Sunday, January 23, 2011

Could Dick LeBeau be the Eagles next defensive coordinator?

UPDATE: Dick Lebeau himself squashes the speculation, saying that if he is coaching in Pennsylvania next year, it will be in Pittsburgh.

With the Eagles defensive coordinator search stretching into a second week and most of the top candidates snatched up, there has been speculation that the Eagles have a "mystery candidate" in mind to replace the departed Sean McDermott. Some intriguing news has emerged today that may give us a clue as to who the mystery man might be: Steelers defensive coordinator Dick LeBeau's contract expires after this season.

LeBeau, who has coached one of the best defenses in the league over the last decade, would be a hot commodity if the Steelers let him become a free agent. ESPN is already speculating that LeBeau could land with the Cardinals, who have a slew of former Steelers on staff already. Of course, at age 73, LeBeau could be planning on retiring and may not even seek another job in the league.

While LeBeau employs a 3-4 scheme, I'm pretty sure the Eagles would be willing to change things up if they can land a coordinator of his caliber. While it would be a longshot at best, you can't blame the Eagles for at least trying to convince LeBeau to move across the state. After all, he has some experience with the team when he was their special teams coach way back in the early 70's.

3 comments:

Ryan said...

In everyone's wild dreams this may happen, but not in real life. Whoever suggested this is crazy. Dick LeBeau is staying in Pittsburgh or he will retire. I don't see see him leaving a town he has been for so long. Granted he did get is coaching start in Philadelphia, but I really don't see him leaving.

allthingsphilly said...

I don't either. As stated in the article, it's a longshot at best.

Anonymous said...

hey cliff lee signed so anything is possible