Pittsburgh Steelers HC Mike Tomlin received a lot of credit for retaining Dick LeBeau as his DC when he took over the job in 2007. To hear Bob Labriola tell it, however, it might actually have been a prerequisite. According to Labriola, the late Dan Rooney told him Tomlin was the only candidate during their last head coaching search who planned to retain LeBeau and his 3-4 defense.
“Here’s a little fun fact for you guys. Dean Peas was gonna be Russ Grimm’s defensive coordinator if he got hired in 2007”, Labriola said on SNR Drive.