LeBeau Keeps Bengals’ Job

CINCINNATI —  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.