Asking a coach to pick his favorite player, especially a coach who was around the game for more than 44 years in that capacity, is like asking a parent to pick their favorite child.
You just can’t do it.
For former Pittsburgh Steelers defensive coordinator Dick LeBeau, who spoke with coaches Monday during annual gathering of Western Pennsylvania football coaches in Pittsburgh, he has so many great players to choose from during his coaching career for that favorite distinction, especially from the 2008 Steelers defense.
While he wouldn’t give a clear-cut answer to the question, he did let slip that he thinks former Steelers’ linebacker James Farrior was “one heck of a linebacker” in his defense.
“If you were asked the question on your championship team you wouldn’t pick one because you love them all, they’re all your family. I never get into the best. You can probably guess a few of the guys I would name off the Steelers,” LeBeau said to the coaches at the Grandview Golf Club. “Some of them may need a haircut. Everybody talks about this at every level: a team is a family and a family is a team. We preached that from Day 1. When Kevin [Colbert] drafted these guys and we brought them in, that’s the first thing they heard and the guys in the room exemplified it to them. So all they ever exposed to was it’s not I, it’s we.
“My main thing about defense – and there’s stars in every athletic competition – but I tried to equate success with everybody on the team, on the field executing their assignment and contributing to the success of that particular play. On an interception, somebody got pressure on the quarterback, everybody was covered and he had to throw it into a tight spot. That way we all could share in the success. For me to start saying, ‘Oh, he’s my favorite’ and ‘He’s my favorite,’ you wouldn’t do that with your family and I’d never do that with my guys.”
But then, LeBeau — who is promoting his new book “Legendary” co-authored by Steelers Depot Editor Scott Brown and longtime writer George Von Benko — paused and smiled.
“But I’ll tell you what: James Farrior was one hell of a linebacker.”
Farrior was one heck of a linebacker in the Steelers defense under LeBeau.
Signed as a free agent ahead of the 2002 season after struggling in four seasons with the New York Jets, playing three seasons out of position at outside linebacker, Farrior stepped into an inside linebacker role in Pittsburgh and flourished in LeBeau’s scheme.
In 10 seasons with the Steelers, Farrior recorded at least 100 tackles in six of the 10 seasons, including a high of 141 in 2003. Along with his ability to get to the football and get guys on the ground on a consistent basis, Farrior was also an adept blitzer. He recorded 30 career sacks in Pittsburgh in LeBeau’s Fire X Blitz package, and really developed in coverage in his time in the Steel City, recording eight interceptions in total, including a pick-six in 2004 against the Cincinnati Bengals.
As a member of the Steelers, Farrior recorded 1,085 tackles, 82 tackles for loss, 47 quarterback hits, 30.0 sacks, eight interceptions, 12 forced fumbles, 10 fumble recoveries, and 53 passes defensed. Quite impressive as the man in the middle of star-laden defenses.
On top of the individual production at the inside linebacker position, Farrior won two Super Bowls with the Steelers and earned a first-team All-Pro honor in 2004 and a second-team All-Pro honor in 2008, not to mention two trips to the Pro Bowl in 2004 and 2008.
Farrior was also a runner-up to Baltimore’s Ed Reed in the NFL’s Defensive Player of the Year award in ’04 and earned an induction into the Steelers Hall of Honor in 2020.
He was one heck of a linebacker, and an integral part of the Steelers’ great defensive run in the early and late 2000s, leading to two Super Bowls for the Black and Gold.
