Really, my only reason for bringing up those 3 teams is just to make the point that they are all organizations that have won big in the past and, perhaps because of that, they aren't afraid to make the tough choices that they think will get them there again. Whether those choices pay off or not is kind of beside the point. The fact that winning organizations aren't afraid to shake things up is more the point I'm trying to make. Who is kicking him on the way out? If a coach doesn't produce wins, he should be fired. That's it. It's not personal, it's business. Yes, sometimes those are the breaks. Every coach on every level has been fired in the past and will be fired in the future. It's part of the job description.
Nobody is kicking him while he's down, but if Bob McNair hadn't come out 3 weeks ago with those asinine comments, I don't think this public mauling of Kubiak takes place. We're desperate as a fan base to be HEARD by our ownership, and if holding rallies and protests is the only way it's going to happen, then so be it. I don't think there has ever been a personal attack made on Kubiak yet, and I'm glad it's that way. But if fear of not turning into the Cowboys is the ONLY reason to keep a head coach who has had 5 years of futility under his belt, then it's going to be a LOOOONG time before you see any success. I don't think firing a head coach after the run that Gary has had at ALL qualifies as "acting like Jerry Jones", and frankly, the one thing ALL of those franchises has (outside of the Niners, who might just be one of the few organizations run worse than the Texans) is a playoff appearance. I think that alone deserves "exemplars."
Agreed, every coach gets hired to get fired, unless they decide to retire or something. That kicking him on his way out comment was directed at those who support rallying to fire Kubiak. I just don't think that's called for. I would take a little exception to the remark that "It's not personal, it's business." I think coaching - and any leadership position for that matter - is about the people. If a head coach says he's an X's and O's guy, I think he might be in for a rude awakening. A lot of coaching is about managing personalities and all that "soft stuff." Joel Dreessen was on 1560 this morning saying that everyone in the locker room believes in Kubiak and that the failings lie elsewhere. When Richard Justice asked him if he'd be willing to go into McNair's office on Monday morning and campaign to keep Kubiak, Dreessen said he'd be the first person in there. That's what I want the players to say about their coach. He doesn't have to be their friend, but they dang well better respect what he's about and the work he's putting in. All that said, I think McNair will pull the plug on this regime, I just hope they hit a homerun on the next hire.
Except Bill Cowher. From what I can tell, he went straight from playing to coaching and kept getting promoted until he ended up HC of the Steelers, from which he left on his own. So as far as I can tell, he's never been fired as a coach.
Problem is, it's all bout being friends and not wanting to hurt the friends feelings around here. Gary has failed on hiring his 2 friends to run his defense. It's crazy to even think Frank Bush and/or David Gibbs still have a job right now. Why do they have jobs. "Because I believe in them". Uhh really?! You do know your defense is one of the worst in history dont know? Then go up one level to the owner. Not saying this is the sole reason he wont get rid of Gary but Bob loves Gary. I'm sure they're good friends. One might argue they're too close, which clouds McNair's thinking of Gary. Bob wants to keep Gary. Bob loves Gary. Bob wants Gary to succeed here. Bob see every reason in the world to keep Gary. I wont say every ogranization because I'm not sure its true, but go back to what Ima said above -- many other teams arent keeping a guy around who has only had 1 winning season, no playoff appearances, 2 losing season around for a 6th year. Yet here we are and Bob(as of a few weeks ago) still appeared to need a good enough reason to fire him. Really?! Sure Gary is a good guy, and the hometown guy, and we all want him to succeed but if he isnt getting the job done, he isnt getting it done and he gotta go. I listened to that Dreessen interview. They brought up to him about other coaches turning things around and he really didnt say anything. Spoiler 1-8 in last 9. 1 game you werent in it: Titans game. Still 1-8. Parcells says you are what your record says you are. Truth in that. Coulda, woulda shoulda won that. Your level of frustration? My wife, son flew to Denver so I was home alone last night. I thought about this season. I dont like you being alone. I was. Had a sense of sadness. It ha almost turned into...maybe I'm getting to deep into this. Kubiak said last year he remembers guys saying "Here we go again" like we've been through this before. There comes a time you cant have that. You have to start anew. You dont want that feeling. You then expect bad things to happen. Honestly. that is the NFL. You'll be in those tight games. Cant think about previous week. If McNair called you in and asked what should I do, what would you say? I would quote the Bible -- James 1:12. I feel like we can perservere through this. Im a believer in Coach