Bill O'Brien emerges as Houston Texans No. 1 target for new head coach

I dont know anything about O'Brien, but it looks like everyone on the board is ok with the hire so i am too.

 

I get all that but Wade is one of the best defensive minds in football and has been for about 30 years... The Texans are going to have a very hard time finding anybody better than him. You don't fire people just to do it IMO.

Without Wade we wouldn't have the best defensive player on the planet and he probably wouldn't be half as good as he is.

 

Sounds like he's gonna be the guy

 

Doesnt matter what Wade has accomplished for the last 30 years...the Texans defense this year would have been better off with any other DC in the NFL. Wade's schemes were predictable and bland...had there been any eroticism (yes, my own word) involved, Watt would have made even more of an impact because Wade could have made something out of someone else on defense to draw away attention from Watt.

We were 2nd to last in sacks, last in interceptions, 2nd to last in fumbles recovered, most penalty yards, worst redzone defense, etc...

I mean, it does not get worse than that and regardless of injuries or talent level, that level of incompetence is unacceptable. This isnt a firing "just to do it"...we need someone else to lead the defense at this point.

 

I'm in the camp that you keep him if there isn't someone for sure better out there. Our D actually looked decent with spare parts this season.

 

Sure... and eventually all coaches have the game pass them by, whether its a slow gradual process, or a sudden fall off a cliff... the fact is that Wade has had a specific pattern at all his stops of a defense that has its "best" year in the first full year that he's there, and regresses thereafter. This season was awful, the worst of all his stops... I don't think he deserves to survive this regime.

I think Wade is a great mind, and I won't diminish his accomplishments... but he also needs some pretty good talent on his team to make his system work. The players the Texans "added" or changed positions the year he got here led to the unit that had the most talent of all his tenures: Watt, Barwin (injured year before), Cushing moved to MLB, Jonathan Joseph, Daniel Manning, Brooks Reed.

I just don't see him "reinventing" his system based on the players he has... and I do think staying stagnant in what you do in today's NFL makes you a huge target now more than ever.

Get somebody to design a system around Watt... something the NFL has never seen before... and you'll probably get a 1-2 year window of something "elite" that the league won't be able to answer (till they do).

 

yup, people tend to forget that the offense dominated the ball so much, clockwise, earlier in the year, giving the defense plenty of rest and less time on the field. that had a lot to do with the stats looking decent. i watched the games and it was really, really, really hard to watch that "defense".

 

If they were going to fire Wade don't you think they would of done it today?

 

What are you basing this on?

 

I'm sure they'll wait to see if O'Brien wants to retain him (which he likely won't)... and since Wade is under contract, there's no deadline to fire him. They also haven't fired any other coaches.

They did, however, tell all the coaches (wade included) that they were free to explore other coaching opportunities... basically it will be up to the new coach if he wants to retain any of them.

 

Wade is still officially in the running for head coach. We're not going to fire him until we have a new coach.

 

This is it exactly.

 

I think it's more about finalizing a deal with O'Brien first and then he gets to decide who he wants on his coaching staff. Phillips would then have to meet with him and they'd discuss schemes and players and whether it's a fit and if they could work together.

I like Wade, and he did a solid job erasing the taint of Frank Bush, but he constantly failed to make defensive adjustments in the second half of games. It was all too predictable with all out blitzes and straight man to man coverage. Not a single player other than Watt had a good year, and that was purely his ability, not scheme. Fresh faces on the defensive side are needed, someone who can get the most out of mercilus, reed, jackson, swearinger,etc, because they haven't developed the way the way high picks should.

 

I'm not sure if those guys haven't developed because of Wade or because they were bad picks, but regardless, I'm generally in agreement that a fresh coach is needed for the defense. The constant man to man was a major killer. Teams would throw the ball all over the field against Wade's defense, and it wasn't just a this year thing, that was a constant. It didn't always show up in the stat sheets because of PI penalties, but teams that could get at least semi competent QB play NEVER had a problem against this defense.

 

People seriously believe a BOB/Wade combo is possible? Really?

O'Brien is not going to want to retain the interim coach and fellow HC candidate on his staff, and Wade is not going to want to stick around if he doesn't get the HC gig. Plus, there's that whole minor detail of Wade being the DC (and interim coach) for the worst team in the league.

 

If BOB (coach, not owner) wants Wade to stay, Wade would stay.

 

guessing.

 

Good point.

They probably cannot coexist. Years under Gary made Wade soft & unimaginative. Wade needs a HC to hold him accountable.

But, I still like Wade.. So, I would not mind if he stayed.

 

The think about Wade Phillips is that historically, everywhere he goes, he makes an amazing difference the first year he is there, and progressively, each year after, his defenses progressively regress towards the mean.

I see no reason to think that the pattern that has held true for his entire career will change now.

I respect the guy, and think he is a very good defensive coordinator who seems to consistently make a great impact when he gets to a new place, but we are at the point of increasingly diminishing returns. The best of the Wade Phillips/Texans' defense is behind us.

 

Looks like it could hold a Super Bowl ring.