Even after spending nearly six full decades in the NFL, Dick LeBeau still misses his days playing football at Ohio State.
While LeBeau had a successful career as a Buckeye, playing cornerback and halfback for Ohio State from 1956-58 and winning a national championship with the Buckeyes in 1957, he’s best known for what he went on to accomplish in the league. As a player, LeBeau played an NFL-record 171 consecutive games at cornerback and recorded 62 interceptions over 14 seasons, ultimately leading to his induction into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2010. LeBeau then went on to coach in the NFL for 45 years, highlighted by a stint as the Pittsburgh Steelers’ defensive coordinator in which he helped them lead them to two Super Bowl championships.
It was those NFL accomplishments that LeBeau was being recognized for when he received the “Ohio’s Finest” award at the Ohio State Coaches Clinic on Thursday night. But even though it’s been more than 63 years since LeBeau played his final game in scarlet and gray, he said Thursday that he wishes he could strap on the pads and play in the Shoe one more time.
“I always had scarlet and gray in my blood,” the 84-year-old LeBeau said. “I left three of my teeth out in Ohio Stadium; you haven’t found them, have you? I’d give the rest of them to get out there for one more play.”
LeBeau, who grew up in London, Ohio, said he still takes pride in being a Buckeye.
“I'm so proud when people ask me, ‘Where did you go to school?’” LeBeau said. “I grew up in the great state of Ohio, some of the greatest football in the country, and I went to the finest university in the nation, Ohio State University.”
“I left three of my teeth out in Ohio Stadium ... I’d give the rest of them to get out there for one more play.”– Dick LeBeau
Ryan Day said he spent time in his office talking with LeBeau before Thursday’s clinic, and while college football has changed in many ways since LeBeau was at Ohio State playing for Woody Hayes, there was one particular message LeBeau shared that Ohio State’s current head coach took to heart.
“I just asked him, I said, ‘What are the things that you did to connect with players?’ And the one thing he just said to me was ‘I wanted to treat the players like I wanted to be treated,’” Day said. “And so while the game has evolved and is certainly a little bit different than when he played, that hasn't changed. The way we talk to kids and connect with kids today, it’s a little bit different, but a lot of those same things still follow through.”
LeBeau was one of two Ohio State legends honored with the Ohio’s Finest award on Thursday night along with former Buckeye running back Keith Byars, who received the award after being inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in December. Like LeBeau, Byars also expressed gratitude for the opportunity he had to be a Buckeye and for growing up in Ohio as a Dayton native, which he believed played a key role in his gridiron success.
“Ohio has the best coaches anywhere,” Byars said while speaking to the coaches attending the clinic. “I lived in Florida for 25 years. Being in Florida, great talent. Best high school talent is Ohio, Florida, Texas and California. And what Ohio State has over a whole lot of other states is you guys in the room. Not just high school coaches, but the middle school and the peewee coaches in Ohio, that makes a difference.”
