Deebo & Joe - Part 2: Dick LeBeau on coaching James Harrison, Rod Woodson & Ike Taylor

Summary

Nightcap Podcast – Episode Summary

Episode: Deebo & Joe - Part 2: Dick LeBeau on coaching James Harrison, Rod Woodson & Ike Taylor
Date: April 6, 2026
Hosts: Shannon Sharpe & Chad “Ochocinco” Johnson (Shay Shay Media & Playmaker)
Special Guests: Coach Dick LeBeau, James Harrison, Debo (Deebo) Samuel

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Overview

This special Nightcap episode delivers a masterclass in football culture and defensive innovation, as NFL legends Dick LeBeau and James Harrison join Debo Samuel to revisit key moments in their careers, break down coaching philosophy, and relive the relationships that turned the Pittsburgh Steelers’ defense into one of the NFL’s most feared units. The group discusses LeBeau’s iconic role in developing players like Harrison, Rod Woodson, and Ike Taylor, his legacy as the creator of the zone blitz, and the enduring brotherhood within elite defenses. Life lessons, X’s and O’s, and memorable stories make this a must-listen for fans of football history and defensive greatness.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. The Origin Story of James Harrison’s Breakout (03:12 – 08:25)

• LeBeau’s first impression of Harrison:
  Brought in after Clark Hagan’s injury, Harrison was initially unknown to LeBeau. Respected colleagues vouched for him. “Hell, I didn’t see anybody block him.” (04:40, LeBeau)
• Concerns about Harrison’s height as an edge rusher (“he's too short”) were quickly dismissed after film showed his raw power.
• Harrison stood out on special teams in preseason, earning an active roster spot after Joey Porter was ejected before a Browns game.
• Harrison’s impromptu first start: “James had never started a game as far as I know in the NFL ... I said, I’m not going to call anything for the first couple series he doesn’t feel real good about.” (06:51, LeBeau)
• In that game, Harrison recorded 12 tackles, two sacks, forced and recovered a fumble, nearly had an interception, cementing his spot on the team.
• LeBeau credits position coach Keith Butler for turning Harrison into “one of the best outside backers that's ever played.” (08:25, LeBeau)

2. Coaching Philosophy: Adapting to Players and Building Trust (09:30 – 10:11, 37:55 – 38:54)

• LeBeau emphasized learning by film and adapting schemes to fit individual player strengths, not rigidly forcing technique.
• “Sometimes you're wasting your time trying to get him to do something else. You got to find another way to get him in that position you want.” (09:50, LeBeau)
• On training future coaches: “Coach him the way you played. You’re both great players. Coach him the way you played, the confidence that you played with.” (38:08, LeBeau)
• Harrison and Debo reflect on the culture of feedback, walk-throughs, and self-correction instilled by LeBeau.

3. Super Bowl XL: Victory in Detroit (10:21 – 13:52)

• Harrison asks LeBeau how it felt to win his first Super Bowl as a coach in Detroit, where he played his career.
• “I walked over to the bench. Everybody was gone ... I stared at that scoreboard ... It’s real. It’s real. We won this game.” (12:44, LeBeau)
• For LeBeau, the win was a culmination of decades of work and his “number one” football memory.

4. Super Bowl XLIII: The Legendary Harrison Interception Return (13:52 – 18:23)

• Harrison asks about the call behind his famous 100-yard interception in Super Bowl XLIII.
• LeBeau’s logic: “I’m not going to be twice removed from a simpleton. I’m going blitz.” (14:07, LeBeau)
• Harrison describes improvising, dropping into coverage instead of blitzing, and picking off the pass: “As you had always told us: think for yourself and know the game situation.” (15:52, Harrison)
• LeBeau: “Just catching the ball in that situation was great ... that was the greatest single play ... my favorite play in football. I love it.” (21:59, LeBeau)

Memorable Quotes:

• “The most surprised guy in the stadium was the quarterback.” (21:51, LeBeau)
• “Dude, without Dick LeBeau and Keith Butler, there is no James Harrison.” (23:06, Harrison)
• “There is no Dick LeBeau or Keith Butler without James Harrison neither. That’s a two-way street.” (23:12, LeBeau)

5. On Coaching Legendary Cornerbacks: Woodson, Taylor, Lake (24:01 – 29:31)

• Favorite CB: Rod Woodson, “probably the best one” LeBeau coached, praised as a multi-sport athlete and Pro Bowler. (24:18)
• Ike Taylor “never complained,” took the hardest receiver every week, didn’t have a high profile but was invaluable: “If they can't cover, they damn sure got to be able to tackle.” (26:22, LeBeau)
• Carnell Lake: Moved from safety to corner midseason, then made Pro Bowl at both positions; “Never seen a guy go from safety to corner and go to Pro Bowl as a safety and Pro Bowl as a corner.” (29:06, LeBeau)
• Debo reflects on being coached by Lake: “Shout out to Coach Lake ... Taught me real well.” (29:16, Debo)

6. Steelers, Coaching Changes, and NFL Perspectives (29:32 – 33:01)

• LeBeau praises the hiring of Mike McCarthy as Steelers head coach: “He’s a Pittsburgh guy ... his lifetime ambition has been to coach or play for the team where you grow up.” (30:29, LeBeau)
• Discussion of franchise legacy, fan loyalty, and what it means to “pay the price” to wear a team's colors.
• Harrison’s transition from Browns to Steelers fan: “I gave up and I went to the next best thing ... that's all I know.” (32:36, Harrison)

7. Brotherhood & Football Family (33:35 – 37:07)

• LeBeau and guests speak on team bonds beyond the field:
  “It’s more than a job ... it’s a life. And you become part of each other ... there’s a bond.” (33:35, LeBeau)
• Debo: “It's a brotherhood, it's a bond, it's family ... when you have dudes that want to be the best at something ... you're meeting them every single day, like it becomes a love.” (35:57)
• LeBeau: “You know what the other guys in that huddle have gone through to be in there with you. And there’s a bond.” (35:35)

8. Zone Blitz (“Fire Zone”): Philosophy and Quarterback Confusion (39:16 – 47:14)

• LeBeau details his groundbreaking “fire zone” zone blitz:
  • Sought pressure without exposing DBs to one-on-one, zero coverage.
  • “I started thinking about different ways to cover behind ... I was looking for a safer way to get pressure on the quarterback.” (40:24, LeBeau)
• Telling story: Dan Marino couldn’t read Cincy’s looks—“When we got in the game, I couldn’t see nothing, so I just started focusing on my guy and throwing him the ball.” (45:52, LeBeau quoting Marino)
• LeBeau: “I wanted to get that quarterback out of gathering all that information pre snap where they know where we’re going ... make him read something after that ball snapped.” (46:03)