Kubiak. I know you guys at times are not. This is how I believe: when you start anything, you want the right people. I believe we have a coach who does things the right way, gets the right people, believes in his convictions and sticks to them. Obviously hasnt worked out this year but I feel good things happen to people who work hard and keep going. I know there is a time limit and measured by W/L but I feel like this is a lesson in perserverence. Basically he is a good man, we love him, respect him, and if McNair stays with us, we'll get this right. Thats what I would say. yeah. No question Kubiak knows what hes doing on offense. I would have no problem if Kubiak is back as long as...the direction of the team hasnt progressed where its needed to, not only these 5 past years, but the whole 9 years. This is a patient group but least patient Ive seen fans. If you were to tell me Gary would stay but GM would go, people in front office working with personnel gone, whole D staff is gone, Gary not have control of team but is the HC and in control of offense, that wouldnt hurt my feelings. He knows the O. Do I have problems with consistency half to half? Yeah but every team does. Offense is good enough to win 10-11 games. Unfortunately, the offense, a lot more plays made last year but not this year. Big TOs, 3 in last 8 games that have ended the games. That has contributed. Yeah. Let me ask you Mr. Justice, what would you say to Mr. McNair if he called you in? I would tell him you need to go hire a great GM and an expert in personnel. I dont know if drafts have been great and negotiations have been great under Smith. I'd then get out of the way and let GM handle everything. You let the GM decide if Kubiak stays or goes? Yeah but that wont play well with the fans. The last 3 weeks have been painful listening to Gary. Whatever the message has been, it hasnt been working in results. End of the day, have to have great organization. Where have you lost confidence. In GM or coach or both? I'd start with GM. Gary a good coach but it has to show up in results. Just has to. There is a time limit. See Joel, Payton, Childress came in with Gary. They went to playoffs. Mike Smith 2 years later, John Harbaugh, Todd Haley, Raheem Morris in contention. At some point you say, if all these other teams have figured it out, why cant we? You hold people accountable. You know what will happen? Gary will get fired and later on will take a team to the Super Bowl. They brought him and Rick with no resumes, Gary had to learn on the job. Belicheck did it in Cleveland. Failure there but learned from his mistakes. Got seasoning as a DC. I know teams that would hire him(GK) as an OC immediately and I think he could catch on as HC in Denver but I wonder if this is the right combo. Gary could succeed if he had the right solution on defense. They havent gotten out of their comfort zone enough. I would tell Gary, you gotta go in there with a vision on Monday. You gotta say I screwed up here, Im gonna do this with the D staff, this with the roster, and all I'm asking for is one more year, we're gonna have this fixed. Bob wanted to do that with Dom but Dom didnt have a vision. ... Your thoughts Joel? New territory to me. Tough for me to talk about this. I'm biased because Im in there every day. I want him to know, as I think, the foundation is there. Missing some stuff that is vague. Hard to fix starting slow starts, inconsistencies, hard to fix tipped passes in 2 minute drill. We tried to work on all those things. We've mocked those things. This year, insane. I would say lets get it to where it doesnt come down to that. Texans, never seen a Texans team in this much drama in every 4th quarter. This year, as if my gosh. Right. Joel, You talked about players liking coaches. ... Do you think it serves players well to like their coaches? Yes. 100% absolutely. Players play harder for guys they want to play for as opposed to playing well for them inspite of them. Clearly players havent quit on Kubiak. Rod brings up a valid question. How would Joel know things are being done the right way if he never been/played on a playoff team. How many Texans played in a playoff game? Not many, About 15 guys. You're right. When I say that, I believe we're doing things the right way. How about this Joel, string of players going into McNair Monday saying you're making a big mistake firing Kubiak. Dont get caught up in peanut gallery. I would be first in line. Why dont you organize it? Thanks for the idea. Maybe I will.. How can you write what you write to the fans? How can you say Kubiak should be fired yesterday. 5 years is enough. Either you done it or havent. Botton line business. Step back year. 6 most wins possible. Tough sell to fans waiting this long. Something missing. You play a half. I cant believe the defense. 6 first and second round picks. Antonio Smith, Jacques Reeves, who the DB coach didnt even want. I cant believe they spent this much and this is what you're left with. Astonishing that lack of ability to build a defense. Offense hasnt been great. Averaging 8 points in the first half. Follow up Joel. I wanna know -- How can you encourage fans to place blame on 1 person. 