LeBeau Keeps Bengals’ Job

The NFL’s only winless team isn’t going to change.

Coach Dick LeBeau kept his job Monday, an indication that the Cincinnati Bengals are content to stay the course through a 12th consecutive dismal season.

LeBeau’s future was cloudy after the Bengals lost to the Pittsburgh Steelers, 34-7, on Sunday, making them the only team in the NFL that hasn’t won a game.

General Manager Mike Brown held his customary meeting with the coaching staff Monday morning and never raised the subject of changes, LeBeau said.

“I’ve always been very proud to be a Cincinnati Bengal,” LeBeau said. “I sought this job, and I think it was a very good thing in the life of Dick LeBeau that I got this job. And I’m going to work my tail off to get this job done.”

The Bengals haven’t had a winning season since Brown took over in 1991, going an NFL-worst 53-129.

Despite all of the losing, he’s loathe to change coaches.

The loss to Pittsburgh left the Bengals 0-6 for the fifth time in the last 12 years and gave the impression of a team in shambles.

The Bengals are heading into their bye weekend, a convenient time for a coaching change.

Things got so bad Sunday that linebacker Takeo Spikes chastised teammates by name in the locker room at halftime.

Minutes later, rookie Antwaan Randle El returned the second-half kickoff 99 yards for a touchdown, giving Pittsburgh a 31-0 lead.

Spikes said Monday that he went into his halftime tirade because he respects LeBeau and the Bengals were making him look bad.

“Dick LeBeau is a great coach,” Spikes said. “I don’t think there’s enough guys on this team that understand that, and I hate when we go out there and [play] the way we do, because it shows a reflection on him.”

LeBeau, 65, was promoted from defensive coordinator to his first head coaching job after Bruce Coslet quit three games into the 2000 season.

During their 35-year history, the Bengals have fired a coach during a season only twice -- Bill Johnson in 1978 and Dave Shula in 1996.