9. Red Zone & Defensive Adjustments (47:14 – 49:17)

• LeBeau on red zone defense: Use the compressed field to help defenders anticipate and disrupt quarterbacks.
  “You give a quarterback time ... the ball ain't going to be in the air that long ... you gotta disrupt that quarterback a little bit down in there too.” (47:25)
• Harrison quips: “I thought it wasn't a damn thing difficult. You heard what he said.” (49:04)

10. On Personal Legacy and Defensive Greatness (49:38 – 54:37)

• LeBeau’s humility when asked which player reminded him of himself:
  “Oh well, they were all better than me.” (49:52, LeBeau)
• Joking about his own interception record (62) with players: “You only got 12 more to go to get me.” (50:37)
• On today’s teams running the zone blitz:
  • “Every college game you put on ... they're running zone blitzes. They're all running yours. The difference is they don't know what the hell they're doing in behind.” (53:54, LeBeau)
  • “There is nothing so ugly as a fire zone gone wrong, pal.” (54:37)

11. Adapting to Modern Offensive Trends (54:58 – 58:49)

• On dealing with RPOs and mobile QBs:
  • “If they're running the run fake with it, you can hit him today. That’s what I would make the opposite team's owner make his coach quit doing it. Yeah, because he gonna get his quarterback splattered.” (56:19, LeBeau)
  • “The defense has always got to be a stimulus response ... but there are ways of balancing that playing platform up a little bit ... I would try to look for what's the best way that we can do it to get an advantage.” (57:11)

12. Innovation & Walkthroughs—Coaching the Details (58:51 – 60:29)

• Walkthroughs and constant scheming kept players ready for all situations:
  “All those walkthroughs, all those little things ... So when you're giving these dudes all that time to be able to get your plays good.” (58:56, Debo)
  • “If it was run successfully in the last four or five games ... they'd see the shape again with it.” (59:48, LeBeau)
  • “Smoke and mirrors. Don't move. Nobody move ... make the playing field even.” (60:15, LeBeau)

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Most Memorable Quotes & Moments

• LeBeau, on Harrison’s tryout:
  “Hell, I didn’t see anybody block him.” (04:40)
• LeBeau, after his Super Bowl win:
  “I sat down on the bench and I stared at that scoreboard ... It’s real. It’s real. We won this game.” (12:44)
• On trusting players:
  “You get a feel for it. ... But you better be right.” (21:36, Harrison quoting LeBeau’s philosophy)
• On defensive innovation:
  “I wanted to get that quarterback out of gathering all that information pre snap ... make him read something after that ball snapped.” (46:03, LeBeau)
• On the defensive brotherhood:
  “It’s more than a job ... there’s a bond. ... You have paid the price to put them on.” (33:35)
• On legacy:
  “There is nothing so ugly as a fire zone gone wrong, pal.” (54:37)
• Harrison, on LeBeau:
  “Dude, without Dick LeBeau and Keith Butler, there is no James Harrison.” (23:06)
• LeBeau, on humility:
  “Oh well, they were all better than me.” (49:52)

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Timestamps for Key Segments

• James Harrison’s NFL Breakout Story: 03:12 – 08:25
• LeBeau’s Coaching Philosophy: 09:30 – 10:11, 37:55 – 38:54
• Super Bowl XL Memories: 10:21 – 13:52
• Legendary Interception, SB XLIII: 13:52 – 18:23
• Coaching Great Cornerbacks: 24:01 – 29:31
• Zone Blitz Innovation: 39:16 – 47:14
• Modern NFL Adjustments: 54:58 – 58:49

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Takeaways

• Legacy: Coach Dick LeBeau’s influence on generations of defensive players and coaches is immense—not only through scheme innovation (zone blitz), but in empowering players to “think for yourself” and trust their instincts.
• Brotherhood: The sense of family and mutual respect between these football legends is palpable and a recurring theme, with stories of perseverance, learning, and the sacrifices behind NFL greatness.
• Coaching: Adaptability, walkthroughs, and detail-oriented coaching are as vital as scheme—the best coaches innovate but never stop teaching the essentials.
• Humor & Humility: Banter, humility, and nostalgia light up even the most technical X’s and O’s discussions, making the episode as heartfelt as it is insightful.

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End Note:
For any football fan, especially of defensive football and Steelers lore, this episode is both an inspiring history lesson and a deep-dive into some of the NFL’s most brilliant defensive minds.

Transcript

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[Coach Dick LeBeau]

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[James Harrison]

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[James Harrison]

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[Coach Dick LeBeau]

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[James Harrison]

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[Debo (Deebo) Samuel]

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[Coach Dick LeBeau]

When we were. We got James in was my first year back to Pittsburgh, and I didn't really know James, and Clark Hagan had broke a little bone in his hand about two weeks before we were going to training camp and we needed a roster.

[James Harrison]

Need a feeling.

[Coach Dick LeBeau]

Yeah. And.

[Debo (Deebo) Samuel]

And my man Debo has a fill in.

[Coach Dick LeBeau]

Well, this is an amazing story. If you got a couple seconds, I'll tell you the story.

[Debo (Deebo) Samuel]

I got time.

[Coach Dick LeBeau]

We came in to, you know, you meet, getting ready to go to camp and everything. And they said, Haggins just broke his hand, said, we gotta, we gotta get another linebacker. And so they're bringing up these names and this and that. Some I knew, some I didn't, I didn't know James. And they said, well, what do you think? And I said, well, Coach Butler is Coach James. And I said, you should I get his opinion? I said, I. I don't, I don't know James. And said, I think he would be very good to, to bring to camp because he has some background knowledge of our defense. And so I said to myself, I made a little minute list. I said, I got to look at this guy because I knew something about his college career and the people that coached him there. And I had a high in those coaches.

[Debo (Deebo) Samuel]

Okay.

[Coach Dick LeBeau]

And. And I said, so I started watching him. Hell, I didn't see anybody block him. And.

[Debo (Deebo) Samuel]

Okay, Debo.

[Coach Dick LeBeau]

Yeah, I mean, so I said, this guy is not too bad, you know, I'm looking for things. First thing you look for is what a guy is having trouble, you know, And I think somebody in some of the meetings said something about, oh, he's too short for outside pass rusher. Let me see. Well, I saw the tackle get lifted up about three yards in the air and dumped in the quarterback's lap. I said, I don't think he's just about the right height, you know, for what we want to do. Power is not a. Is not A bad quality in anything in a football game. So we, we went along, we. Nothing to do in training camp but have meetings, you know, and you assess what happened that day, what you're going to do the next day and everything. And for a while I just said, well, I'm watching this Harrison guy. I said, I ain't seen anybody blocking me because you're having a lot of drills and stuff in. In. I said, I think we need. We need to keep a good eye on him. I said, because I. I haven't gotten to the part of this game that he can't do, and I think that his. His overall build is. Is an asset and it's not a deficit at all. And then James helped me out in that he led the team in special teams. And here, if you remember James in covering kicks and stuff, you were all over the place in the preseason games. And I gave me a chance. Look at there. There's Harrison again. And we kept him. And then it was never, ever another discussion after the second, maybe second or third game when Joey got thrown out with Joey Point. Now this. Joey was a great outside pass rusher.

