Steelers: Will LeBeau Lure Players to Tennessee?

Former Steelers defensive coordinator Dick LeBeau promptly began Dick LeBeau Month in Pittsburgh by flying to Nashville an accepting the offer to become the Tennessee Titans assistant head coach.

Per Chis Wesseling of Around the NFL, the 77-year-old LeBeau is expected to join former Steelers assistants Ken Whisenhunt and Ray Horton in Tennessee. Whisenhunt was a former offensive coordinator for the Steelers, now head coach of the Titans and Horton was under the LeBeau with the Steelers as the secondary coach. Horton remains the Titans defensive coordinator but will reportedly work under LeBeau.

There’s no denying that the longstanding members of the Steelers defense have a strong affection for Dick LeBeau. Many of them refer to him as “Coach Dad” and a few of them who’s futures in Pittsburgh are very much in question came out to celebrate Pittsburgh’s City Council’s declaration that February will be Dick LeBeau Month on Tuesday afternoon.

Players like James Harrison, Brett Keisel, Ike Taylor and Troy Polamalu all came out in support of “Coach Dad.” Is it likely their support runs so deep that they could join him in his move from Pittsburgh to Nashville? Both Taylor and Harrison are free agents while Keisel and Polamalu could be released from the team to save cap space.

If those four players, who have been icons for both the city and the team for years, elect to join LeBeau in Tennessee would that be a positive or a negative for the Steelers defense?

The writing has been on the wall for the Steelers defense for quite some time. It’s time to get younger and faster and the Steelers barely scratched the surface with making those changes last offseason. There’s still no telling how the past two top draft pick linebackers in Jarvis Jones and Ryan Shazier will pan out considering they haven’t been healthy enough to make any kind of lasting impact yet.

The infusion of youth for the front three of the defense has definitely shown signs of promise with Stephon Tuitt becoming more consistent later in the season and Cameron Heyward breaking out as a force on the line.

The team needs to add pieces to re-establish a dominant pass rush and shore up a badly rated secondary. They need to do that in the draft and those younger players need to get on the field quicker than they have in previous years under LeBeau’s system. While Keith Butler most definitely will want to put his own stamp on the defense, there’s no denying that his schemes will be influenced from years of working under LeBeau.

While I don’t know how I’d feel personally with seeing Troy Polamalu or Ike Taylor in uniforms other than the Black & Gold I can’t help but think that if there was a mass exodus of those players to join LeBeau in Nashville it would almost be like a blessing in disguise for the Steelers.

“Leaving the light on” for the guys like Harrison and Keisel sounds like a great idea and keeping them on the roster to mentor and groom younger players sure sounds great as well. But the temptation to put them on the field ahead of young guys will be there for Butler just as it always was for LeBeau.

The Steelers breakup with Bruce Arians was messy and unpleasant, and as a result, it took almost three full seasons for the offense under Todd Haley to get to the point where it is now, which is a top-rated offense in the league. The team can’t afford for the defense to be lagging behind, not when they have all this momentum from winning the division back and at least getting into the playoffs following consecutive 8-8 seasons.

We just saw in the Super Bowl how far a younger and faster secondary can take a team. The Patriots and Seahawks would not have been in the position they were in without making their moves to get younger and faster on the defensive side of the ball years ago. The breakup with LeBeau seems like it was quick and painless, like pulling off a bandage. Possibly the breakup with LeBeau’s players should be the same so the defense really and truly has the chance to transition into the younger unit the league demands at this point?

What do you think Steeler Nation? Could you see players like Polamalu, Harrison, Taylor and Keisel joining LeBeau in Tennessee?

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