's not ready to throw in the towel, so good luck to him in whatever venture he takes from here. Personally I think LeBeau's "downfall" over the last couple of years has as much to do with firstly, older slowing down players, before secondly- switching to a vastly inexperienced group of players, in a short period of time as it does with any kind of 'loss of coaching ability/ideas' on LeBeau's part.

Whoever is brought in will be working with essentially the same group of players, so I'm personally hoping that we see some growth from those guys to help out the new DC, as well as some new ideas to maybe freshen it up.

For mine, this puts next year's D in the same space as this year's D- it'll probably be wildly inconsistant until we see some form of familiarity with the players.

Chadman--some can't resist name calling toward other posters if they don't get their way. Says more about the name caller than the target.

[Steelhere10]

Chadman--some can't resist name calling toward other posters if they don't get their way. Says more about the name caller than the target.

Yep and if they have problems with some posters , just put the block on like I did!!! I'm all about the Steelers winning some are not.

[hawaiiansteel]

[Oviedo]

Good read about the time for change

Analysis: Time was right for Steelers change
By Mark Kaboly

Sunday, Jan. 11, 2015, 10:27 p.m.

Updated 12 hours ago

It doesn't matter that the Steelers probably should take a class on the proper way to let go of a longtime employee, particularly a coordinator.

Bruce Arians' “retirement” as offensive coordinator in January 2012 still is the butt of jokes. Give it some time, and surely quips will fly about Dick LeBeau's “resignation” Saturday.

But who cares? Who cares if there was an uncomfortable feel in Mike Tomlin's office Saturday morning when the conversation ultimately shifted from “How are you?” to “Maybe it's time to move on”?

It was time for LeBeau to go.

Only the men in that meeting will know exactly what happened. Did Tomlin want LeBeau out? Was Tomlin just executing orders from above? Did LeBeau just feel it was time to go?

We know this: Every time LeBeau talked about coming back for another year, the response was always the same: “I'll stay as long as they want me.”
Not long after he was hired, Tomlin explained why he opted to keep LeBeau as his defensive coordinator, saying, “Why would you fix something that's not broken?”

The Steelers defense in 2014 might not have been broken, but there were significant cracks.

It was time to make a break. Go in a new direction. Get new ideas flowing.

There's nothing wrong with that.

The defense played better down the stretch, and this season could've been one of LeBeau's better coaching performances considering the personnel issues he dealt with. But something wasn't right.

It wasn't all LeBeau, but he had a hand in it.

LeBeau is 77 — the oldest and longest-tenured coordinator in the NFL. How much longer could he realistically coach?

With longtime players such as Brett Keisel, James Harrison, Ike Taylor and Troy Polamalu all but certainly gone before next season, now was the ideal time to make a break.

So now what?

Linebackers coach Keith Butler seems to be the obvious choice to be promoted, considering the Steelers have gone so far as to block him from leaving for other jobs.

The Steelers should and likely will do their due diligence by interviewing other candidates, but Butler deserves a chance, one that never has been in writing but always has been assumed.

Something Butler told me leading up to Super Bowl XLV while the Arizona Cardinals and friend/golfing buddy Ken Whisenhunt were eager for him to take over as Cardinals defensive coordinator still resonates: “Loyalty is big for me,” he said.

It will be interesting to see if it is for the Steelers.

The Dolphins tried to get Butler, and he said no. The Cardinals tried and failed. The Colts came calling, and Butler didn't answer.
Last year, Whisenhunt called again, this time as coach of the Titans. The Steelers blocked the move.

Butler has coached linebackers for 16 consecutive years (four with the Browns and 12 with the Steelers).

He is a LeBeau disciple, so if he gets the job, there would be much of the same 3-4 defense the Steelers run now. No switch to a 4-3 would seem imminent.
But in Butler, the Steelers would get a fresh set of eyes running the defense, and maybe a new idea here and there.

Sometimes change is needed just for the sake of change. This is one of those times.

LeBeau is a Hall of Fame player and considered one of the all-time great defensive coordinators, and for good reason — the guy knows how to coach defense.

LeBeau's 2008 Steelers defense was the best I've seen. It allowed 237 yards per game and won a Super Bowl. That's '85 Bears-like, but that also was six years ago, and not one of those starters is around anymore.

It's a young man's sport. The Steelers realized that a couple of years ago. The average age of their starting defense will be about 26 next season, and there will be no 30-year-old in the starting lineup. Four seasons ago, the average age was 31.1, and eight players were at least 30.
Some of those players took LeBeau's resignation hard.
Ryan Clark, who now plays for the Washington Redskins, posted a photo of him with LeBeau on Instagram. Taylor called his photo the “Da Great LeBeau” on Twitter.
“Everything has to come to an end at some time,” LeBeau told good friend Bill Priatko on Saturday night, hours after the “resignation” became public.

This just happened to be the time for LeBeau and the Steelers.

The right time.

[hawaiiansteel]

Gerry Dulac @gerrydulac -
·
Dick LeBeau has talked w Bruce Arians about possibly joining Arizona Cardinals staff.

[URL]https://twitter.com/gerrydulac[/URL]

[Oviedo]

Gerry Dulac @gerrydulac -
·
Dick LeBeau has talked w Bruce Arians about possibly joining Arizona Cardinals staff.

[URL]https://twitter.com/gerrydulac[/URL]

All the best. Pittsburgh West continues recycle Steelers

[NorthCoast]

Good read about the time for change

Surprised you didn't pick up on Butler's quote: "Loyalty is big for me"....

Certain fans might draw the conclusion that Butler will pick his favorite vets and stick with them for too long and not play the rookies until it's too late...

[phillyesq]

Gerry Dulac @gerrydulac -
·
Dick LeBeau has talked w Bruce Arians about possibly joining Arizona Cardinals staff.

[URL]https://twitter.com/gerrydulac[/URL]

Makes a ton of sense. Even if he isn't there as a coordinator, I could see him filling a role as a consultant or an assistant.

[hawaiiansteel]

Surprised you didn't pick up on Butler's quote: "Loyalty is big for me"....

Certain fans might draw the conclusion that Butler will pick his favorite vets and stick with them for too long and not play the rookies until it's too late...

"Normally, I’m not a big guy with rookies," Butler said. "In fact, I don’t like to play rookies because in defensive football there are two things that get you beat. One of them is missed tackles and the other is mental mistakes.

And normally when you come and try to learn this defense it’s going to take you a little while to do it."

[URL]http://www.behindthesteelcurtain.com/2014/6/18/5820320/shazier-to-see-a-lot-of-playing-time-in-the-middle-of-the-steelers[/URL]

[Sugar]

This is a nice tribute to Coach LeBeau on a special edition of Steelers Live:

[url]http://www.steelers.com/video-and-audio/videos/LIVE-Dick-LeBeau-resigns/ca136cf1-e0a1-4513-9238-abfa399caf46[/url]