[Debo (Deebo) Samuel]

And it was before the Browns game.

[Coach Dick LeBeau]

Yeah, we were up in Cleveland. And this is. This is one thing that changed the rules and how the teams warm up now because the. Cleveland was wr, but Cleveland had a running back, fullback, really. And he come down to our. I think we're stretching. He come down to our end and started chawing at us. And Joe Porter got up and smacked him once. These guys are duking it out before the game even starts with official. Threw him out of the game and what. Most of the guys were spread around. And I went and got Coach Butler and I said, keith, I said, go talk to Harrison and ask him what he's most comfortable with because he's starting the game. They just threw Joey out of the game. And I said, I'm not going to call anything for the first couple series that he doesn't feel real good about. I want him to get comfortable because James had never started a game as far as I know, in the NFL. So Keith laughed. He said, oh. I said, no, it ain't. Oh, ho, ho. I mean, kidding. James is starting the football game. And so he. He went on back to the locker room about 10 minutes. He came back, he said, he says he feels good with anything. I said, I said, I ain't just calling anything. I said, what. What's his favorite defenses? So that's how I opened the game. I just, I tried to let him get his feet wet. Cause he didn't even know he was going.

[Debo (Deebo) Samuel]

He didn't know he's going to start.

[James Harrison]

I know. Till we walk back in that day.

[Coach Dick LeBeau]

So I think James had 12 tackles that day. He had two sacks, he calls a fumble, recovered a fumble. He damn near intercepted a pass from that. From that day on, I didn't have to say no more good things about Harrison. He was. He was in. We knew we had a supplier, but that was. I tried to teach players from the. From the film, and you could see you didn't have to take anybody's word for anything. Look, this is what's causing you some problems. And Coach Butler did a wonderful job with James and turned him into one of the best outside backers that's ever played. And I was. I was always fine getting out of the way of the position coach, because if I didn't think he could coach, he was going to be there in it. But.

[James Harrison]

Yes, yes, Preach.

[Coach Dick LeBeau]

But that's what I would do with the corners, Joe. I would say, look here. And I would just get the film and like, if it was in the middle of the meeting, everybody saw it. But if. Usually I'd try to get a guy one on one, if I was working on something that he was having trouble with.

[Debo (Deebo) Samuel]

Yes.

[Coach Dick LeBeau]

And I'd say, you taking this step here, and sometimes you get a guy that. That. Because anatomically, that's just the way he had to step. You know, were you wasting your time trying to get him to do something else? You got to find another way to get him in that position you want him in. But.

[James Harrison]

Hey, Joe, you muted. You muted. Hey, hey, Joe.

[Debo (Deebo) Samuel]

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. You good?

[James Harrison]

You good? Hey, Coach. Super Bowl.

[Coach Dick LeBeau]

Yeah.

[James Harrison]

2006 in Detroit, when we won the super bowl there.

[Coach Dick LeBeau]

Yeah.

[James Harrison]

Did that super bowl have any greater significance to you if it had been played somewhere else versus being in Detroit where you played your whole career?

[Coach Dick LeBeau]

Well, it did have a greater significance just because of that history. But I tell you what, even more importantly, James, we ended up going to six Super Bowls, four in Pittsburgh and two in Cincinnati. And up until that time, I had zero wins. And I was not young then. And I said, man, I played 14 years and, you know, and I'm going to end up coaching 40, ended up being 45. I said. And I. I can't get out of this thing without a one super bowl win. You know, I said that was. I said, we got to be able to. To get lucky enough to win one of these things, you know, and when we. We got the lead on him. And. And they got the ball late in the game there, and it looked like if we could get off the field, that it'd be very difficult for them to come back and catch us. And they moved the ball a little bit and got down there, and I think Ike knocked the ball down on fourth down down in the end zone. And so we took over and being run a keeper and made a first down. And by that time it was for sure that they weren't going to be able to catch us. I think the final score was like 20 to 10. I think something like that, pretty close to that. And when that game ended, everybody flooded the field, you know, and they dumped the confetti down and everything. And I walked over to. To the bench. There was. Everybody was gone from the bench. And I sat down on the bench and I stared at that scoreboard. And the scoreboard said, Pittsburgh 20, Seattle 10. And I just kept looking at it. I say, it's real. It's real. We won this game. We won this. And so that was my dream, to play or coach for a Super bowl championship team. And that game ended that hope and desire of mine. And after that, I did. I didn't have any more of those follies I guess you would call. Oh, I hope. I really. What I really hoped every year was that I could improve our defense. I just wanted to. I. I wanted to say by the end of game five that we were better than we were after game one. And at the end of game seven, we were better than we were at game five. I wanted us to. And I said, that's busy enough to worrying about who in the hell is going to win the super bowl this year. Let's see how good we can get defensively. And I already knew that what we were doing was good enough to win. Win a Super Bowl. So that was very, very special to me. And then I was sitting on that, Ben. I'll never forget it. Nobody was within 30 yards of me because you guys were going crazy on the field. It was one of the most wonderful vistas in my memory. The good Lord grants me, however many years he does, it'll still be number one for me.

[James Harrison]

Yes. Hey, Coach, I ain't never asked you this, but go back to the super bowl in Tampa 43, when. When you called that max blitz and I didn't blitz, what was going through your head?

[Coach Dick LeBeau]

No, I'm going to tell you something. I tell this story a lot of times because people are talking about what a great call that was, you know, We were leading in the ball game, as you remember, and they actually got field position on that drive. They were way down in there when they got the ball. And my. I first looked at a scoreboard and we were three points ahead. And I said, I want to get us off this field with at least a tie. I said, that would be great. And they were getting down in there close, and it got to a situation when everybody knew they were going to throw the ball. And of course, like I say, once removed from a simpleton, I figured the guy thought, since I love to blitz, that I would blitz. And then he might be thinking that, no, he's going to fake the bliss and then not blitz. I said, because that would be twice removed from a simpleton. I'm not going to be twice removed from a simpleton. I'm going blitz. I went all out and James engaged a guy, and in between. All you doing was overload. It was, it was the checkers blitz where you, you got six men and they got five. You just keep trading men and somebody's going to free on the quarterback. So James got a guy through and then he did. He dropped and picked it off. So when he, when I saw he had it, he. He got it in the end zone. I said, james, James, get down. Get on the ground. Of course, you know, I'm 35 yard lines as far as the coast can get. You know, he can't hear me for nothing, you know, I said, get on the ground. Get on the ground.

