There was talk around the NFL during the year that the Pittsburgh Steelers and longtime defensive coordinator, Dick LeBeau, were on the verge of a separation.
With the Steeler defense faltering down the stretch and talk of LeBeau's dismissal turning to reality, many around the NFL simply assumed that the Steelers had handed the grizzled coordinator his walking papers and offered a heartfelt goodbye, despite their characterization of the split as a "mutual parting."
But, it turns out, that "mutual parting" was, in fact, more of a resignation, with a Sunday morning report from Ian Rapoport of NFL.com, via Marc Sessler, stating that the team was actually very much "surprised" by what is being painted as entirely LeBeau's decision.
"While some in the organization were clear that LeBeau could stay as long as he wanted, the longtime coach thought it was time to go, Rapoport was told," Sessler writes. "It's believed that LeBeau, 77, wanted to depart alongside veterans such as cornerback Ike Taylor and safety Troy Polamalu, who are unlikely to be back with Pittsburgh in 2015."
It sounds as though the elder NFL statesman - he spent 14 years as a player before making the move to coaching, something he's now been doing for 42 years - isn't done with the league.
"I'm resigning this position, not retiring," LeBeau, 77, said, according to the Urbana Daily Citizen. "I had a great run in Pittsburgh. I'm grateful for all the things that have happened to me and thankful for all the support I had in Pittsburgh."
With LeBeau's departure, it is easy to connect the defensive dots and reach the assumption that the Steelers' linebackers coach, Keith Butler, is next in line to take over the position.
The Tennessee Titans tried to hire Butler away last season, but the Steelers blocked the move and Butler himself declined an interview request from the Indianapolis Colts in 2012 for their defensive coordinator position, ostensibly because he and the team were expecting LeBeau's eventual departure and wanted to have their handpicked replacement in place.
The 58-year-old Butler spent four seasons with the Cleveland Browns as their linebackers coach before taking over the same position with the Steelers. He's now held that title for 12 years.
Butler, like LeBeau, spent a little over a decade as a player in the league, for the Seattle Seahawks, before joining the coaching ranks.