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Buckskin86
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Steelers' LeBeau is calm and confident
Alex Marvez
Updated Jan 22, 2011
Dick LeBeau's Steelers defense was ranked No. 2 in the league this season.
PITTSBURGH
He played under Woody Hayes at Ohio State University. Vince Lombardi, Tom Landry and George Allen provided tutelage at college all-star games. Don Shula was his first NFL defensive coordinator. And he worked under Paul Brown in Cincinnati for 12 years after retiring as a future Hall of Fame cornerback.
So which of those legendary coaches does Pittsburgh Steelers defensive coordinator Dick LeBeau base his style after?
"I would honestly answer no one," he said.
Come again?
"The one thing I observed is each of those men was totally unique in their personality," LeBeau told FOXSports.com from inside Steelers headquarters. "They didn't, as far as I could see, try to be anything other than what they were. I thought that was probably the best bet for me if I was going to be a coach.
"I've always tried to treat players the way I wanted to be treated. Really, in the final analysis, I had no choice because that's what I was. I'm a pretty laid-back guy. I'm not a screamer. That's the way I coach."
You won't hear the Steelers complaining.
With all due respect to Rex Ryan and the brilliant job he has done derailing Peyton Manning and Tom Brady the past two weeks, the New York Jets head coach won't be the most respected defensive mind on the field for Sunday's AFC Championship game. The Steelers have fielded a top-five unit in six of the past seven seasons since LeBeau returned to Pittsburgh, including a No. 2 overall ranking in 2010. They led the league in fewest points allowed (232), sacks (48) and rushing defense (62.8-yard average).
The zone blitzes that Ryan loves to call out of a 3-4 look? The 73-year-old LeBeau invented that system decades ago and has perfected it in 37 years of NFL coaching.
The sideline and media demeanors couldn't be more different. No NFL coach is more boisterous and braggadocious about his team than Ryan. LeBeau is modest to a fault. About the only time he will raise his voice on game day is if LeBeau sees one of his charges showboating after making a big play.
Suffice it to say, LeBeau would never run down the sideline to celebrate in the end zone with his players like Ryan did last Sunday as running back Shonn Greene mocked New England after scoring the game-sealing touchdown.
"The only reason is because I believe in team so much," LeBeau said. "Let's face it: All of us want to say, 'Hey, look at me. Here's what I'm doing.' That's OK, but I'd rather do that on Monday after we win the game."
While having diametrically opposite personalities, LeBeau and Ryan do share this in common: Both enjoy the unwavering loyalty of their players.
It isn't just X's and O's that have earned LeBeau locker-room respect. LeBeau is sincere when saying he wants "players to know I was interested in them as a person." That goes a long way toward building trust and inspiring effort.
"He's a friend," second-year Steelers defensive end Ziggy Hood said. "The man is always greeting you saying, 'Hi. How're you doing?' It's not like he just comes to work, goes home and doesn't think about you. He really actually cares for his players."
Cont...
http://msn.foxsports.com/nfl/story/...lers-hall-of-fame-coach-is-his-own-man-012211
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Buckskin86
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LeBeau: 'If I'm coaching, it will be the Pittsburgh Steelers'
NFL.com
Jan. 26, 2011
Dick LeBeau denied Wednesday that he will leave the Pittsburgh Steelers after the season, telling NFL Network, "With this defense, with this group of men, they'll have to run me out of here."
Defensive coordinator Dick LeBeau insisted Wednesday that if he coaches next season, it will be with the Pittsburgh Steelers.
Defensive coordinator Dick LeBeau insisted Wednesday that if he coaches next season, it will be with the Pittsburgh Steelers. (Don Wright/Associated Press)
ESPN reported over the weekend that LeBeau's contract expires after the season and he would strongly consider joining the Arizona Cardinals, who have many former Steelers assistants, led by head coach Ken Whisenhunt, on staff. The team also needs a defensive coordinator after firing Bill Davis earlier this month.
LeBeau didn't specifically mention the Cardinals scenario Wednesday, but he said, "I'm not thinking about leaving tomorrow, I'll put it that way."
