If Wade Phillips can get another gig, so can Kubiak, and he can ressurect his career from the OC position.....in the right situation...ala Billichek etc. DD
The Rockets don't need to blow it up because they have tons of payroll flexibility and draft picks. Not really close to what the Astros have been the last few years.
Not using Foster last year: I don't buy the arguments given. He should be a surprise for the fans and media, but the coaches see these guys every day. Slaton and Brown were abysmal last year. Foster is a marvel when you watch him. You can argue it, but what I see is Kubiak AGAIN being so stuck on his guys and so disinclined to have competition within the roster that he didn't even consider alternatives for Slaton and Brown so long as they weren't shot in the knee. Look at him with Jackson this year. Look at him with Okoye the past 4 years. A better coach would recognize a trouble position, give the guy a chance to save his job, then scour his roster for a better option. After that, he'd look outside the roster for a better option. Not Kubiak. Depth Chart changes have to be brought about by major injuries. I have a theory that when McNair interviewed coaches, there was a second mandate that he wanted them to agree to. We all know that David Carr was mandate 1. I'm increasingly certain that the second was that roster building had to follow the Patriots blueprint. No expensive star free agents. When did this happen?
That is pathetic...Texans always seems to find a way to lose...and btw, it is Kubiak's fault...I don't think the Cowboys will win all there remaining games, but I can see the Texans & Cobwoys having similar records and that's crazy..
that's the way it would have to happen. because i can't imagine anyone is going to hire him to be a head coach first..without being a coordinator again somewhere.
they need great players...they have none. they're as far away as any of the other teams, because of it. we have no idea if/when that caliber of player is walking through the door. payroll flexibility and draft picks are great..but they're not ends...they're means to an end.
Wade Phillips has made the playoffs in 5 of his 9 years as a head coach and has a career 57% winning percentage. Each of the 3 teams he took over made the playoffs in the first year he was there.
I completely agree here. The Rockets have all the easy parts to acquire, but they are missing the key ingredient: the superstar. Until they can figure out a way to get that, they are spinning their wheels as well. Not in the mess the Astros are in, but also not in a position to really become a contender.
I agree on your points. I'm just saying the sitch (as fatty would say) for both teams is different. The Astros really handcuffed themselves with deals like the one they gave to Carlos Lee and by not drafting well for a couple years. Conversely, the Rockets are struggling, but meanwhile they took the time to add picks and payroll flexibility for the future.
I disagree. I think the team is already in place. It's just Adelman's substitution patterns holding them back.
I agree..good news for the 'stros is they just freed up an assload of money after trading away Berkman and Oswalt...they freed up about $20 million that way for this coming season. And Carlos Lee comes off the books after this season. They're going to have tons of room to make moves. I'm hoping they hit on Brett Wallace, because having the corner infield spots filled out by young guys like him and Chris Johnson will go a long way towards allowing them to spend that money elsewhere. But I think this can be said of both franchises: barring some major move, neither will be seriously competing for a title this year or next.
Yep, it looks pretty bleak...at least in the short term. But I like how both at least have a good vision of what they are trying to do now. Astros focusing on young guys and the farm, Rockets trying to get that superstar.
Yes, indeed. In fact, earlier in the thread, I argued they should make the change today. There's going to be some rebuilding/building - this team has too many holes to fill and too much depth to acquire. What's I'm bemoaning is adding to that additional rebuilding to fit what could be a radical system overhaul - though I'm not necessarily opposed to it. Just dreading it. Three potential system reboots in 10 years.
I don't blame Kubiak for the game-ending play yesterday, but I blame him for EVERYTHING else. For Matt Schaub not to be aware that it was THIRD DOWN, and for him to say that they could have clocked it after the play is an absolute indictment on how brain-dead this franchise goes in the closing moments of football games. Antonio Smith jumping off-sides EVERY SINGLE GAME, and NOT getting dressed down for it is an absolute indictment on how complacent this franchise is behind the scenes. The fact that they play PRESS COVERAGE with 3 seconds left and the ball on the 45 yard line is an absolute indictment on how DUMB this franchise is when it comes to winning football games. I'm sick and tired of the mediocrity and the complacency and it starts with McNair and goes down through Kubiak, and all the way into every single member of this team. It's time to clean house.
