On Monday, former Steelers great CB Rod Woodson jumped on the All Things Covered podcast with Bryant McFadden and Patrick Peterson to talk about his playing days in the league as well as his experience of rushing back after tearing his ACL to play in Super Bowl XXX against the Dallas Cowboys.
After speaking about his relationship with Chuck Noll, Woodson was asked about what it was like playing for former Steelers DC Dick LeBeau.
“Dick’s the dude, man.” Woodson said on All Things Covered. “Dick’s the G.O.A.T. I love Dick LeBeau, man. Love him to death.”
LeBeau is known for being loved by scores of Steelers players including guys like McFadden, who hosts the podcast, as well as Ike Taylor, who has spoken highly of LeBeau and his brilliant football mind in the past. LeBeau’s relationship with Hall of Fame S Troy Polamalu has been well-documented over the years and Polamalu was recently on the show and spoke about the relationship the two share together, leading to LeBeau being Polamalu’s presenter for induction into the Pro Football Hall of Fame.
Not only did Woodson speak about the adoration he had playing for LeBeau but also the benefits of playing in his defensive system that allowed his players to play to their strengths.
“His system just let athletes play. I mean it’s like ‘Go play,’ and one thing I love about Dick more than anything is that he let you be you inside his own system,” Woodson said.
LeBeau became famous for running the fire zone blitz during his days at Pittsburgh’s defensive coordinator, coming up with chaos by sending additional pressure from different places to keep opposing offenses guessing. He also did a great job of allowing his best players to play freely within his system like Polamalu often did when he had an instinctive sense that would lead him to make a big play. The same could be said for James Harrison, who was supposed to rush the quarterback backed up on his own goal line in Super Bowl XLIII against the Cardinals, but instead dropped back into coverage and picked off QB Kurt Warner, taking it back the distance for a touchdown right before halftime.
Woodson and LeBeau were together on the Steelers from 1992-1996 with LeBeau first being the defensive backs coach before taking over as DC in 1995. He managed to coach Woodson to four Pro Bowls and three first-team All-Pro nods during that span as well as Defensive Player of the Year in 1993. Being a Hall of Fame defensive back himself, LeBeau has been able to relate to some of Pittsburgh’s all-time greats, putting them in position to be successful on the field. It’s something that Woodson still cherishes and is likely a big reason why he went on to have a gold jacket-career in the NFL.