"I promise you, if I'm coaching, it will be the Pittsburgh Steelers," LeBeau said as the team prepared for the Feb. 6 Super Bowl against the Green Bay Packers.
LeBeau, 73, has been the Steelers' defensive coordinator since 2004, building one of the NFL's most-feared units. LeBeau is widely respected by Steelers players, who took a day off training camp to attend the coach's Hall of Fame induction last summer.
LeBeau had 62 interceptions, tied for eighth in NFL history, in 14 seasons as a Detroit Lions defensive back (1959-72). He entered the NFL coaching ranks with the Philadelphia Eagles in 1973 and also was an assistant for the Green Bay Packers, Cincinnati Bengals and Buffalo Bills. He has served two stints with the Steelers, as secondary coach (1992-94), then defensive coordinator (1995-96) the first time.
LeBeau was the Bengals' head coach from 2000 to 2002, going 12-33 before he was fired and eventually replaced by Marvin Lewis.
http://www.nfl.com/superbowl/story/...m-coaching-it-will-be-the-pittsburgh-steelers
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Buckskin86
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Posted: Monday January 31, 2011
Tim Layden>INSIDE THE NFL
Excerpted from 'Blood, Sweat and Chalk: The Ultimate Football Playbook'
Dick LeBeau says the greatest play in Super Bowl history started with a zone blitz
Dom Capers and LeBeau helped lead the 'Blitz-burgh' defense of the '90s
For fans of technical football history, Super Bowl XLV is a zone blitz summit. It matches defensive coordinators Dick LeBeau of the Steelers and Dom Capers of the Packers, the Obi-Wan and Luke of the Fire Zone. Neither of them invented the zone blitz, but it was LeBeau who brought the zone blitz into the modern NFL as coordinator of the Bengals in the early 1980s and it was Capers who joined LeBeau with the "Blitz-burgh'' Steelers of the early 90s. Together, they re-created NFL defense and crafted a blueprint that's still the most popular in the game today. Now they will face off in an X's and O's throwdown that true whiteboard geeks can appreciate.
In the spring of 2008 I was beginning work on a book about the evolution of various football offensive and defensive systems. That book would become "Blood, Sweat and Chalk: The Ultimate Football Playbook. How The Great Coaches Built Today's Game,'' published last August. From the start, it was certain that one of the book's chapters would address the zone blitz, because it had become so ubiquitous in the modern game. I needed to speak to LeBeau and I eventually did. But at first, LeBeau was reticent. His first piece of advice was this: "Why don't you talk to Dom Capers.'' I did that, too. The distillation of those interviews -- and another enlightening one with Bill Arnsparger, to whom both LeBeau and Capers owe a debt of gratitude -- became the book chapter that follows.
*****
In one of the most important plays of the most important game of the NFL's 89th season, a 242-pound, shot put-shaped linebacker intercepted a pass on the final snap of the first half and returned it 100 yards for a touchdown. The play was a bizarre sight, as the Steelers' James Harrison staggered the final 10 yards into the end zone where he collapsed and lay exhausted from the effort of lugging his dense, powerful body the entire length of the field, a body clearly not designed for such work. But it was the beginning, not the end, of this long, operatic play that fits more significantly into football history.
The situation: With just over two minutes remaining in the first half of Super Bowl XLIII at Raymond James Stadium in Tampa, with the favored Steelers leading the Arizona Cardinals 10-7, Cards linebacker Karlos Dansby intercepted a Ben Roethlisberger pass and returned it to the Steelers' 34. In seven plays Arizona quarterback Kurt Warner moved the Cards to a first-and-goal at the Steelers' one-yard line with 18 seconds to play. It seemed a virtual certainty that the Cardinals would go into the halftime dressing room with a lead.
On first down the Cardinals lined up with Pro Bowl receivers Larry Fitzgerald and Anquan Boldin (who between them had caught passes for 42 touchdowns over the 2007 and '08 regular seasons), both to the left side of the formation, both split, with Boldin outside Fitzgerald. The Steelers had six men on the line of scrimmage -- four standing and only two with a hand on the ground; but just before the snap three other defenders moved up close, into gaps, as if preparing for an all-out blitz. At the snap, from a stand-up right defensive end position, Harrison took a step forward.
