<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p>Interesting nugget: I'm told Bill O'Brien & others spent time last weekend removing anything emphasizing individuals at the Texans facility.</p>— Albert Breer (@AlbertBreer) <a href="https://twitter.com/AlbertBreer/statuses/421316622133895168">January 9, 2014</a></blockquote> <script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p>... O'Brien had anything that didn't keep the focus on the team -- be it a jersey or an award -- taken down. Messaging: The group above all.</p>— Albert Breer (@AlbertBreer) <a href="https://twitter.com/AlbertBreer/statuses/421316934555037696">January 9, 2014</a></blockquote> <script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
Not exactly an exciting sign. Other coaches that pull this type of stuff in the NFL have had it backfire. Players don't always respond well to that stuff.
Bellichick does this stuff and has his team ready to go all the time.. Not to worry about this.. I would imagine all new coaches do similar things..
They were 2-14. The players not responding to a coaching change, or who feel that change isn't necessary, probably don't need to stick around here.
Good use of time! I wonder if they'll attack the team website next?!? I get the team above all and "do your job" motto, but I'm sure even in New England, people knew where the fell in the pecking order - somewhere behind Brady.
It isn't really exciting.... nor is it concerning. Bill Belichick, Bill Parcells and Tom Coughlin all have done similar things and won.... Others like Eric Mangini tried and it backfired. It really means nothing.
Don't see anything wrong with the coach trying to change the atmosphere of the team. I think the best thing for the players is to comeback and think "ok, this is a new team", rather than coming back to the same things they had that can be associated with a disastrous season. OB is trying to get away from anything associating the team with a losing season, which I think is good. A clean sheet for everyone.
Made them look like a high school team going into the Patriots game. Then they got pasted and they were the butt of jokes in the National media.
That was the turning point in the Texans season...from that day on, we've been a crappy team. Cursed us.
before one of the biggest games of the year against the class of the nfl, we were designing letterman jackets. total amateur hour. these guys are supposed to professionals not kids.
Speaking of being professionals and not kids, I think a lot of things people don't realize is that these guys are all big kids for the most part. The average age of an NFL roster is mid 20's, and they are full of guys who have never worked a real job in their lives and for the most part have been told what to do and what schedule to follow via their parents, then college football program, and now pro football for their entire lives. That's part of the reason I really like the O'brien hire. He's been in a locker room full of true professionals (New England) and also lead a bunch of kids (Penn St). I'd like to think he has a little insight on building a culture within a locker room.
http://espn.go.com/blog/houston-texans/post/_/id/3478/who-is-bill-obrien?utm_source=twitterfeed&utm_medium=twitter
Q&A with Bill O'Brien Q. Are you going to call the plays? A. Yes, the first year I'll call the plays. I love calling plays. I've always enjoyed putting together a game plan. Q. The Texans have the first pick. Last season, Central Florida won at Penn State by three points. Quarterback Blake Bortles threw for 288 yards and three touchdowns. What do you think about Bortles? A. Blake is a good-sized guy. He's an athletic guy for his size. He's an accurate passer. The guys who coached him at Central Florida think highly of him as a young man who really studies the game. He works hard at the game. Q. What do you think about Johnny Manziel? A. The only full games I've watched him on TV were last season's Alabama and Duke (Chick-Fil-A Bowl) games. Obviously, he's a very exciting player. He's a guy who makes plays with his feet and his arm. When you watch him on TV as a fan, he looks like an instinctive player. Q. What about Teddy Bridgewater? A. I haven't seen Bridgewater play yet. I'd be remiss if I started talking about him when I haven't seen him play. Q. How would you describe yourself as a coach? A. Well, I'm uncomfortable talking about myself. But I believe I'm a good communicator. I'm competitive. I believe I'm a good teacher. I try to explain things in ways the players can understand. If they don't understand, I always look in the mirror and try to figure out a different way to explain it or show it to them. I love coaching. I can't wait to get in the car every morning and get to work. Hopefully, the players will see that. Q. You seem to have three mentors in George O'Leary, Ralph Friedgen and Bill Belichick. You were an assistant at Georgia Tech under O'Leary for seven seasons. What did you learn from him? A. Coach O'Leary taught me a lot. He was so