1 person responsible - Bob McNair. As an insider, I would chalk this up to not doing the wrong things but this just being the NFL. Its 5 years though. Other teams have been rebuilt. How is it different at other places? Who is calling the plays? Dennison or Kubiak? Combo I think. We dont know, Rick Smith never talks. Just like Denver. Kept a secret. Im not a fan of Gary going away from whats working. If they cant stop you, then sorry, you're getting it blasted down your throat. Times where we fall behind. Not enough time to run the ball. I get that. But behind because not running the ball? Only 8 pts in the first half but pass more in first half too. Part 1(what I just typed above) <div> <object classid="clsid:d27cdb6e-ae6d-11cf-96b8-444553540000" codebase="http://fpdownload.macromedia.com/pub/shockwave/cabs/flash/swflash.cab#version=6,0,0,0" width="210" height="25" id="mp3playerlightsmallv3" align="middle"> <param name="allowScriptAccess" value="sameDomain" /> <param name="movie" value="http://www.podbean.com/podcast-audio-video-blog-player/mp3playerlightsmallv3.swf?audioPath=http://thegame.podbean.com/mf/play/23mku8/JoelDresseen12-28-10pt1.mp3&autoStart=no" /> <param name="quality" value="high" /><param name="bgcolor" value="#ffffff" /><param name="wmode" value="transparent" /> <embed src="http://www.podbean.com/podcast-audio-video-blog-player/mp3playerlightsmallv3.swf?audioPath=http://thegame.podbean.com/mf/play/23mku8/JoelDresseen12-28-10pt1.mp3&autoStart=no" quality="high" width="210" height="25" name="mp3playerlightsmallv3" align="middle" allowScriptAccess="sameDomain" wmode="transparent" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" pluginspage="http://www.macromedia.com/go/getflashplayer" /></embed> </object> <br /><a style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; font-weight: normal; padding-left: 41px; color: #2DA274; text-decoration: none; border-bottom: none;" href="http://www.podbean.com">Powered by Podbean.com</a> </div> Sorry, you can listen to part 2-3 if you want. Not going to type that up right now. Part 2 <div> <object classid="clsid:d27cdb6e-ae6d-11cf-96b8-444553540000" codebase="http://fpdownload.macromedia.com/pub/shockwave/cabs/flash/swflash.cab#version=6,0,0,0" width="210" height="25" id="mp3playerlightsmallv3" align="middle"> <param name="allowScriptAccess" value="sameDomain" /> <param name="movie" value="http://www.podbean.com/podcast-audio-video-blog-player/mp3playerlightsmallv3.swf?audioPath=http://thegame.podbean.com/mf/play/fqfeg8/Dreesseen12-28pt2.mp3&autoStart=no" /> <param name="quality" value="high" /><param name="bgcolor" value="#ffffff" /><param name="wmode" value="transparent" /> <embed src="http://www.podbean.com/podcast-audio-video-blog-player/mp3playerlightsmallv3.swf?audioPath=http://thegame.podbean.com/mf/play/fqfeg8/Dreesseen12-28pt2.mp3&autoStart=no" quality="high" width="210" height="25" name="mp3playerlightsmallv3" align="middle" allowScriptAccess="sameDomain" wmode="transparent" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" pluginspage="http://www.macromedia.com/go/getflashplayer" /></embed> </object> <br /><a style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; font-weight: normal; padding-left: 41px; color: #2DA274; text-decoration: none; border-bottom: none;" href="http://www.podbean.com">Powered by Podbean.com</a> </div> Part 3 <div> <object classid="clsid:d27cdb6e-ae6d-11cf-96b8-444553540000" codebase="http://fpdownload.macromedia.com/pub/shockwave/cabs/flash/swflash.cab#version=6,0,0,0" width="210" height="25" id="mp3playerlightsmallv3" align="middle"> <param name="allowScriptAccess" value="sameDomain" /> <param name="movie" value="http://www.podbean.com/podcast-audio-video-blog-player/mp3playerlightsmallv3.swf?audioPath=http://thegame.podbean.com/mf/play/c46v29/Dreesseenpt312-28.mp3&autoStart=no" /> <param name="quality" value="high" /><param name="bgcolor" value="#ffffff" /><param name="wmode" value="transparent" /> <embed src="http://www.podbean.com/podcast-audio-video-blog-player/mp3playerlightsmallv3.swf?audioPath=http://thegame.podbean.com/mf/play/c46v29/Dreesseenpt312-28.mp3&autoStart=no" quality="high" width="210" height="25" name="mp3playerlightsmallv3" align="middle" allowScriptAccess="sameDomain" wmode="transparent" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" pluginspage="http://www.macromedia.com/go/getflashplayer" /></embed> </object> <br /><a style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; font-weight: normal; padding-left: 41px; color: #2DA274; text-decoration: none; border-bottom: none;" href="http://www.podbean.com">Powered by Podbean.com</a> </div>
Granted, I can't hear the tone in which the interview was being done, but just based on reading that, it sounds REALLY powerful. I wish 610 would freaking have the stones to perform an interview like that since they have the most meaningful people of the franchise do their shows. But from it sounds like, the players have rallied around Kubiak, but what they need to understand is that we have waited 9 YEARS for a good team. I know that isn't all on Kubiak, but to have SUCH a disappointing season after such hope....it's just.....gutwrenching. I don't think we have the capability of going through it again with this coaching staff. Again, nobody is doubting Kubiak's character, but his performance as a coach has been BAD this season. Not sub-par, not below average....BAD. And that, to me, in year 6, is unacceptable.