Scheme and personnel have been discussed quite a bit with reference to a new regime for the Texans. I have lamented about it in numerous other threads over the course of the Kubiak Years. All the points above are great. Like Ric, I too fear another bout of rebuilding. Not because I think what we have is necessarily great. I do think the Texans have a nice core of players. Unfortunately, they are mostly designed for a specific set of systems (be it the ZB of the run offense or the 4-3 base defense). For discussion/entertainment purposes only... You all have heard statements about great coaches along the lines of "that coach will take his team and whip your team; conversely, he could take your team and whip his team" (Or something like that...) That said, is there a best-case-scenario of coaching staffs (HC, OC, DC, etc) that you could create that could absolutely take THIS TEAM and make a serious run at the playoffs (not this season, obviously). Just curious.
This is why he needs to go... @UpperDeckTim: @caplannfl #Texans D on pace to give up 6544 total yrds. Second worst all time between 81 Colts (6793) and the 08 Lions. (6470). And who picked the coaches, players and scheme?
A Shift to a 3-4: 1) To play 3-4, you need a competent (really, stellar) nose tackle. And honestly, if you ever find one, you switch to a 3-4 immediately. 2) Our DTs are slop and need to be replaced no matter what. Literally no loss. Smith is already a good end for a 3-4. Mario would be okay, and it's not as if he's doing much playing next to garbage tackles. 3) As stated, the LBs would be fine, and Cushing would be decent as a 3-4 OLB. 4) The secondary has to be replaced wholesale. Pollard could stay if he's surrounded by strong cover guys. Quinn would be fine as a "sidekick" CB. Wilson is done. Jackson should be on special teams until/if he develops. Nolan might stick if given a real secondary coach that can work with him. As far as the ZBS and the linemen, it's a similar situation. We've got a couple guys (Winston, Brown) that are fine and would be okay in a more traditional scheme. Most are in the 6-4, 310 lb range so they aren't skinny midgets. Myers is like Okoye - he needs to be gone no matter what. I would say that it is easier for these guys to leave the ZBS scheme than it was for them to learn it. Overall, I'd say we have 1-2 O-Line spots that need an upgrade, and the rest a new coach would be happy to inherit. On defense, we've got 6-8 guys that are inheritable and at least 4 spots that have to be turned over regardless of system. So 6 starters need to be brought in. That's not easy to do, unless you're the Pats armed with 4 picks in the first two rounds. Better to bring in a new coach (with his pet GM or vice versa) to do that, rather than give the Kubiak/Smith the opportunity to bring in guys with their 30% hit/miss ratio.
Why is ANYONE afraid of changing the defense or "rebuilding"? Is there anyone that actually feels Kubiak is going to turn this around? The longer he is here, the longer we have to wait for a playoff team.
Another option - the coaching staff needs to take players and make them football smart. Every team has a QB coach that is a critical member in developing young guys. There's a lot they need to know. The OC needs to be heavily involved as well. It's one big reason Carr was a failure - Team Capers couldn't bring him along. Our safeties have been poorly coached in the Kubiak era. The only guy that has had a good sense of his responsibilities and nice decision making has been Wilson, and that's because he came over as a vet from the Pats. Ferguson, Brown, Barber, etc were all disasters because they were constantly doing fundamentally stupid things like letting a receiver get behind them on play actions. Kubiak's an offensive guy, and has brought over underqualified staff for defense. You can be low on talent and get by if you coach your roster to play smart and disciplined. We've got guys that are outclassed and low IQ. Result? One of the worst defenses in the history of the game. And Kubiak isn't looking to make a move.
This is not true. On defense, Demeco, Cushing, and Mario can all be considered elite players (maybe not Mario with the way he has been playing. On offense, Andre, Foster, Schaub (struggles this year have to do with scheme much more than him), and Leach are elite players at their positions. The problem is that the talent gap is so enormous, that the few legit elite players cannot make up for the vast amount of scrubs on the team. On defense, they have FOUR positions that don't have a single starting caliber player at (Both defensive tackles, free safety, and a cornerback). The guys at those positions are not even backups. Smith, Pollard and Diles can all work on a good defense, as long as they are not surrounded by garbage. On offense, they still don't have a great offensive line, the only position that couldn't use an upgrade is RT. The other receivers outside of Andre have also struggled this year. IMO, it still has mostly to do with scheme. The defense can be as talented as you want it, but if the scheme is simple and easy for QBs to dismantle, great players do not matter. The offensive coordinator has been abysmal this year as well. They are running when they should pass, passing when they should run, running far too many bootlegs, and ultimately, not giving the best players (Schaub, Andre, Foster) the best chance to succeed. I don't think this team is that far away from a talent standpoint. A couple free agent signings (although the Texans NEVER do this, and a few decent draft picks that term into simply average players paired with a coach who is not a pushover could easily turn this team around imo.
