During the 2000s and early 2010s, the Pittsburgh Steelers had a defense littered with All-Pro talent, but they also had one of the best defensive coordinators in NFL history in Dick LeBeau. During an interview with Rob King on Steelers.com, former Steelers DT Casey Hampton said that LeBeau was “everything” for the Steelers defense since he was a players’ coach and wouldn’t get on players for making mistakes.
“Dickie was everything, dude. I think the biggest thing with Coach LeBeau is him playing football and being the type of player he was, he never got on you for making mistakes and doing things wrong, ’cause he understood it. ‘Cause he played it. He knew you weren’t trying to do it wrong, he know you were trying to do the right thing and you just messed up. So he wouldn’t overly get mad or whatever. He was a player’s coach, he coached how he played,” Hampton said. “So that’s what made him a great coach.”
Obviously, in the NFL where every snap matters, no player is intentionally trying to mess up or do something he shouldn’t. As a Hall of Fame player himself, LeBeau understood the mindset of his players and that mutual respect helped them thrive under him. They wouldn’t go into reps worried about getting yelled at if they did mess up, and that made the team stronger as a whole.
His entire career, LeBeau was never one to harp on players as a coach. Motivating them by not harping on any mistake and seeing the bigger picture endeared him to his players. Cameron Heyward said the same thing about how LeBeau motivated the team, knowing that yelling at them could lower their morale and that the players getting down on themselves wasn’t going to do any good.
LeBeau’s scheme and coaching was also a big reason why so many players excelled under him, but the interpersonal relationships also played a big factor. It’s why he still has such a great relationship with so many of his former players. Some players do respond well to criticism but not everybody does, and LeBeau was good at making sure players understood that he knew a mistake was simply just that, a mistake and criticizing someone or the team for mistakes wouldn’t benefit the collective.
LeBeau also having the playing experience that he did helped him gain the respect of his players and understand how the mind of a player works. Hampton said some people become coaches and “act like they don’t understand” and think players shouldn’t make mistakes. That wasn’t the case with LeBeau, and it made the Steelers defense routinely one of the best year in and year out under his tutelage.
