In short, your not going to get a legit HC, GM or anyone as long as Cal is telling them who to draft or involved at all in the draft. You'll continue to get lapdogs like Kubiak and Rick Smith.
This article was a year old but this quote at the end seems applicable to this season. It also kinda explains that enraging "right track" comment back in 2011. Not looking forward to Cal's 20-30 year impersonation of Jerry. It does sound like he's under Smith in the decision making process. But from there we don't know how much say Smith has in relation to Gary, and we're stuck guessing who has the real power. At least with Jerry there's random comments about gloryholes.
You have to give the Seattle organization a long look. Somebody in their scouting department really knows what they are doing.
I would very much welcome this type of GM. Up and comer who brings in a new perspective. Football is definitely less stat geeky than basketball, but there are certainly new innovations every year. And I want one of these to come from us.
Schneider was the "top personnel aide" to Thompson. He certainly had it right on how to evolve the db position.
I'd love McNair to hire a young egghead Morey type GM, but it's too bold for his taste. Uncle Bob's definition of thinking outside the box is hiring Sumlin and drafting Manziel. What a risk taker!
We are doomed; I hope you are wrong and this franchise wants to get the BEST people in each and every position, Rick Smith is not it, he had us in cap hell before we even made the playoffs and won the division, not to mention almost ZERO success outside of the first round when drafting. Whatever the combination Bob Rick Kubiak Cal it is not working and it has not worked, once two year run at .500 ball in the playoffs IS NOT SUCCESS. I also hope that I am wrong and this franchise was not bought to give to Cal as his own real life tinker toy set, if this man is making calls on who to draft and who to keep then there is no hope for this franchise to have SUSTAINED success. Do you seriously think a legit coach or GM is going to be okay with Cal telling him who to draft, or having any input at all? Bill Billicheck wouldn't stand for it. Rick Smith will. Rick Smith is the toy.
That team is really facing their problems with substance abuse, even beast mode had that DUI last year. But the PEDs specifically was only pegged on Browner. Maybe Irving too.
If DaCosta was going to leave Baltimore, he would have left already. Certainly it doesn't hurt to make a call, but if you think a failure to get him would clearly indicate a problem with McNair, that is very much the case. He's been a hot name for a while, but consistently indicates he will stay in Baltimore to succeed Ozzie Newsome. Omar Kahn probably means Bill Cowher is the head coach, which I'd take, though it seems unlikely, though given the mood of the fan base a big name hire might make sense.
Agreed! Btw: I hope those who are disgusted by this season scream bloody murder when McNair chooses to keep smith on. He should not get a pass. The Schaub and Kibiak decisions alone prove that he doesn't understand what you need to build a Super Bowl team. You can win a Super Bowl without a great QB, but you need an elite defense and run game. You can win a Super Bowl without a great coach, but you need a great QB. Rick Smith gave both Schaub and Kubiak extensions when it was clear they weren't the answer. Now we're paying for those errors of judgment. Time to start fresh. Smith must go!
You really shouldn't be. The best draft this team had was 2006... the year BEFORE Smith became GM (Draft handled by Kubiak and co.). I also figure 2007 and 2008 were drafts largely influenced by the coaching staff, as Smith was more of a puppet GM at the time, brought in to mainly manage the cap. And even then, the only quality player remaining is Duane Brown. Smith's drafts the last few years (prior to 2013), minus J.J. Watt have been atrocious.... and most say the Watt pick was largely influenced by Wade when he was hired. So, if you take away the 2006 draft (he wasn't here), and give him a pass on the 2007 and 2008, and take away J.J. Watt, that leaves him with the following "quality" players who were drafted (and remain as big contributors) over the last 4 years (excluding the 2013 draft, which on the surface looks just as bad): Brian Cushing Kareem Jackson Ben Tate Brooks Reed Whitney Mercilus ALL of those above players were chosen in the 1st and 2nd rounds, so he hasn't found any "gems" that he's been able to turn into a long-term contributor for the TEXANS. The closest thing was Glover Quinn in the 4th round of 2009, but Smith then proceeds to be the main factor in his departure (Kubiak on record saying they wanted to keep him, Wade on record saying he never was consulted on the Ed Reed signing). Secondly, the jury is very much still out on Kareem Jackson, Ben Tate (who would have never been drafted had Foster's ability been known at the time), and Brooks Reed (who has not done anything special since his rookie year). Mercilus shows flashes... but he looks largely to be a system player, with very little coverage ability, and he lacks elite speed/strength to consistently warrant double teams at the line. Third round picks are usually SUPPOSED to be potential starters. This team hasn't had an impact 3rd round pick EVER (dating back to the expansion draft). The best 3rd round pick they had was Jacoby Jones... who's good season last year with the Ravens is clouding really how much of a disappointment he was with the Texans. I excluded the 2013 draft from the discussion because those picks deserve more time for evaluation... but on initial glance, Hopkins has looked wishy-washy, Swearinger has some fundamental deficiencies (poor instincts/tackling/size), and the rest of the draft already appears to be a bust thanks to injuries and bad behavior. So, after 5+ years of being a GM, this team is left with Brian Cushing as the only possible pick mainly influenced by Smith (which again, he still likely as more puppet) that had real success and is still a Texan. It looks much worse when its all spelled out. He hasn't done anything special with the draft. He hasn't done anything special with the cap. He hasnt done anything special in free agency. He certainly has some "role" issues with Kubiak/Wade still having personnel say, and he started throwing them under the bus 4 weeks ago (not really a great move). Would be a really poor choice to keep him around... he hasn't earned it.
