As nothing more than a fun thought-exercise... Where would you rank BO'B among this year's playoff head coaches? I think we can all agree the list obviously starts here: 1> Bill Belichick After that, for me, #2-5 would be: 2> Sean Payton 3> Andy Reid 4> Pete Carroll 5> John Harbaugh You can quibble with the order but I think those coaches are all obviously in the next tier down from Belichick (and well ahead of the tier below them) - they all have long track records of success and a ring (minus Reid, obviously). 6 > Doug Pedersen He has a Super Bowl ring but not the track record - yet; looks extremely promising, obviously. ----- Again, we can argue over the order (other than #1) - but I think those six are clearly ahead of BO'B. So, where does BO'B rank among the final six? Here's my go at it: 7> Sean McVay 8> Frank Reich 9> Matt Nagy And then... 10> Anthony Lynn 11> Bill O'Brien 12> Jason Garrett Lynn hasn't terribly impressed me - until yesterday when he absolutely outmaneuvered John Harbaugh and earned a fair amount of credibility. But I could probably be talked into placing BO'B ahead of him as I think BO'B's performance/results this year, overall, probably had a greater degree of difficulty. This is the context, at least for me, that helps form my long-term opinion/hope for BO'B (who I think is a... fine NFL head coach). In any match-up, save one, the Texans likely would've been at a coaching disadvantage. And in at least nine of those, I'd argue a fairly substantial disadvantage. I think we saw peak BO'B this year, his ceiling. I see no evidence he can break through that group - and we're limiting this just to postseason coaches. I'm not sure he's better than Mike Tomlin, Mike Vrabel, Kyle Shanahan, Mike Zimmer, Dan Quinn... And I fear the likely influx of younger, more progressive coaches might zip past him quickly. I mean... would you trade BO'B for Josh McDaniel?......
I'd agree with everything except move Lynn up into that next year. He took over a team that went 4-12 and 5-11 (demonstrating it wasn't a one-year fluke of badness) and got them to 12-4 in year 2. This year, he has 3 wins better than anything the Texans did, IMO (@Steelers, @Seahawks, @Chiefs) - and that's not including the playoff win @Ravens. Texans only comparable win was @Indy but that was sort of still the bad version of Indy (not the Texans fault, of course). I'd argue they and the Chiefs are the best teams in the AFC and I expect them to beat New England next week. BoB and Garrett are the clear bottom two IMO and I think McVay could move up quickly into the top 4 over the next few weeks.
I don't disagree. But he also inherited a still viable, borderline HoF QB and a roster that's pretty stacked. I'm not taking anything *away* from Lynn - but yesterday was the first time (for me, at least - I obviously don't see them much at all) that he put his stamp on a game. I would argue BO'B did that his first year during that stretch of QB carousel where he guided 2-3 different ones to wins... Where did that guy go???
Bill O'Brien does literally nothing well as a head coach, so I don't see how he an be ranked ahead of anyone. His offense has led to the 2 lowest scoring outputs from any home playoff team in the last 10 years....and offense is allegedly what he does best. He doesn't coach defense, he is terrible with clock management, he's terrible when it comes to knowing when to all a time out (it's not his job allegedly), he doesn't know when to challenge plays, he doesn't coach special teams......I mean
Definitely, dead last imo. Anthony Lynn is gaining steam up the rankings. He has missed quite a few talented bodies on offense and defense while maneuvering his team to a 12-4 season. Avenging their week 16 loss to this Ravens team in the playoffs definitely helps him out. Don't think he and Rivers will manage to beat the Patriots next weekend but if they manage that... woo, BoB is the biggest scrub HC of all scrub HC's.
I don't. I would rank them as: 11(a.) 11(b.) both being interchangeable between each slot. Neither has done much besides won a few division titles. They both have crapped the bed in the playoffs... (unless we face the Bengals or a Carr-less Raiders team, we'd be in their boat).
Speaking of challenges, was it just me or did the very first third down play look to be NOT a first down based on the fact the receiver's back was to the first down marker.
Baltimore's defense had been playing on a tier above everyone else this year, and watching Lynn/ Rivers adjust midgame with all those quick routes was a thing of beauty.
Would love to see what the BoB fans have to say about this. I understand why people like Morey and Lunhow have fans who can defend their every move to death, but BoB has not done **** to earn the rights to apologists. He is mediocre at best and mediocre does not win championships. We can be like the Bengals and wait over ten years before pulling the plug, or actually be active in finding the next head coach. Do not fall into sunk cost fallacy.
I would grade OBie a solid B for his tenure with the Texans. The sh*t that OBie has done is go 27-21 in his first three years with marginal QBs. Making the playoffs in 2 of the 3 years. That is a hard get. His fourth year, 4-12, was a real sh*t show no doubt. Key injuries and a new DC explains most of the record. His fifth year, 11-5, showed that the team overachieved given the lack of OL and CBs. DW4 being healthy the whole year despite getting sacked too much and Special Teams being respectable were highlights. Given the known weaknesses at the start of the season, I bet most fans at best thought the playoffs were a 50-50 proposition. Team wise, the biggest problem with the Texans during OBie's tenure has been the draft. Failing to develop players from the middle rounds of the draft has led to depth issues. Injuries from drafted players has also been an issue. Kevin Johnson and Will Fuller have struggled to stay on the field and both may have short disappointing careers. The Texans will likely be drafting players this year at those positions to build depth. Keke Coutee and D'Onta Foreman are two other injured players who future is unsure. I do not know how much of the drafts and injuries are OBie's blame.
Garrett and BoB are so similar: the owner loves them so they haven't been fired for incompetence just yet.
Nobody defends every move. But I understand too. Because we won the mother****ing World Series. Someday, maybe, after Cal sells the team, a Super Bowl might happen.
@Hey Now! Didn’t see you respond to this one. When you lay out his responsibilities... most as laid out by him in his own words... hard to dispute any of this. His first three years he rode the defense (much better than the offense... and not his responsibility) and a crappy division