[Debo (Deebo) Samuel]

James.

[Coach Dick LeBeau]

Well, he come out and he picked up a couple blocks. I used that thing for speaking in, in banquets and clinics is what I'm trying to say a lot. Because on that, on that play, the only guy that didn't get a block was the corner clear over here on the left side. Everybody else on the field got a block on that return and some guys got three. And almost everybody in the, in the hustle and bustle got two blocks. And I'm saying, get on the ground. I'm screaming, get on the ground. Well, I see him get a little open space coming, you know, and then he cut out right over towards the bench and he went right by me. And I said, run, James. Run, James. And I tell you what he got about the two yard line and Riggy caught him and rigor mortis caught him in. He fell in the end zone and he was just laying there in the end zone is the greatest football player I've ever seen. And it was. I went up to James, I took him. If he wasn't the best conditioned athlete. I say this continually. James the best condition athlete on the squad. There was no, no linebacker going to come back in the second half and play great. And he came back and played better. Second and he did the first half, which was great, great. But for about the first, I don't know, six, seven minutes at half because that super bowl halftime, you know, lasts about 45 minutes. Man, you in there forever. And we, we didn't even mess with the players for about 15 minutes. Just let him have myself. But I went over to James and I said, James, I said, you know, that was a max blitz. He said, yeah, coach. And I said, you didn't blitz? And he said, no, coach. He said, everybody knew that they was going to throw the ball and I figured I'd get my guy and just drop back and see what I could do because I knew they weren't going to run the ball in that situation. As you had always told us to think for yourself and know the game situation. And when, when he, when he gave me that reply, I said, good play, James. Good play.

[James Harrison]

Coach said, Coach would always say, I'm not out there with you on the field. So I don't see what you see is I'm not playing the game anymore.

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I'm Cindy Crawford and I'm the founder of Meaningful Beauty. Well, I don't know about you, but like, I never liked being told, oh wow, you look so good for your age. Like, why even bother saying that? Why don't you just say you look great at any age, Every age. That's what Meaningful Beauty is all about. We create products that make you feel confident in your skin at the age you are now. Meaningful Beauty. Beautiful skin at every age. Learn [e-mail]

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[James Harrison]

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[Coach Dick LeBeau]

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[Coach Dick LeBeau]

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[James Harrison]

I can't. I don't have a real feel for it, he said. I got a feel for it from the sideline, but you're actually out there playing, he said. You see something, you feel something. You know you don't made a. You don't hypothesized it and you feel like you can make a play. Go ahead. But you better be right.

[Coach Dick LeBeau]

No, the most surprised guy in the stadium was the quarterback, though.

[Debo (Deebo) Samuel]

He yeah oh yes.

[Coach Dick LeBeau]

But, but James, that just catching the ball in that situation was great. I don't know how many yards they gave you, but you ran. Oh yeah, 102. But you ran 130 or 40 yards the way you zigzag back and forth. And that was the greatest single play. Of course it was a defensive play, but I've never seen a better one in football. And my favorite play in football, I love it.

[Debo (Deebo) Samuel]

And coach, Coach always makes a good point of letting his players think for to have a mind of his own. He came over there and asked you, James, you did your research, you know what I'm saying? You knew it was max blitz, right? You addressed your man and then you got up out of there. It's like it's not going to be a run. I'm still going to take up the tackle and I'm going to just fall back. So him with your coach setting you up, knowing you did your job and then you using your own mental. So I'm just so happy looking at James with you Coach LeBeau, because he loves you. I'm so happy that you came onto the show now. Like it's just looking at Deebo, just smiling. I'm smiling looking at you without, with

[James Harrison]

dude, without Dick LeBeau and Keith Butler, there is no James Harrison. And I tell people that.

[Coach Dick LeBeau]

Yeah, well you. There is no Dick LeBeau or Keith Butler without James Harrison. Neither. Man. That's a two way street, I'll tell you that.

[James Harrison]

No, you still would have been there. That don't matter. I'm. I'm a footnote.

[Coach Dick LeBeau]

I always like to say this, James, when I got one look at you, there was no more other teams for James Harrison. That was your last team that you played for. Now I know you went over and played the inside linebacker for the team, which would have been good. You would have been fine. But I think you did better as an outside Russia.

[Debo (Deebo) Samuel]

Yes, definitely, definitely, definitely question, Coach LeBeau.

[Coach Dick LeBeau]

Yeah.

[Debo (Deebo) Samuel]

So out of your. So you, you're a cornerback, fellow cornerback like me. Who is your best favorite cornerback that you've coached? Because I know that you have one. I think because is Rod is Rob. What?

[Coach Dick LeBeau]

Rob was probably the best, the best one. Although I had so many really, really good ones. But Rod Woodson was a one in athlete. He, he went over and ran in a world track. There was a deal that went professional track in Europe and he was a great high hurdler and he was actually a wonderful punt and kickoff returner. He was fantastic. I went to scout him in College. He went to Purdue and they play in Indiana. That was always their final game of the year. And he didn't, he didn't play anything but defense up until that game and it was his senior year and he played, he played about 50 minutes in that game and it's on offense. He was a tailback and they, they beat Indiana and Rod ran all over the damn field and in played corner after, after that. So he was a, he was a very, very special athlete. But I always. The guy that doesn't get mentioned very often, but I always have to mention him when a question like this comes up is Ike Taylor. As Ike was. He was. He didn't get, he didn't get the James Harrison, the Troy Palomalo and that kind of stuff. Casey Hampton. Those are the guys that usually got, got. Got the big mention, which we, we were doing enough good things. There was plenty to go around and But I, every week he did come in because if you're going to pressure, you got to have decent corners and corners got it. If they can't cover, they damn sure got to be able to tackle because yeah, they can't get you gas. Sure. They got to let you come to the table for the next meal.

[Debo (Deebo) Samuel]

Yes.

[Coach Dick LeBeau]

And Ike would come in every, every Wednesday. Who I got this week, Coach, who I got this way and never complained. And he was on the island with their best guy every week and he, he'd hit you, he'd run and tackle force to run. And he's one of my favorite guys for my coaching because I would never played in college. He was, he was a wide receiver and a kick returner and he might have played corner one year. Now you couldn't tell anything off the film or nothing like that. And I, we had a lot of sessions on, on which foot you put first and second. But he was strong and he could run. And I said, look, Ike, here's what we're going to do. We're going to get up in their face and make them outrun us and out strength us. And guess what? Too many could do that. And he let us do a lot of stuff that, that you, you and you could trust yourself that their best receiver wasn't going to tear you up that day.

