Former Pittsburgh Steelers defensive coordinator Dick LeBeau won’t be resurfacing in the desert despite meeting with the Arizona Cardinals last week.
Coach Bruce Arians told ESPN.com Cardinals reporter Josh Weinfuss on Monday that he could not persuade LeBeau to join his staff.
“I think just the distance with his family,” Arians said. “He expects a lot of interest. Of course, I had a lot of interest but I think the distance and he just decided what he wants to do.”
LeBeau is available after the Steelers did not renew his contract and later promoted longtime linebackers coach Keith Butler to defensive coordinator.
LeBeau lives in Cincinnati and he prefers to coach east of the Mississippi River so he doesn’t have to stray too far from home.
LeBeau, 77, made it clear that he wants to continue coaching when Mike Tomlin asked him his plans a week after the Steelers’ AFC wild-card loss to the Baltimore Ravens.
One possible landing spot for LeBeau is in Tennessee.
He and Titans coach Ken Whisenhunt coached together in Pittsburgh and are good friends. Titans defensive coordinator Ray Horton coached the secondary in Pittsburgh before becoming a coordinator, first in Arizona and now in Tennessee, and is a LeBeau protégé.
