On Saturday it was announced that Mike Vrabel will be the Tennessee Titans new head coach and at that time you had to wonder if he’d retain defensive coordinator Dick LeBeau. On Monday, it was reported that the Titans have decided to part ways with the 80-year-old LeBeau, who had been with the Titans since 2015.
At this point you really have to wonder if this is the end of the road in the NFL for LeBeau, who is known as the innovator of the “zone blitz” defense. It was recently reported that LeBeau would “be comfortable retiring if it [didn’t] work out in Tennessee.”
LeBeau’s career as both a Hall of Fame player and coach has spanned 59 years. His coaching career began in 1973 with the Philadelphia Eagles as a special teams coordinator and from there he spent time coaching with the Green Bay Packers, Cincinnati Bengals, Pittsburgh Steelers, Buffalo Bills and Titans. LeBeau’s second stint with the Steelers from 2004–2014 included him coaching a few great defenses and Pittsburgh went to three Super Bowls and won two of them during that span.
The Steelers parted ways with LeBeau after the 2014 season and linebackers coach Keith Butler was promoted to replace him. There’s currently no indication that LeBeau will return to Pittsburgh as a special Senior consultant or assistant.
In 2010, LeBeau was voted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame. He played 14 seasons at cornerback for the Detroit Lions and finished his career as the third-leading intercepter in NFL history.