organized. Right from the start, I understood how important it is to have good organizational skills. He taught us how to put together a tough team by the type of players you bring in and the way you practice. We didn't win every game we played, but we were a very tough, resilient team every year. Q. You spent six seasons as an assistant working with Ralph Friedgen, four at Duke and two when he was head coach at Maryland. What did you learn from him? A. Ralph taught me a lot about offense, the way he looked at offensive football and how he broke a defense down and how we tried to exploit those things. I learned a lot from Ralph about how to call a game. Q. What did you learn from Bill Belichick during your five seasons as a New England assistant, including a stint as his offensive coordinator? A. Bill taught me how to evaluate players at any position, how to put together a game plan on a week-to-week basis and how they changed based on the opponent. He taught us how to get the team prepared on a week-to-week basis. I'm really grateful to have a chance to coach for him because he would give us his vision, and he would let us go coach. Q. What did you learn from Tom Brady when you coached him? A. When you have an opportunity to work with a player like Tom, you're teaching him the game plan and things like that, but at the same time, you're learning from him, based on all the years he's played and all the things he's seen. I think the thing I learned the most from Tom is how these young men prepare for a game - what they're looking at, how they watch film, the different questions they ask early in the week and then how they get ready leading up to the game. Q. You won the Bear Bryant Award in Houston after you led Penn State to an 8-4 record in 2012 You made a speech at this year's banquet. Did you think about coaching the Texans one year after you accepted the award? A. That was a great night last year, a very humbling award for us. I think our program won that award. Then to be here a year later as the head coach of the Texans is pretty ironic. There were some great coaches there. To be able to stand up and say a few words and to see (former Texas A&M coach) R.C. Slocum, a big Texans fan, receive the lifetime achievement award helped make it an even more exciting night. Q. You were in demand as an NFL head coach last year. You were the first coach hired this year. Why didn't you wait and get other interviews before making a decision? A. I felt from the first time I met (owner) Bob McNair, (vice chairman) Cal McNair and (general manager) Rick Smith that we had a chance to be a good team, that these were good people and smart people and people who cared about the right things. I was very impressed. I knew I wanted to be part of that. Q. How does the challenge of turning around a 2-14 team compare to taking over at Penn State? A. Every situation is unique. That was a very unique situation relative to what had gone on there and what happened after we took the job with the NCAA sanctions. This is a whole different situation, getting to know new people you're working with, getting to know new players at the professional level. It's a situation I'm very comfortable in. I really missed pro football. I really enjoy getting to know the players and the strategy of putting together a team and the strategy on a week-to-week basis once the season starts. Q. What's your biggest challenge once your staff is complete? A. The biggest challenge is to make sure we do a fair evaluation of our current roster and then make good decisions based on those evaluations. Our goal is to be a big team, a physically tough team, a mentally tough team, a fast team and a smart team. So we have to do a good job of evaluating what's here and then making sure we all work together as a team to make sure we put together a competitive roster. Q. You played at Brown University. You spent a lot of time coaching in college, but the NFL seems to be in your blood. Why the NFL? A. I always thought about coaching in the NFL. Early on, I had opportunities in college football and took them. I got married (Colleen), had kids (James, Michael) and had to support my family when the opportunities were in college. In the back of my mind, I always wanted a chance to coach at the highest level. When I got a chance to work for the Patriots in 2007, I knew that was one I couldn't turn down. It was one of the best experiences I've had in coaching. Q. Even though you've been very busy, how has Houston treated you so far? A. The city of Houston has been great. I haven't been able to get out too much. I have been holed up a lot. When I have been able to drive around or stop for a cup of coffee, people have been great. Being here two weeks and having my wife here this week, it is really a great city for us, and we're so excited to be here."
Q. What about Teddy Bridgewater? A. I haven't seen Bridgewater play yet. I'd be remiss if I started talking about him when I haven't seen him play. Can we put the Bridgewater talk to bed now?
