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Dick LeBeau


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Did he leave the Bills on his own or was it that we didnt extend his contract? I only ask because I saw him getting his Super Bowl ring on NFL Network and its funny that a lot of people who leave the Bills end up getting Super Bowl rings like Antowain Smith, Ted Washington, Don Beebe, Larry Centers, Sam Gash, and even Rob Johnson!

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Did he leave the Bills on his own or was it that we didnt extend his contract? I only ask because I saw him getting his Super Bowl ring on NFL Network and its funny that a lot of people who leave the Bills end up getting Super Bowl rings like Antowain Smith, Ted Washington, Don Beebe, Larry Centers, Sam Gash, and even Rob Johnson!

Mularkey offered him the DC job when he took over for Gregg Williams. Cowher called and asked him to come back to Pittsburgh. Easy decision.

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Mularkey offered him the DC job when he took over for Gregg Williams. Cowher called and asked him to come back to Pittsburgh. Easy decision.

 

I think I've reported this before, but when LeBeau was weighing the offers, he was in Pittsburgh at a Pitt b-ball game. Everyone in the stands started chanting LeBeau's name and trying to shake his hand. Supposedly, he actually teared up over the support.

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Did he leave the Bills on his own or was it that we didnt extend his contract? I only ask because I saw him getting his Super Bowl ring on NFL Network and its funny that a lot of people who leave the Bills end up getting Super Bowl rings like Antowain Smith, Ted Washington, Don Beebe, Larry Centers, Sam Gash, and even Rob Johnson!

 

Clearly, Antowain Smith, Don Beebe, Larry Centers, Sam Gash and Rob Johnson were responsible for their respective superbowl wins.

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Clearly, Antowain Smith, Don Beebe, Larry Centers, Sam Gash and Rob Johnson were responsible for their respective superbowl wins.

 

Actually, Antowain Smith was a very large part of his team's success that year. 13 TDs & over 1300 total yds.

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Actually, Antowain Smith was a very large part of his team's success that year. 13 TDs & over 1300 total yds.

Smith wasn't a bad player at all- I remember him breaking some long ones for us and being pretty tough between the tackles.....where the defense usually was right off the snap......

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Actually, Antowain Smith was a very large part of his team's success that year. 13 TDs & over 1300 total yds.

 

Yeah I'm surprised, I just looked up to find that he was the leading rusher in both his Superbowl appearances. Pretty impressive.

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Actually, Antowain Smith was a very large part of his team's success that year. 13 TDs & over 1300 total yds.....

 

....and, didn't he run for over 90 yards in that SB win with the Pats? I could be wrong, but I think he had a nice solid game.

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I think I've reported this before, but when LeBeau was weighing the offers, he was in Pittsburgh at a Pitt b-ball game. Everyone in the stands started chanting LeBeau's name and trying to shake his hand. Supposedly, he actually teared up over the support.

 

Touching story. But those fans didn't stop him from coming over to the Bills in the first place did they? Tom Donahoe was an idiot for not giving Dick a huge raise and making him assistant head coach in charge of defense when he fired Williams.....and he should have done it before Dick went to that baseball game in Pittsburgh.

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Clearly, Antowain Smith, Don Beebe, Larry Centers, Sam Gash and Rob Johnson were responsible for their respective superbowl wins.

 

Green Bay would not have made it to Superbowl without Beebe which is something his fellow teammates acknowledged.

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Probably a strong factor in LeBeau's decision was the fact that he coached for 6 years in Pittsburgh before his one year stint in Buffalo. It would not suprise me (especially in light of the baseball game anecdote) if he had a home and had set down roots in the Pittsburgh area. It would have probably taken a big money contract and an Assistant Head Coaching title for him to even consider staying in Buffalo. There are assistant coaches (Jason Garrett for one), who make more money than Dick Jauron. Jauron is the 27th highest paid head coach in the NFL and it's safe to assume that the Bills assistant coaches are also paid very modestly compared to their peers. No way Ralph pays head coach money to retain an assistant.

 

With regard to the Patriots and Antowain Smith, under Belichick this team has seen a long procession of solid, tough running backs do well in their system. Like his mentor Bill Parcells, Belichick has typically used a platoon consisting of interchangeable running backs. The common denominator is that they are usually bigger, physical backs who block, run, and catch well. Last season's leading rusher was Sammy Morris although Kevin Faulk, Lamont Jordan, Benjarvus Green-Ellis, and Heath Evans all contributed. Laurence Maroney was the leading rusher in 2007, Corey Dillon the 3 years before that and Antowain Smith the three years before Dillon. Antowain Smith was a good fit in the New England system, kind of analogous to O.J. Anderson when he was finishing his career with Parcells and the Giants.

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I for one would love to trade a Dick for Dick (Jauron for Lebeau that is). Thats one vote for Lebeau in 2010... any more?

 

 

Ah yes. The brilliant "anyone is better than Jauron" argument. However, LeBeau's career .267 winning % suggests otherwise. http://www.pro-football-reference.com/coaches/LeBeDi0.htm

 

some coaches are just suited to be coordinators. LeBeau is one of those and probably will make the HOF as a defensive coordinator.

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Mularkey offered him the DC job when he took over for Gregg Williams. Cowher called and asked him to come back to Pittsburgh. Easy decision.

 

Agreed..The only way we could have kept him was to have made him the DC the previous year instead of keeping him as an assistant. It was a shame to have had Jerry Gray run that defense, when the mastermind was Lebeau as evidenced by the defense.

 

If LeBeau was our DC, we win that game against the Steelers the next season and probably have a shot at the playoffs.'

 

And LeBeau went to Pittsburgh and created a great defense that won two championships in 4 years for the Steelers.

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Touching story. But those fans didn't stop him from coming over to the Bills in the first place did they? Tom Donahoe was an idiot for not giving Dick a huge raise and making him assistant head coach in charge of defense when he fired Williams.....and he should have done it before Dick went to that baseball game in Pittsburgh.

IIRC, LeBeau's daughter lives in Pittsburgh, so his decision to go back there was based on both professional and personal things. At this stage in life, I'm betting he was ready to get off the coaching gypsy wagon, so money wouldn't have swayed his decision.

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Ah yes. The brilliant "anyone is better than Jauron" argument. However, LeBeau's career .267 winning % suggests otherwise. http://www.pro-football-reference.com/coaches/LeBeDi0.htm

 

some coaches are just suited to be coordinators. LeBeau is one of those and probably will make the HOF as a defensive coordinator.

Take a look at those sorry-ass Bengals teams -- Akili Smith, anyone? -- and ask yourself if any other coach in the league could have done better. No Cincy coach following Forrest Gregg, who was gone after the 1983 season, has managed to compile a winning record.

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IIRC, LeBeau's daughter lives in Pittsburgh, so his decision to go back there was based on both professional and personal things. At this stage in life, I'm betting he was ready to get off the coaching gypsy wagon, so money wouldn't have swayed his decision.

 

Yeah that long drive from Buffalo to Pittsburgh is a killer I tell ya, a killer! :rolleyes:

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