Larry Foote Says Players Don’t Trust LeBeau

[steelfury02]

might actually see him back in Baltimore after this season lol - at the rate they change D coordinators, why not? . . .

[GoFor7]

Originally Posted by steelfury02

might actually see him back in Baltimore after this season lol - at the rate they change D coordinators, why not? . . .

Doubt it. Word is Rex wasn't too thrilled when Harbaugh got the Ravens head coaching job over him in 2008. That might be awkward if those two were reunited.

[steelfury02]

i forgot about that - awkward job v. no job though. Although - we're talking about someone who has savings > mine

Has too much time passed to insert foot joke here?

[EbonySteel86]

With the personal we got Rex would blitz EVERYONE!!!

[Hawaii 5-0]

Originally Posted by steelfury02

Has too much time passed to insert foot joke here?

it's never too late for Rex Ryan foot jokes...

[Killer]

We had coulda had Farriors/Foote's replacement...

MarkKaboly_Trib And with the 52nd pick in the 2010 NFL Draft, the Pittsburgh Steelers select LB Sean Lee ...uh, the Pittsburgh Steelers select Jason Worilds

[FanSince72]

Well I haven't trusted this system for the last few years.

It's stale, it's old, it's been solved by every team in the league and it's being mailed in.

The same thing that happened with Noll is now happening with LeBeau; he's been elevated to such a level of reverence that no one can bring themselves to tell him it's time to leave even though it's painfully clear that his best days are behind him.

I don't care how great someone is or how many statues are commissioned in their honor -- everyone gets old and everyone loses a step eventually and in the last few years LeBeau has lost more than one and it's time to move on.

[GoFor7]

Originally Posted by FanSince72

Well I haven't trusted this system for the last few years.

It's stale, it's old, it's been solved by every team in the league and it's being mailed in.

The same thing that happened with Noll is now happening with LeBeau; he's been elevated to such a level of reverence that no one can bring themselves to tell him it's time to leave even though it's painfully clear that his best days are behind him.

I don't care how great someone is or how many statues are commissioned in their honor -- everyone gets old and everyone loses a step eventually and in the last few years LeBeau has lost more than one and it's time to move on.

I wouldn't quite say it's time for LeBeau to leave. Adjust? Yes, but if he won't do that on his own then Tomlin has to force him to.

Is the problem a stubborn defensive coordinator, or is it a head coach tip-toeing around the situation?

[FanSince72]

Originally Posted by GoFor7

Is the problem a stubborn defensive coordinator, or is it a head coach tip-toeing around the situation?

Those are both very good questions.

But I think the "tip-toeing" aspect is more likely.
I don't believe that LeBeau is so much being stubborn as he is simply set in his ways.
At 75 years of age and with about 50 years of pro football under his belt, I think he just doesn't have the desire to really dig down and reinvent this defense to compete in today's NFL. It's not that he doesn't want to. I just think he realizes just how much time and effort that would take and I wonder if he can muster the energy to dedicate himself to something like that.

Picture yourself at 75 after a very long and storied career. You're looking at basically overhauling the entire defense and you know that in reality it will take more than one training camp to do that. Would you have the drive and energy for that?
Or would you be more content to leave things as they are and look more towards retirement than reinvention?

I think LeBeau is in a sort of nether-world of not wanting to leave, but at the same time not wanting to dedicate himself to what might be years of re-tooling. When people find themselves in such situations, they tend not to really address either option and end up doing more thinking than acting.

Because of this, I think that Tomlin and the F.O. are indeed tip-toeing because they're both aware that a change has to happen but no one wants to be the one to say so.
Trouble is that when they did that with Noll, it took ten years to resolve. I hope we're not looking at something similar now.

[GoFor7]

Originally Posted by FanSince72

Because of this, I think that Tomlin and the F.O. are indeed tip-toeing because they're both aware that a change has to happen but no one wants to be the one to say so.
Trouble is that when they did that with Noll, it took ten years to resolve. I hope we're not looking at something similar now.

That wasn't exactly a great era in Steelers' history. However, I get the feeling history could avoid being repeated because of the fact Keith Butler is still around. Remember, he interviewed to be the DC for the Colts, but quickly came back to Pittsburgh. Would he have come back if he felt the front office was going to keep LeBeau for potentially several more seasons?

My guess is either LeBeau's tenure as DC is coming to an end, or Butler got tricked by the front office.