In fact, Harrison was baiting Warner, giving the impression that he was blitzing, when he was actually planning to drop off into the middle of the field in a form of zone pass defense. The tactic is called a "zone blitz," a catchall phrase for any defense that blitzes from one area while dropping players -- linemen, linebackers or defensive backs -- into zone coverage in another area. These defenses are also called "zone dogs" (as in "red dogs," an old school name for blitzes) or "fire zones."
Warner, of course, knew all about them, and he knew that the Steelers and 71-year-old defensive coordinator Dick LeBeau loved them. "Pittsburgh lives off zone dogs," Warner had said in the spring before that season. "You see zone dogs everywhere, but Pittsburgh is so athletic and so skilled, they've really made it a part of their package. Against them, you're going to see it four, six, eight times a game. Against a lot of other teams, you might see it once."
Cont...
Read more: http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2011/writers/tim_layden/01/31/zone-blitz/index.html#ixzz1CeB6wMgY
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Buckskin86
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Steelers' 'Papa Coach,' Dick LeBeau, is a defensive guru
Cedric Golden, Commentary
Published: Friday, Feb. 4, 2011
Gene J. Puskar/ASSOCIATED PRESS
Steelers defensive coordinator Dick LeBeau gestures on the sidelines during a game against Cleveland on Oct. 17. LeBeau, an NFL Hall of Famer, started his NFL career as a player in 1959. He's in his 37th year as a coach.
DALLAS ? Pittsburgh's defense could best be described as a cast of characters.
You have linebacker James Harrison, a walking time bomb. There's safety Ryan Clark, a human missile who has knocked out as many teammates as he has opponents.
Don't forget linebacker James Farrior, the cerebral leader who sets an example for the others on the field.
Up front, defensive tackle Casey Hampton quietly occupies double team blocks to allow the league's most athletic linebacking corps ? Harrison, Farrior, LaMarr Woodley and Lawrence Timmons ? to make "SportsCenter" every Sunday night.
And last, but certainly not least, league defensive MVP Troy Polamalu is the glue that holds it all together.
The league's stingiest defense puts it all together game in and game out, and while there are divergent personalities across the board, the one thing they share is a common goal. Not one of them could stand the thought of losing this Super Bowl and letting down "Papa Coach," also known as defensive coordinator Dick LeBeau.
The architect of this swarming 3-4 alignment isn't sure if he likes his moniker, but it could be worse.
"I don't really know (where the nickname came from),'' LeBeau said. "But I've told them several times that I'm honored because they could call me ?Grand Papa Coach.' I could be a lot of these guys' grandfathers. They're still cutting me down in years pretty good when they call me Dad."
LeBeau could pass for a 55-year-old, but he has actually been around for 73 years (and counting), an astounding number given that many former NFL players in their 70s ? and some younger ? are shuffling along and not getting around as well. Count LeBeau as an exception to that rule.
Cont...
http://www.statesman.com/sports/pro/steelers-papa-coach-dick-lebeau-is-a-defensive-1234185.html
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Buckskin86
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Earning a degree in defense
When need arose, student of the game LeBeau became an innovator
By JOHN McCLAIN
Copyright 2011 Houston Chronicle
Feb. 6, 2011
Keith Srakocic AP
Dick LeBeau's main objective in the Super Bowl today will be to have his defense harass Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers, who uses a four-receiver package to spread defenses and pick them apart.
ARLINGTON ? During an interview session last week, Pittsburgh inside linebacker James Farrior made a comment that showed how important defensive coordinator Dick LeBeau is to the Steelers' success.
If the Steelers are to defeat Green Bay in Super Bowl XLV today at Cowboys Stadium and earn a third ring in six years, their defense must contain the Packers' offense, specifically quarterback Aaron Rodgers.
"The Packers are the biggest challenge we've faced all season," Farrior said. "They have a great quarterback and a great group of wide receivers. We're just praying that coach LeBeau comes up with a great game plan like he always does."
