What's Next for Steelers After Parting Ways with Legendary DC Dick LeBeau?

In the middle of the divisional round of the NFL playoffs, news broke that that longtime Pittsburgh Steelers defensive coordinator Dick LeBeau would be resigning from his position.

Gerry Dulac of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette broke the story on Twitter:

Though LeBeau told Steve Stout of the Urbana Daily Citizen that he's "not retiring," Bleacher Report's Christopher Hansen thinks this could be it for the Hall of Fame coach:

The question left on the table is what's next for the Steelers? In order to address that, we first have to look back before we can venture forward.

The 77-year-old LeBeau first joined the Steelers organization as the team's defensive backs coach in 1992 at the age of 55. He was promoted to defensive coordinator in 1995 before leaving to take the same position with the Cincinnati Bengals two years later.

If you look back at the history books, his initial stint there was a success. The team made the playoffs four times from '92 through '97 and never lost more than seven games in a single season.

KEITH SRAKOCIC/Associated Press

His three years as defensive coordinator saw the Steelers defense ranked outside of the top 10 just once in points allowed.

LeBeau eventually left the comforts of Pittsburgh, making stops in Cincinnati and Buffalo before returning as the team's defensive coordinator in 2004. The man who hired him back? Former Steelers head coach Bill Cowher.

When Cowher retired after a Super Bowl victory in 2005, the next head coach, Mike Tomlin, retained LeBeau.

You may forget now, but at that time, that wasn't a guarantee. Tomlin—a defensive coach himself—was a Tampa 2 guy at heart. When he was hired away from the Minnesota Vikings, many thought he would incorporate that type of scheme in Pittsburgh.

At the time of his employment, ESPN.com wrote about Tomlin's decision to keep LeBeau around:

"

Tomlin said he wouldn't rush to install the 4-3 and will retain defensive coordinator Dick LeBeau, a proponent of the 3-4 and zone blitzing schemes. Instead, Tomlin plans to match his defenses to the skills of the players he has -- and he is not yet ready to say which defense that will be.

"

We now know that Tomlin was so confident in LeBeau that he ditched his Tampa 2 background and instead opted for LeBeau's historic zone-blitz scheme instead.

Under Tomlin's watch, LeBeau's defense would continue to thrive for years, culminating with a second Super Bowl win in 2008.

Gene J. Puskar/Associated Press

From 2007 until 2011, the Steelers defense was outstanding. They even led the NFL in points allowed three times during that resurgent era of football. The personnel was there, and LeBeau's brilliant coaching allowed that defense to consistently play a high level.

It wasn't until 2013 that the wheels started to come off the bus. That was the year Pittsburgh's defense plunged in points allowed. Going from sixth to 14th place wasn't ideal. And for the second season in a row, they missed the playoffs with an 8-8 record.

Analyzing LeBeau's mantra prior to the 2013 season, Paper Champions of Behind The Steel Curtain summed up what fans had been accustomed to seeing: "One of the more interesting stats about the Pittsburgh Steelers defense is that they do not give up a lot of big plays over the course of a season."

So, why did things begin to deteriorate in 2013? Well, a lack of an effective pass rush certainly didn't help.

Football Outsiders' DVOA rankings placed the Steelers 21st in the NFL when it came to rushing the passer. The season before that they were ranked ninth in the same category. In 2014, they graded out as the 17th-best. 

In order for a zone-blitz scheme to thrive, you have to have players who can find their way to the quarterback. You don't need deep research or advanced metrics to tell you that.

Blame it on injuries, a lack of proper personnel or whatever you want, the fact remains, without a pass rush, LeBeau's scheme wavered.

Despite those flaws, 2014 was a productive year for this team. It went 11-5 and won the AFC North before falling to Joe "Montana" Flacco and the Baltimore Ravens in the Wild Card Round of the playoffs.

Now that LeBeau has resigned, where do we go from here? He's been a staple of consistency for this organization for years.

According to Dulac's article, "The likely successor to LeBeau is linebackers coach Keith Butler, who has been with the team since 2003 and been given several indications over the years he will be the next defensive coordinator."

Uncredited/Associated Press

Nothing's been made official, but transitioning over to Butler makes sense. He's familiar with the players, scheme and locker-room situation. Assuming Tomlin has trust in him, that would be a swift and hopefully painless changing of the guard.

On the other hand, is there any chance Tomlin wants to try out that Tampa 2 system he grew up running? Doubtful because of the personnel in place, but in the NFL, I guess you never know.

Whatever the case winds up being, Pittsburgh has to get back to its successful defensive ways. It's part of the Steelers' very existence. Without a strong defense they will continue to go nowhere in the postseason.

Justin K. Aller/Getty Images

The draft and free agency will be critical for that cause. By Spotrac's count, 14 Steelers defensive players are set to be free agents this offseason—eight of those being defensive backs.

Rebuilding this team with young defensive backs should be priority No. 1. By the same token, finding capable edge-rushers is vital.

Now, all that's left to say is thank you. Thank you to a man who helped mold the modern-day Steelers. Thank you to the great Dick LeBeau.

With LeBeau gone, it's also time for Steelers fans to buckle up. Because based on what we've seen thus far, it's going to be one hectic offseason.

Unless noted otherwise, all game scores and information come courtesy of Pro-Football-Reference.com.