By Alan Robinson
Dick LeBeau stays contemporary by being a contrarian.
He refuses to spend endless hours during the offseason re-educating himself on the offensive flavor of the month. Chances are what's new to the rest of the league is old news to a man who is in his 55th NFL season as a Hall of
Fame player and coach.
“Basically, what was defense in the 1960s is what is defense in 2013,” LeBeau said. “Find the ball and get whoever's got it on the ground.”
He is in an innovator — the zone blitz defense that reshaped the way defense is played is his creation — but not necessarily an inventor. Inventing effectively requires starting all over again; LeBeau prefers to lean on what is proven to work, then make it better.
“Amazingly enough, we've changed almost nothing from the time we started coaching (in 1973),” LeBeau said. “It even amazes me, to be honest with you.”
Last season's copycat zone read offense? It's much like the triple option and veer offenses that swept through college football in the late 1960s and early 1970s. The pistol formation? The 49ers introduced the quarterback lined up in a short punt formation — the shotgun — in the 1960s.
Read more: http://triblive.com/sports/steelers/4520437-74/lebeau-defense-steelers#ixzz2buwpp0ok
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If you're going to be a smart ass, you'd better be smart. Otherwise, you're just an ass. 