That's a lot of pressure to put on a coordinator, but LeBeau can handle it. At 73, he's still going strong, and he's trying to win a Super Bowl ring after being inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in August.
LeBeau, who's been playing and coaching in the NFL since 1959, is regarded as the greatest 3-4 defensive coach in league history - the father of the 3-4 zone blitz that has been used by other coordinators since the late 1980s.
LeBeau started using the zone blitz when his defenses had to face the Oilers' run-and-shoot and the West Coast offense popularized by the 49ers in the 1980s.
"Necessity is the mother of invention," LeBeau said. "The run-and-shoot was very much invoked. Houston had Warren Moon, who was practically unstoppable with the people we had, throwing the ball all over the place.
"The West Coast was very similar to the run-and-shoot in terms of a quick release of the ball. It spread out the defense. The blitzes that were in place at that time, they had the answers to. We defenders had to come up with something a little bit different, and this was the thought I had."
Cont...
http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/sports/fb/texansfront/7415087.html
Steelers' LeBeau revered as inventor of zone blitz
By JOHN McCLAIN
[email protected]
Published: Saturday, February 5, 2011
In this Sept. 29, 2008 file photo, Pittsburgh Steelers defensive coodinator Dick LeBeau, right, coaches on the sidelines against the Baltimore Ravens during the first quarter of a NFL football game in Pittsburgh. Steelers players have talked for years about their respect, admiration and, yes, love for defensive coordinator Dick LeBeau. Here's another one: Some of them even call the former star defensive back Dad. Photo: AP, Gene J. Puskar / AP
ARLINGTON ? Pittsburgh linebacker James Farrior's assessment showed just how important defensive coordinator Dick LeBeau is to the Steelers' success.
If the Steelers are going to defeat Green Bay in Super Bowl XLV at Cowboys Stadium today and earn a third ring in six years, their defense must find a way to contain the Packers' offense, specifically quarterback Aaron Rodgers.
?The Packers are the biggest challenge we've faced all season,? Farrior said. ?They have a great quarterback and a great group of wide receivers. We're just praying that coach LeBeau comes up with a great game plan like he always does.?
That's a lot of pressure to put on a coordinator, but LeBeau can handle it.
At 72, he's still going strong, and he's trying to win a Super Bowl ring in February after being inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in August.
Cont...
Read more: http://www.mysanantonio.com/default...rs-LeBeau-revered-as-999224.php#ixzz1DBgU2Kax
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Buckskin86
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LeBeau to sign deal to stay as Steelers' defensive coordinator
Tuesday, February 15, 2011
By Gerry Dulac, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
Scott Halleran/Getty
Defensive coordinator Dick LeBeau of the Pittsburgh Steelers looks on during Super Bowl XLV Media Day ahead of Super Bowl XLV at Cowboys Stadium on February 1, 2011 in Arlington, Texas.
Dick LeBeau spent the weekend playing golf in North Carolina, not mulling his future with the Steelers or any other NFL team.
After all, there was nothing to mull.
"I'm not coaching anywhere but here," LeBeau said today after returning from four days off to start getting ready for the NFL combine that begins Feb. 23 in Indianapolis.
The Steelers want LeBeau, 72, back as their defensive coordinator and he intends to sign a new one-year deal any day now to return as the leader of a defense that ranked No. 2 overall and No. 1 against the run in the National Football League in 2010.
Signing a one-year contract is nothing new for LeBeau: He has done that every year with the Steelers since returning for his second stint as defensive coordinator in 2004. And that is his choice, not the Steelers, who typically sign all their assistant coaches to two-year contracts.
Read more: http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/11046/1125590-100.stm#ixzz1EE3THz00
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Buckskin86
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[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xrEzCk63o8Q"]YouTube - Dick LeBeau reflects on his time at Ohio State[/ame]
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Buckskin86
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Read more: Assistants Arians, LeBeau will return next season for Steelers - Pittsburgh Tribune-Review http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pittsburghtrib/sports/steelers/s_776008.html#ixzz1j9lWwUK2
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Buckskin86
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[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=85Ck9ytp9xo"]Pittsburgh Steelers Draft Day Memories- Dick LeBeau - YouTube[/ame]
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