[Sponsor/Advertiser Voice]

So.

[Coach Dick LeBeau]

But probably as, as far as an athlete and Rod Woodson, probably the best one I ever had. Okay, I'll tell you something else along that question. Carnell Lake does get his coach. Lake.

[James Harrison]

Hey, yes.

[Coach Dick LeBeau]

Carnell Lake, he was a great safety. And I told him, I said, carnell, we're Going to go to the Pro bowl and two years. Carnell went to the Pro Bowl. Well, he was at. For a couple of years, and then Rod got hurt and we were short in the corner position. We were getting hurt there, and I asked Carnell if he would go play corner till we got our corners healthy. And of course he said, yes, if you think it'll help the team. I said, I think. I don't know. I'm asking you to change a position that you've become very, very good at. But I said, well, he came down 7:30 in the morning on Tuesday, and we went out on the field and started working on corner. And he went to the Pro bowl that year as a corner. And I don't know. I have never seen a guy go from safety to corner and go to Pro bowl as a safety and Pro bowl as a corner. I've seen him go from corner to safety.

[Debo (Deebo) Samuel]

Yes. That's. No, that's.

[Coach Dick LeBeau]

I haven't seen anybody since him or before him go from safety to corner. And he did it.

[Debo (Deebo) Samuel]

Wow.

[Coach Dick LeBeau]

Yeah.

[Debo (Deebo) Samuel]

Shout out to Coach Lake because he was my DB coach when I ended up coming to the Steelers. So I love Coach Lake. Taught me real well.

[Coach Dick LeBeau]

He's as fine a person as you'll ever meet.

[Debo (Deebo) Samuel]

Oh, beautiful human love Coach.

[Coach Dick LeBeau]

Yeah. He coaching his kid now.

[Debo (Deebo) Samuel]

Yeah.

[Coach Dick LeBeau]

That's great.

[James Harrison]

Hey, Coach, what do you. What do you think? The recent hire of Mike McCarthy. You like that? We're all in now. We. At first, you know. Yeah, I crashed out a little bit.

[Debo (Deebo) Samuel]

You did?

[Coach Dick LeBeau]

Yeah. Well, I was surprised that Mike didn't come back because of the team rallied there at the end of the year, really, and went some really, really key games. And I thought, well, we're going to get another year to get this thing going the way we know it can be. And I don't. I don't know that this coach, I know he coached Green Bay when they beat us in our last super bowl, but I've always had a lot of respect for him. But what I liked about the hire, he's a Pittsburgh guy. Yes.

[Debo (Deebo) Samuel]

Yes.

[Coach Dick LeBeau]

Born and raised there. Now, I know in his heart his lifetime ambition has been the coach or play for the team where you grow up, pretend you grow up in. So I know this. He's going to give everything he's got to help make this football team. I mean, they're close, they've been close, and we just gotta win a couple of the key games. And I like it. But I mean, you know, the NFL is so evenly competitively balanced that you can be close and never get there. I mean, there's still franchises that have never even got to play in them.

[James Harrison]

They never played in the super bowl, like the Cleveland Browns.

[Debo (Deebo) Samuel]

World championships. We won it with.

[James Harrison]

We said Super Bowls like the Cleveland Browns and the Lions. You know, wow.

[Debo (Deebo) Samuel]

He's just. Sometimes. Sometimes it's the blood. Sometimes it gets really disrespectful, sometimes for no reason.

[Coach Dick LeBeau]

Well, I'll tell you what. Now, the Cleveland Browns, when I was a player, they played in like, eight straight championship games. Because when in the war ended.

[James Harrison]

Thank you.

[Coach Dick LeBeau]

And the war ended. They started the afc, too, and it was a rival league, and they wanted it won that every time. Paul Brown was their coach. And then when they went into the NFL, they put the league, merged the leagues together, and they won the championship in the NFL for about four or five straight years or alternated back and forth with it.

[Debo (Deebo) Samuel]

Look at Debo. He doesn't like cheating. Nope.

[James Harrison]

They had the taxi squad.

[Coach Dick LeBeau]

James, you can't be down on Cleveland players that he.

[Debo (Deebo) Samuel]

That's what I'm saying.

[James Harrison]

Be able to keep.

[Debo (Deebo) Samuel]

He acts like he's not even from there. He disrespects Cleveland. He got. Do you hear?

[James Harrison]

I'm not from Cleveland. I'm from Akron.

[Coach Dick LeBeau]

But that's a good, good buck I made.

[James Harrison]

Listen, Coach. Coach. When they fought to keep those simpleton colors, when they left and went to Baltimore, I was done. I. I gave up and I went to the next best thing, and that was the Pittsburgh Steelers. And I've been a Stiller fan ever since. You know what I'm saying? And that's it. I've been a Stiller fan ever since. I don't know nothing else to do but black and yellow, black and yellow, black and yellow. That's it, Coach. That's all I know.

[Coach Dick LeBeau]

Well, let's put it this way, young man. I went to six Super Bowls and two of them with Cincinnati and fourth with Pittsburgh, and I won two, and they were both with Pittsburgh. So what kind of fan do you think I am, James? Yes, sir. I'm a golden black.

[Debo (Deebo) Samuel]

Come on. Okay.

[James Harrison]

Hey, Joe, you get out of here

[Debo (Deebo) Samuel]

with that Dookie Brown with coaches on the show. When Mr. Coach Dick LeBeau himself. I'm. We're talking all Steelers, straight Steelers.

[Coach Dick LeBeau]

Well, you know, do you know something? And I have. I've always believed this, and I know you guys do. When you get in a huddle with a group of guys for over a series, a number of years and go through the ups and downs of a football Season, it's more. It's more than a job. It's more. It's more than an exhibition, a plane, a sports contest. It's a life. And you become part of each other. And whatever colors you got on, they're your colors. You, you have paid the price to put them on. You know what the other guys in that huddle have gone through to be in there with you. And there's a bond. I would say this to, to exemplify what I'm saying. I played 14 years for Detroit and missed one football game in the 14 years that I played for them. And I retired and I got a job with the Philadelphia Eagles. And the second game of the year, the Philadelphia Eagles were playing the Detroit Lions and I was coaching the special teams. And I'm on the sideline with a green and white uniform, coaching uniform of the Philadelphia Eagles. And I'm lining up for a kickoff. You know, you, the guys, two or three of them are one foot away from, you could shake hands. They're all my people, they're all my guys. And I just spent 10 years with, man, looking down at myself, I said, what the hell am I doing in this trash? You know, I gotta be in Honolulu blue and silver. But it's just, it's what it is. Because people don't understand the physical exertion that goes through a 12 month session of one year of professional football. And what you're talking about here is. And jabbing and it'll never end. The poke back and forth. You are what you are, brother, because that's part of your life that you paid dearly for. And you earned that right to jab a little bit, but also the right to defend.

