OK, you completely missed my point. My point was that instead of looking for a proven coordinator with a resume (Smith, Lewis - guys who waited years for a chance while owners recycled coaches like Dom), McNair did what the NFL owners have always done - picked from the recycled coaches' bin. He simply went along with the "good old boys" way of thinking and it has cost him very dearly and will continue to cost him dearly for years to come. It didn't matter that this was an expansion franchise or not because what was needed was not a has-been like Dom but someone with an idea of what type of team they wanted to build and how to go about doing just that. The prime reason the Texans are in the state they are today is because Dom never did those two things. McNair passed up really good choices for Dom, gave him all kinds of resources and chances and in the end, he flopped here just like he flopped in Carolina and for many of the same reasons. So Dom was a "smart" pick, you say? If Dom was such a good choice, then what happened to him at Carolina? Looks to me like he screwed up an ideal situation there much like he screwed things up here. From where I sit, the current state of the Texans - a result of having Dom as head coach tell me all I need to know about how "smart" a move that was. And if you need more evidence, please rewatch the 1st 3 Texans games to see the results of Dom's & Casserly's "smartness" all over the field. I won't even begin to comment about Casserly because there aren't enough hours in a day to talk about that disaster. Just my 2 cents... BTW, McNair's biggest mistake will forever be passing up Reggie Bush for Mario "Invisible" Williams.
What were your impressions of Dom when we were improving from 4 wins to 5 wins to 7 wins? I bet like the rest of us, you were really liking the way this team was progressing. I guess you missed my point as well. Starting an expansion franchise is tough, you want to get veteran guys who have experience. I think the only thing harder than trying to coach a set of players who have never played together under a brand new system/team, is having to do it under your first stint as head coach. Yes Dom was a smart choice...the guy already had experience with coaching an expansion franchise. And I have no idea how you can say it didn't matter that we were an expansion team. You say we should have gotten a "proven coordinator" and the Dom was just a recycled coach. I guess you completely forgot that Dom took the expansion Panthers to the NFC Championship game in only their 2nd season, after completing a record breaking 7-9 season for an expansion team. Did Dom work out? No, but it was smart move at the time. You want a coach who has experience, it was even better that he had experience in a similar situation. No one can tell the future and everyone can look back and say it was a bad choice. But I guarantee you that almost every single NFL owner would pick a head coach who took an expansion franchise to a conference title game in his 2nd year over an assistant coach with a resume.
Truth be told, I never was onboard with the choice of Capers for several reasons the most important one being what happened to him at Carolina. Specifically not what happened but why it happened. Yes, he did get them to the NFC Championship in year 2 using a roster heavily laden with veteran players but outside of building a good defense, he showed very little vision and failed to maintain the momemtum and the Panthers crashed and burned at 4-12. Capers failed because he is a run-of-the-mill coach with little imagination and bad instincts with regards to personnel. My biggest fear when he was named coach here was that he had not learned from his mistakes which, of course, he hadn't. His mishandling of Carr confirmed my fears. I agree with you on the difficulty in starting up a franchise from scratch and that you would want to weigh coaching experience a bit more heavily. But you have to recognize that starting up a franchise today is far different from when say, Tampa Bay came into the league. For one thing, the NFL allows the expansion team so many extra advantages that while coaching experience is an important factor to consider, it is not the only factor. I believe that it is much more important to select a head coach with a clear vision of the type of team he wants and a good plan for making that vision a reality. This is why Dom was a failure at Carolina and here. That's what Jimmy Johnson brought to the Cowboys and Butch Davis failed to bring to the Browns. That's what Marvin Lewis brought to the Bengals and Dom failed to bring here. I wouldn't necessarily say that it was a SMART choice rather a SAFE choice. That's why guys like Dom keep getting recycled back into the league. It's safer than taking a chance on a guy who may be outside of the "network". Of course, as we have learned here, safe does not always translate to success. You are right about that, the NFL owners are like lemmings and they'd do exactly what you described. And they'd be wrong which is why their "smart" picks for head coach wind up getting shown the door when things fall apart and they (coaches) don't possess the skill and vision to build a winning team. I'm afraid that we'll just have to agree to disagree here because you value a coach with a resume & prior experience while I place a higher value on a coach with vision and imagination.
but, but, but, but..... wasn't dom a first-ever head coach when he took an expansion franchise to a conference title game in his 2nd year............? in fact, wasn't he one of two coaches to take an expansion franchise to a conference title game in its 2nd year in 1996............? so tell us again why taking a failed, retread of a head coach recommended by charley casserly was a good idea?
sorry; that should read: in fact, wasn't he one of two first-ever head coaches to take an expansion franchise to a conference title game in its 2nd year in 1996............?
