Not it isn't OK. But going 8-8 with Kubiak next year would be much worse. You seem to be looking at the best case scenarios for keeping Kubiak and the worst case if a new head coach is brought in. Why not be more balanced? As Googrux, implied, the Texans franchise cannot afford a repeat scenario after next season, which will have the exact same "risks" of bringing in a new coach now.
oh yeah, we'll be disappointed, but if you think the disappointment would be on the level it would be with kubiak still as coach, you're delusional. sure, i'd take that over not making the playoffs, but it's still no guarantee. look at the cowboys now. 1 playoff win in the last 15 years or whatever.
I won't be high fiving anyone, but it's much more acceptable to me for a new coach to go 8-8 as he transitions the team than it is for Kubiak to continue spin his wheels.
Apparently, I need to be far more explicit: Option #1: Fire Gary Kubiak - here, I'm going to repeat that in all caps: FIRE GARY KUBIAK. Replace with either Cowher or Dungy. If no Cowher or Dungy: Fire Rick Smith. Fire Frank Bush and his entire staff. Replace with non-pipeline GM and a Marv Lewis-type defensive coordinator. Strip Kubiak of personnel power. I don't see how that's status quo.
Back-at-you when Kubiak returns, goes 8-8 or worse and your, "Thank God we didn't bring in a new coach who might have had a worse record because he had to start so much from scratch" post.
I get it, you are willing to get rid of Kubiak IF AND ONLY IF it's for a Hall of Fame coach. Sorry, but that's pretty much defending the guy. If he stays and they go 8-8 or 9-7 and miss the playoffs for the 6th straight season under Kubiak I hope you will be here posting "Thank God they didn't go get a new head coach! That could have been bad!"
Why wait: I keep saying this over and over and over and over If I had McNair's cash and power, Kubiak would have been gone last January. If I had it all today, he'd be gone Jan 3rd. I don't. If McNair can't handle eating the contract and doesn't entertain the idea of Cowher, if Kubiak has to stay, than I want a Pres/GM running the show, replacing the defensive staff, and replacing Kubiak the minute McNair is ready to finally sign off on it. If McNair IS prepared to axe Kubiak, I want him handing over the keys to someone able to run the entire show. Kubiak was over his head. Josh McDaniels was over his head. It's a common theme with first shot coordinators getting the call to the big leagues. If you want the next Sean Payton, fine...but I want a serious experienced GM in charge of the front office and hiring the opposite coordinator, not the wet behind the ears kid.
So it'll be better disappointment? If the Texans go 8-8 next year and don't make the playoffs, I don't care if their coach is a reincarnated Vince Lombardi, I'm going to be upset. Trying to define levels of disappointment is, to me, just as silly as trying to find "better" ways to die unexpectedly.
Em, I can't see how we disagree here then... You are saying you want Kubiak out and either replaced by Cowher or a Pres/GM guy (a la Parcells) coming in and putting whatever staff together he wants. If however Bobby Mac WON'T fire Kubiak, you STILL want the defensive guys fired AND a new GM/Pres in here to handle personnel? If I have you understood correctly, I 100% support your position.
So you are so scared of another coach going 8-8 next year that you just want to cross your fingers and hope Koobs gets us to the playoffs. Oh, UNLESS a hall of famer will agree to take his job. You're so scared of failure with someone else that you will accept continued failure from Kubiak. Edit: You sound just like Matt Jackson when he was arguing that Kareem Jackson needed to be kept on the field instead of starting other "unknown" guys despite the fact that Jackson was SUCKING.
Yes - those are exactly my thoughts. and sorry if Ive come across as agitated, I feel like I've failed getting my thoughts across and have gotten frustrated.
8-8 is never OK, but if there's a new coach, at least we know we tried something different. If you're going to bring in such a big name as a DC, why not just make him head coach and hire a competent OC? I mean come on. With the talent we already have on the offense, Gary Kubiak isn't the only coach on the planet able to make it work. You know what? We could bring in Cower and go 8-8. Theoretically it could happen, right? Look at Jimmy Johnson in Miami. So why do it? Why take a chance and hire Bill Cower when he might just go 8-8?
Don't worry about coming across agitated, I don't care and I doubt anyone else does! So it seems like only Ric (surprise!) is still advocating that keeping Kubiak is preferable if we can't get Cowher.
This is the key thing to me. It's not like Gary Kubiak has reinvented the wheel here. Yes, the offense is very good, but is there a reason to think without Kubiak we can never get another offensive coach to make it work? You don't think McDaniels could do good things we Foster, Schaub and Andre considering what he did with Kyle Orton and no names in Denver?
@SI_PeterKing: RT @deloureiro: Which team is most likely to spend for a big name coach? Denver? ... No. Houston, if McNair makes a change. Big if.
Your reading skills need work. By "keeping Kubiak", Ric means stripping him of all of the responsibilities that he has not mastered. This would be a demotion. I am not sure he would stay. I am sure if he stayed and grumbled about it, he would his *ss traded to Denver.
But they aren't, unless your only goal is to avoid the worst-case scenario. The safer approach is the least likely to be bad. The better approach is the most likely to be good. Those are two very different things. Why? All he does well is be offensive coordinator. That's it. It's easy to find a proven offensive coordinator to do that. How is it easy to build proper infrastructure around a head coach that sucks in every other way? The easiest way, to me, seems to be to not make him the head coach. NOTHING.
His teams are 8-22 against winning teams. Should a coach be judged by wins and losses alone? After 1 or 2 years, no. After 5 years....yes.