[Debo (Deebo) Samuel]

Yes, that's the one thing you were just saying. And this is what I feel in this whole conversation and this you being on this episode, it's a brotherhood, it's a bond, it's family. It's when you hang out with somebody and like you said, you're trying to. Each year is training camp, Star OTAs, all that, that season is a grueling season that you go through with your players, with your guys. And when you have dudes that want to be the best at something that are grinding and fighting and having. You're meeting them every single day, like it becomes a love. Like you know them, you feel them. And then when you have a legit, like start doing a dynasty where these guys, we're together the next year and we're together this year. We've been together for five years together Grinding. And now we know each other. The tendencies when you could start. How Ryan Clark and Troy could just start not saying nothing but just moving their heads and like, that's it. Vacation.

[Coach Dick LeBeau]

When you got a teammate and he goes down and you know he's hurting and he gets up and he finishes that game, you know what he's going through. He knows what you've gone through. That's different than sitting down beside each other in a desk and figuring out a problem. Right? It's different.

[Debo (Deebo) Samuel]

Blood, sweat and tears. Legit.

[James Harrison]

Yeah.

[Debo (Deebo) Samuel]

Yeah.

[James Harrison]

Hey, Coach, we go get to these super chats in a minute. We got some people that done asked you some. Some questions. But me and Joe got to get together. We got to figure out a time that we could get down there, get to you, where we can get a good week, if not two, that you go be around that we could get to you. Because we got to pull all this defense up out of here. We got to get it up out your head, Coach. We got to get it to the paper. We. We. Look, listen, we trying to go ahead and put it down. Joe trying to put it to his kids. He trying to teach them some real defense.

[Debo (Deebo) Samuel]

Yes.

[Coach Dick LeBeau]

Yeah. Now, if you guys. If you guys can get in a time machine where I can get you rushing and him covering, we'll come up with all kind of good defenses. Man, you ain't lying.

[Debo (Deebo) Samuel]

Well, I need to get some of that knowledge, though, because, Debo, we. We talking about getting into coaching a little bit, though. Coach.

[James Harrison]

Yes.

[Debo (Deebo) Samuel]

We're saying if we're going to do it, we need to stop me.

[James Harrison]

I need to be running.

[Coach Dick LeBeau]

Let me tell you both.

[James Harrison]

Fire zone.

[Coach Dick LeBeau]

Coach. Coach him the way you played. You're both great players. Coach him the way you played, the confidence that you played with. You knew what you were doing, you knew what you had to get done. And when you. When you messed up, you didn't really need a coach to tell you too much about what you did wrong. You know what you did wrong. Coach them the way you play. Cause the way you guys played was good. Now, I just want to tell you one thing, Joe. Because of poking back and forth and him getting on you with the brands and all that and everything. Good. Every time. It can't get to be a little frisky every now and then. Make sure you're outside if it gets to be too frisky so you can use your speed, man, and get the hell out of there.

[James Harrison]

Okay.

[Coach Dick LeBeau]

Though I used to get an argument when the linebackers. Every now and then, I Found the outdoors was the best, best place to be.

[Debo (Deebo) Samuel]

They can't catch you. I'm faster than you, that's for sure.

[Coach Dick LeBeau]

That's what it is. You always got plan B in there. A, B, C, D, B is all I ever needed. And that was. What do they say? Fight or flee?

[Debo (Deebo) Samuel]

Fight or flight.

[James Harrison]

Yeah. Fight or flight. Yeah. Oh, we got, we got coming to life. She back. Question. I guess this might have been from what's the name question for coach on Monday. You made the fire zone. You made the zone blitz famous. How many quarterbacks do you still think wake up at night trying to figure out where the pressure came from?

[Coach Dick LeBeau]

Well, I tell you what, I can tell you a quick story on that. That's always been one of my favorite stories. I, I started messing around with it. You have to be the coordinator when you're going to change the defense, you know, because if you're just a position guy, all you can do is suggest. But once you're a coordinator, you can go in and. Yeah, might cost you your job, but at leastwise you can do it. And if you think it's a pretty good idea, you can do it. So I, I thought, well, it might be pretty good to not blitz a big guy who's lining up with his hand, his hand on the ground and blitz one of them little guys that's running around. It's usually backpedaling 30 yards down the field. I said that might be pretty good. Yes, to fool with them. And, and then I, I started thinking about different ways to cover him behind. The thing that I wanted to get away from was the full pressure blitz where everybody was zero coverage, one on one everywhere. And even though some of the biggest plays of the defense come from that max blitz, some of the offenses biggest plays against the defense come from the same thing because if they beat one man, there's nobody with eyes that can go over there and save the big play. And that was. I was looking for a safer way to get pressure on the quarterback. And that's what I was looking for. So I would like to say that it went like this, but I went off the diving board into a pool that didn't have any water in it. Many times you were trying to patch up where a guy left a little bit. And I eventually worked into some things that worked a little bit. But we were playing a preseason game and it was in Cincinnati. I was coaching in Cincinnati and they're great quarterback. One of the best quarterbacks ever played. His name's escaping me right now. This happens to be every now and then. Been hitting the head too many times.

[Debo (Deebo) Samuel]

Marina, tell me.

[Coach Dick LeBeau]

Okay, so quarterbacks, you know how they do after the game, they always, they're, they're cut above everybody else so they always got to go over and shake hands and all that stuff after the game, Boomer assassins, our coach, those or our quarterback. And they're over there chatting after the game and everything. And so we came in, they were, I think they were the defending AFC champs at that time and they beat us with a last second drive down the field. They beat us like 17 to 14. It was tied up and Boomer said, hey, he said one thing Moreno said. He said you'd be interested to know

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[Coach Dick LeBeau]

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[Pandora Jewelry Advertiser]

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[Narrator/Host]

I'm Cindy Crawford and I'm the founder of Meaningful Beauty. Well, I don't know about you, but like I never liked being told oh wow, you look so good for your age. Like, why even bother saying that? Why don't you just say you look great at any age, Every age. That's what Meaningful Beauty is all about. We create products that make you feel confident in your skin at the age you are now. Meaningful beauty. Beautiful skin at every age. Learn more@meaningful beauty.com. Craving bold, authentic taste without kitchen chaos? True nature meets Japanese Teriyaki Style Delivers tender beef glazed with sweet, savory umami precooked perfection inspired by Japanese chefs. Heat in 2 minutes. Slice over salads or plates. Complaints turn to second helpings. Real meat, real flavor. Go to trunaturemeats.com code free meat for 20% off plus free New York strip Texas Smoked Brisket and Mediterranean chicken with Code free [e-mail] hey, it's Ryan Seacrest

