True enough. I've never been a believer in any sport in the idea of "the move is always right if it works out and wrong if it doesn't." To me there are right calls and wrong calls and regardless of whether they work out they need to be examined because those don't go away and ultimately they cost you when the competition steps up on you.
Anybody else annoyed with the constant confusion the defense seems to have at the line, in terms of coverage assignments and play calls? I guess a lot of that is felt with Cushing's loss (he was the play-caller on defense), but last night we saw shades of the New England game, with players not knowing who was supposed to be covered at the line, and guys being left wide open due to miscommunication/poor execution in coverage (luckily, Luck missed a gimme TD on one of them by never even looking the guys way). They have a solid 3-4 base defense... but this defense becomes awfully exposed once they get spread out.
Sorry bud, we were a 12-4 squad. Schaub but up top 10 stats the last several years and you think the staff lacks knowledge by not starting an undrafted kid with no experience? Just stop. I can't take you serious.
Winning is in context of expectations and talent. If the Browns go 8-8, that's crazy good. If the Texans do that, not so much. In all of Kubiak's time here, what years can you argue that the Texans truly played above their talent level? What years would you say they played below it? Harbaugh's teams have consistently done extremely well and have been basically as successful as any in the league over his tenure. Everyone knew this season that they were going to struggle because of the cap-hell they went through and the dismantling of so much of last year's team. The same is not true for Kubiak - he has no history of success and his teams have, more often than not, severely underperformed expectations. So he's not good at in-game management. He's not good at adjustments. He's not good as personnel decision making. But his teams play hard (but not particularly well). Where is the argument for keeping him? Is the standard really that as long as your team plays hard, you keep your job?
I'm pretty much with Major on all of this. If the major decisions that improve the team are all ones that are forced upon the HC and aren't ones he'd make himself, what good is he? Kubiak is a good offensive coordinator who's mediocre as a head coach. He's not particularly good at hiring a staff or making roster/personnel decisions. If you take away his ability to hire and fire coaches, AGAIN, and reduce his input on player acquisition, then that's a weak ass head coach. Good coaches deserve a fair amount of autonomy. If you have to take power away because they make bad decisions with that power, that's a bad head coach. It doesn't make him a bad offensive coordinator, it just means that he doesn't have the requisite skills to be a good head coach and should probably go back to doing what he does best. You're basically turning him back into a glorified OC if you take away a lot of his decision making ability. If you're going to neuter him, then you might as well just fire him and get a new HC.
Hey, I'm not for "keeping" him... he's had enough of an opportunity to prove himself here, and as I said earlier, if you're not re-inventing your system or game plans every 3-4 years in this league, you're vulnerable. But, if he does keep his job it will be because he gets through/relates well to the team, and McNair seems to put value on the character of the ball-club above simple wins/losses.
He'll get another year or two. Guys play hard for him, they love him, and injuries have hurt the team. Hell, coach himself went down with an "injury", so I have no doubt he'll get at least one more year.
Kubiak's contract runs through next year. He will be here. Unfortunately, we'll probably do just enough to save his job and get him another extension and the cycle will start all over. Part of me wants to see what he can do with a full season of Keenum, but the other part of me looks at his decision making skills and overall body of work and wants change. It's pretty obvious that he should not be a head coach just like it's obvious that Wade should not be a head coach. Both great at what they do but the results are not there as the man in charge. As far as defense, we need an OLB more than anything else on this team. The defense has steadily gone downhill since Wade's first season because we went from Mario and Barwin (who was actually producing at the time) to Reed and Mercilus, who are both just not good enough for what we need in this defense.
That's the perfect time to fire him. Coaches get fired all the time with one year remaining on their contract. Capers had one year remaining on his contract when he was fired. If a coach is owed a lot of money over multiple years, that can create a problem. But buying out one year? That's manageable. The first time Kubiak had 1 year left on his contract, McNair extended him early because he didn't want Kubiak to be thinking about his job during the season and didn't want the players to think they were playing for his job either. I doubt McNair will extend him early again this time. So the question becomes, is he going to put Kubiak and the players in the same situation he wanted to avoid just a few years ago? Or will he pull the trigger on a regime change this offseason? I think it still remains to be decided. FWIW, Kubiak was offered a 4 year extension but only took a 3 year one to match the rest of his coaches. That could be his undoing as it makes him easier to fire.
The thing is, is that we'll probably end up 7-9 or 8-8 and Bob will say that we made some strides after a rough first half and that we should "stay the course" or something like that. In '08 we were 3-7 and ended up winning 5 out of the last 6. In '09 we were 5-7, and won 4 in a row against subpar teams to build false confidence in Gary.
Keep Kubiak, extend him two more years (to match Rick Smith). Both will expire then in 2016 (barring an extension before then).
Your knowledge on Football is not real good, no coach deserves a job again after eight year job in one team, the result of just two playoff wins.
That's why I said "it remains to be decided". I think the magic number is 5 wins. Over and Kubes probably stays. Under and I think he goes. 5 wins could go either way IMO, though it would lean more to him getting canned considering 2 of those wins would presumably come against the Jags. That's why as much as it pains me, I'm hoping they lose as much as possible the rest of the season. Because Bob won't pull the trigger unless it's painfully and blatantly obvious that he has to.
I doubt doctors will recommend that he return to coaching any time soon (see his health status thread).
I think this is the year to trade up into the 1st round. Take Matthews or whoever is the best tackle available at 5 or wherever they are picking. Then trade into the middle of the 1st with next years 1st and this years 3rd, to grab a top flight free safety with range. Then you go with best corner in the 2nd and go with 2 OLBs in the 4th
