Ranking every Bengals head coach since the turn of the century
By Eric Bruns
3. Dick LeBeau (2000-2002)
Considering most NFL fans know who the legendary Hall of Fame player and coach Dick LeBeau is, we don’t need to wade through the field of his accomplishments. LeBeau was a great defensive coordinator, but he also showed that some coaches are better as coordinators rather than head coaches.
LeBeau took over for Bruce Coslet in 2000 after Coslet's resignation and went on to finish the 2000 season with a personal record of 4-9, with a team record of 4-12. It didn’t get better for LeBeau’s led Bengals, as they went 8-24 in the subsequent two seasons.
LeBeau made it through the 2002 season but was promptly fired after a dismal 2-14 campaign. A coach is only as good as their quarterback in this league and it’s hard to succeed when you have four different starting quarterbacks in three years, especially when one of those quarterbacks is Akili Smith.
Jon Kitna was better than Akili Smith but he was not good enough to make up for the many other issues our boys had in 2001 and 2002. LeBeau lands in the second-to-worst spot on our list.