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[Coach Dick LeBeau]

He said I asked him what was he looking at with some of the blitzes that he received because Boomer had got to go against it and practice every day. And Reno said, well, they told me to look at this and look at that in the practice on practice field. But when we got in the game, he said, I couldn't see nothing. He said, so I just started focusing on my guy and throwing him the ball. And of course he had a great duper and them guys, they beat us, but it was a close game. We played well on defense. But when I heard that from one of the best quarterback throwing quarterbacks in the league, he said, I quit looking at anything else. That's what I was trying to do. I want to get that quarterback out of gathering all that information pre snap, where they know where we're going, where what, what we're doing. Make him execute the way we got to execute. Everything comes to our key. After the ball snapped, I just wanted to make make it even for my guys where make him read something after that ball snapped or where he wants to go with the ball. So when I heard him say he quit reading anything. I said well this, this is going to work eventually.

[Debo (Deebo) Samuel]

Okay.

[Coach Dick LeBeau]

And that, that's how I stayed with it.

[James Harrison]

Liam $90875 he said Coach LeBeau, what offensive formation or plays were most difficult for you to stop in the red zone?

[Coach Dick LeBeau]

We had one of the best red zone defenses continually and it was from my experience and your guys ability the, the thing in the red zone you have to utilize the fact that the, the, the field can no longer be stretched and your players don't have to worry, worry about depth as much as they got to defend the optional stuff happening in front of them. And what I would do was preparation for my athletes and we continually ran every, every route if not in full practice speed walkthrough. I was a walkthrough nut. But one guy had to learn if he goes where, where's the next place your eyes going, where's the next threat probably going to come because. And the other thing is you give a quarterback time. He's working on just little area pops, pop, pop. The ball ain't going to be in the air that long. He's going to get it in there on you. So you got to disrupt that quarterback a little bit down in there too. And there were disguise is probably even more pertinent than out on the field where you got to make him read and hesitate a little bit and then your guys can get to him and you make a play down there. You, you've saved your team four points. It turned seven points into three and you, you win a lot of games with two or three points. But I didn't feel the red zone so much. I thought it was hell no he didn't Liam.

[James Harrison]

I thought it wasn't a damn thing difficult. You heard what he said.

[Coach Dick LeBeau]

I thought it was an advantage for the defense really because they aren't going to beat us deep down there. It was no deep.

[James Harrison]

Yes sir. Covenant Life back again, Joe. $10.

[Debo (Deebo) Samuel]

Yes sir.

[James Harrison]

He said, check out the look on Debo's face. This man looks like he's ready to drill someone. His coach is here and James is here for it. I'm scared. She said you can tell Coach LeBeau means the world to him. Yes he does. Yes he does. That is a hundred percent true.

[Debo (Deebo) Samuel]

Correct.

[James Harrison]

We got got. What is it? DM Ozone. DM Ozone. $10 question for Coach LeBeau. Which player that you coach reminded you the most of yourself?

[Coach Dick LeBeau]

Oh well, they were all better than me.

[Debo (Deebo) Samuel]

I think the bowl you had 62 picks. Stop.

[James Harrison]

Hey man, that's what I Be saying,

[Debo (Deebo) Samuel]

man, I'm like, how are they better than you?

[Narrator/Host]

Stop.

[Coach Dick LeBeau]

Let me tell you, let me tell you this story. This is a great story. I'm trying to think of who, who I was even with. It's not important to the story, but I, I was, I would gladly walk around the guys during stretch and I'd, I'd say, you know, Rod, how many interceptions you got? How many interceptions you got, Troy, how many you got? And then I'd total them up, you know, and they might total up 50 between them. I said, well, that's pretty good. You only got 12 more to go to get me.

[Debo (Deebo) Samuel]

Yeah, so you do okay.

[Coach Dick LeBeau]

I wasn't bashful about it. I called it establishing credibility for your teaching lessons.

[James Harrison]

So, hey, how many games you played straight? That's another one he'd hit him with one.

[Debo (Deebo) Samuel]

171 for you, coach.

[Coach Dick LeBeau]

171.

[Debo (Deebo) Samuel]

171 straight games and then 62 picks. That's what I'm saying. You talk about getting credibility from the defensive players in your room.

[Coach Dick LeBeau]

I was trying to get it established that a little bit. But when I'm doing this one day and a first year player, he's down there stretching a little bit and I'm saying about this, and I said, yeah, 72, brother. 62. And he said, coach, coach. He said, coach. And he can give me a come on over. Like he wanted to whisper to me. Said, yeah, what they do just throw at you all the time? I said, no, they stayed away from me, man. I would have got 172if they just thrown at me. But he said, what they do throw at you all the time?

[Debo (Deebo) Samuel]

Let's go, man. Ain't no way, coach. Ain't no way.

[Coach Dick LeBeau]

Well, let me tell you something though about that. It's true. You knew who the corners on the other side for me in my career. Night Train Lane first, he's. He's got more interceptions than anybody that ever played.

[Debo (Deebo) Samuel]

And I train 80 was.

[Coach Dick LeBeau]

He's 81, I think.

[Debo (Deebo) Samuel]

81?

[Coach Dick LeBeau]

Yeah. No, you know something? Krause might be 81 and train might be 78 or something. Okay, yes, they're both right at the top. But when I was playing with Train, he was number one. And the other, the other year we drafted this guy named Lynn Barney and he played the other corner for me. So there wasn't no picking on either one of us. They had to go pretty honest against

[Debo (Deebo) Samuel]

wherever they threw the ball. It was going to get picked off.

[James Harrison]

It got their share coming to life back again. $10 she said, do y' all see the look in James eyes right now? Body ready or not? James looks like he's. James looks like he's ready to suit up. No, I'm not. Watch out. But butter. Yeah, I suit up against butter, though. We have Hawk, and he is 92. And coach Le Bo stirring the pot. Let's go. Yeah, we got. We got that. We got over here, Mr. Stiller Fan. 43, $5. Coach LeBeau, can you keep it real? Do you think the current team could run your defense? Do. Do we have the players to run the defense efficiently?

[Coach Dick LeBeau]

Well, nobody's going to have as good a defense as I. As. As we had with you guys. It's in the. It's in my book.

[James Harrison]

No question.

[Coach Dick LeBeau]

Pick up the book and look at the stance collectively and individually. But I think, let's put it this way. If I go to a high school game now, I still do every now and then, they're running zone blitzes. Every college game you put on, on tv, they're running zone blitzes.

[James Harrison]

Everybody run a zone.

[Coach Dick LeBeau]

They're all running yours. The difference is they don't know what the hell they're doing in behind. Thank you.

[James Harrison]

Thank you. You cannot change things behind because you don't like the way one things go. Open up too many other openings in other spots. Like, instead of it having one weakness, now you got 10. Like, they don't understand that concept. Like, Coach LeBeau is not going to call a defense against a certain personnel because he knows this is not going to work against this personnel. Why the hell would I call it? What we have ended up doing is changing what people do against whatever the personnel is, and we're getting gassed and gassed, and right now I'm hoping that can change, but. Go ahead, Coach.

[Coach Dick LeBeau]

Well, I'm not critiquing any individuals when I say that. It just. As I look, look, as I look at the game, I see a lot of. Well, one of my famous statements is, there is nothing so ugly as a fire zone gone wrong, pal. People in some wide open spaces.

[James Harrison]

Yes, yes, yes, definitely, definitely. Well, we got Covenant Life back again, Joe. She said, with the modern NFL shifting and so heavily towards RPO run pass options and mobile quarterbacks, how would you. Man, this is nothing. How would you adapt the 3, 4 fire zone to remain effective today between. Joe, by the way, Joe, we missed you Friday. That's simple. Coach used to do that all the time. We. We used to go, Vic, who else was it? I think you. You muted Coach. Is he muted?

[Coach Dick LeBeau]

Vic was no, he was, he was a handful. Would really run, run past options, stuff like that.

[James Harrison]

RG3 was another one that we. Oh yeah, Donkey Konged him, stopped him like. Go ahead, coach, tell him. That ain't nothing. That's something. That's something we used to do on the regular. Well, that was back when you was allowed to smash him too. Yes, that, that comes to the ball smashing quarterback come. That's you. We're not looking for nothing else. Me and Woodley ain't looking for nothing else.

[Coach Dick LeBeau]

No.

[James Harrison]

I don't care what he does. If he does that rpo, that run pass option to you, he said that's what.

[Coach Dick LeBeau]

If they're running the, the run fake with it, you can hit him today. That's what I would make, make the, the opposite team's owner make his coach quit doing it. Yeah, because he gonna get his quarterback splattered. But I, that's what the off season's for. You gotta, you gotta look at everything that you've done that previous year and people are gonna study you pretty good. And the things that hurt them, they're going to try to, to get an something that will hurt it. I mean it's a, it's a series. The offense actually has the advantage because they the only one that knows where the ball's going and who's supposed to be getting it and things like that. So the defense has always got to be a stimulus response and get their keys and find a ball and get it on the ground. But there are ways, I think, of balancing that playing platform up a little bit and whatever the rules are, the game that was, that was. I didn't spend any of my time complaining about what the rule was about how you do this and who I looked for one thing only. What is the best way that our defense can get an edge over that offense within the limit of the rules of how they're going to call it, the fiscal is going to call it. And I tried to focus on that and that's what I taught around. This is what we're going to do because this is going to be illegal and we're not going to sit there and beat ourselves every week by getting a bunch of 15 yard penalties. Instead of complaining about it, we're going to take it to our advantage and find a way to percentage wise. It's like playing poker. You go into the hand with the best hand in your hand and you're both going to draw cards. You're going to come out with the best hands more times than not. Are you going to win every time? No, because the law of averages is going to balance out one way or the other. But if you can put the law of averages in your defense's favor, you're going to win more than you're going to lose. And that's the way I coached, and that's the way I would coach today with all these crazy rules they got me. I would try to look for what's. What's the best way that we can do it to get an advantage over the guy we're playing against.

[James Harrison]

Yes. Yes.

[Debo (Deebo) Samuel]

I love what he was talking about too, though, Debo, with the walkthroughs, though, Coach. Walkthroughs.

[Coach Dick LeBeau]

I.

[Debo (Deebo) Samuel]

In the sky. Don't lie. You know what I'm saying? Like all of those things, the simple stuff, because you can be. You're coaching to do the right thing all the time, and all those walkthroughs, all those little things. So when we have these communications, when people are motioning, you can't not know what to do. You know what I'm saying? So when you're giving these dudes all of those walkthroughs, all of those time to be able to get. Get your plays good.

[Coach Dick LeBeau]

Let me tell you something else that, that's good for Joe. I would, I would put in a lot of new stuff, you know, each week so that the opponent, if whatever he saw us run the week before, he probably wasn't going to see any of that. It's going to attack the same area, but it wouldn't be the same way.

[James Harrison]

Coach will put you in the same position, man. Have everybody looking the same. And it'll be five defenses off of that.

[Debo (Deebo) Samuel]

Yes.

[James Harrison]

And everything will look the same. People doing total opposites in two, three of them.

[Coach Dick LeBeau]

I want them to waste their time and their. Their practice periods when they were working for what, what they've seen. And I had all. Every defense we'd run for the whole season on the board or up around me, how many times I'd run it and what games I ran it in. And if it was run successfully in the last four or five games, they probably weren't going to see it again, but they. They'd see the shape again with it.

[James Harrison]

Yep.

[Coach Dick LeBeau]

But smoking mirrors.

[Debo (Deebo) Samuel]

Don't move. Nobody move. Everybody don't show nothing.

[Coach Dick LeBeau]

You got to make the playing field even, man. Yes. Give your athletes a chance.

[James Harrison]

Yes. Coach. Man, we. We up out of time right now, man. We want to thank you for coming on, man. Really appreciate having you guys. Make sure you guys go and get the book. Book. Legendary. Okay. It's going to tell you everything you need to know about the architect of the best NFL defense and still and no in history. Period.

[Debo (Deebo) Samuel]

Yes.

[James Harrison]

2008 Pittsburgh Steelers defense.

[Debo (Deebo) Samuel]

Joe, I'm just. It was My pleasure, Coach LeBeau. I'm just so happy to be on to be able to talk to you. Debo always spoke so highly of you. And now just being able to have this conversation with you, I could see exactly why. Appreciate your time, man. Thank you so much, boss. You're a legend.

[Coach Dick LeBeau]

It's my honor to be in the middle of you two guys, man. It was great.

[Debo (Deebo) Samuel]

Thank you.

[James Harrison]

Yes, sir. Yes, sir. Guys, please make sure you like subscribe and download where you get your show. We will be back here tomorrow. And guess what? We may be having somebody else on Friday.

[Debo (Deebo) Samuel]

We'll see.

[James Harrison]

Coach, thank you again. Miss you. Love you. I need to come see you. I gotta get the rest. I gotta get all that defense about your head, man. And love you, man.

[Coach Dick LeBeau]

Love you too, James. Nice to meet you, Joe.

[Debo (Deebo) Samuel]

Thank you, coach. Appreciate you.

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