My issue wouldn't be with his system; it would be with his inbaility to find the right personnel - he whiffed on two defensive coordinators; he's been unable to plug holes when his talent has inevitably moved on, and while I've always defended Schaub... I mean... the guy has been in the fetal position for at least a year now and there's not a single plan B on the horizon. Let me ask you this - if Washington momentarily went braindead and offered RGIII to us... would you think differently of his system? I just don't think it's the issue; his personnel is.
Yeah... neither have hoisted one since 2006.... Generally speaking... I don't want a 74-year old in charge of finding a new direction for this team. Specifically, I just found it silly that you'd (rightly) pfffftt retreads like Casserly while championing a retread like Wolf. I would do exactly what the Astros did - identify the game's best front office and then nab it's MVP. Baltimore? New England? Atlanta? Green Bay? Seattle? San Fran? Those would be my targets. Heck, I'll throw a name out there I'd be thrilled with: Oliver Luck. If this season bottoms out, I hope they wipe the deck clean and start fresh.
I'd cry with joy if the Texans nabbed Oliver Luck to lead the franchise into a new era. He is one of the brightest minds in all of sports management, and he's a local guy. He'd be a perfect fit for the team. It's just a matter of McNair having the ability to identify that he's what we need, and to be able to lure him here.
A buddy mentioned him as the next AD at tu. I don't think it'd take much - I think he still lives here, right? He has younger kids still at Stafford? Plus, the thought of running a team against your son... maybe that wouldn't appeal to him, I don't know. But he'd be my first call if they bottom out and McNair wipes the deck.
He's not living in West Virginia? I wasn't sure if he relocated his family with him or not. I'd be kind of upset if Texas nabbed him, but that'd be a great hire for them, and he would certainly bring back the swagger that the Horns have been missing. But yeah, I could see how heading a team that's set to face your son day in and day out over the length of his career could be distasteful to him, so the Austin job would probably be more appealing to him. Also, given his stance on higher education, and how much of an importance he places on it, I wouldn't be surprised if the college ranks just speaks to him on a higher level.
This runs counter to what you just said about being on the bleeding edge, innovation, new schemes/coordinators, etc. This tells me that you want new players, not new coaches. Which is it? I dunno, RG3 looks pretty crappy right now. I've been on the "new scheme" bandwagon since the descent into turdocrity last season. Right now I think it's easier to change the scheme and win than it is to hope for a transcendent QB to fall into your lap. Especially when the system you run minimizes the role of the QB in the first place.
How clean, exactly? I can't see Wade going anywhere. I think the Smith-Kubiak-Schaub trinity might go out in one big bang, though. But it seems to me that Wade is our next head coach, unless he retires.
They've already done the on-the-job-training experience with Kubiak. If another untested project coach comes in, we can forget their being able to retain free agents who don't want to wait. There's a reason players have been coming here the last three years. This team was good. Once. Sadly, a certain #99 comes to mind. Does anyone think he'll want to stay with another experimental situation and .550 record when Green Bay comes calling with a Wisconsin address? Need a quick turnaround like KC, Denver, and Indianapolis. None of those teams were down long when they changed coaches. New QBs didn't hurt. We could use both. How to do that is another question.
If Kubiak gets fired, I don't think there's any way any of the current coaching staff members are retained, Wade included. There will be a fresh start, probably with a fresh GM as well.
How do you reason that? It's not as if Wade is beholden to Kubiak. The guy was brought here by McNair himself after Kubiak pooped the bed twice on DC hires. Plus he has a lot of HC experience. I can't be alone in thinking the dude is the backup plan, unless something irresistible comes up. Wade's defenses would stomp mudholes with a potent offense behind them.
Wade's defense is severely overrated. He's not scheming up a way to generate significant pressure on the QB, we still can't defend the downfield pass and we aren't keeping people out of the endzone.
For starters, Wade has a terrible track record as a head coach. Teams do well for one year and then make a definite slide to mediocrity. Having a lot of experience is not the key - being a good coach is.
If this season bottoms out, I would fire him, and this entire regime, not because of the system but because they've been underperforming since at least 2009. And as a replacement, independent of any commentary on Gary Kubiak, I'd make sure I hired a younger, progressive mind.
I'm not saying I *agree* with it, what I'm saying is, I think that is what McNair will do. The offense has clearly been the problem the last few years. The defense, despite its flaws, has been top 5 material since Wade came on board. And that's without a really dominant offense helping him out. I can't see McNair handing such a successful coordinator and family friend (this is the part that really worries me) his walking papers. For what it's worth, Kubiak's contract ends after 2014, Smith's ends after 2015... anybody know when Wade's ends?
If you bring in a new coach, you have to let them hire their own staff. Kubiak lost that privileged somewhat when he kept hiring incompetent DC's. But a new coach should be given free reign. If you want the best coach you can get, you can't go into the hiring process telling all the candidates that they have no say in the defensive coaching staff. It's possible that a new HC would want to keep Wade and his staff, but that should be their decision, not McNair's. And I believe McNair will give it to them. He's not a meddler. He hasn't even forced Kubes to fire Marciano. He only stepped in when Kubiak proved he couldn't be trusted to hire defensive personnel. Kubes had free reign in the 5 years prior to that. Besides, we all know Wade wants to be a HC again. If he's passed over for the job, I'm not sure if he'd want to stick around anyway.
The Chiefs turnaround wasn't *that* quick - other than a 10-win anomaly in 2010, they've lost 12, 14, 12, 9 and 14 games since 2007. That's five years of picking in the top half of the draft, often in the top 5. As long as you're not whiffing on those, you're going to accumulate some talent. Andy Reid stepped into a very favorable situation. As for Denver and Indianapolis - they each landed game-changing franchise QBs. Those, unfortunately, don't grow on trees. And the circumstances in which they acquired them were so unique...
I believe that Wade's contract may be up this season. He signed a 3-year deal in 2011 and hasn't received an extension that I can find info on. There was talk that he'd get one after the 2011 season when he was looking to still be a head coach, but I see nothing that mentions one.
It sounds like you like the system, but you want a new one, which is just weird. If you could replace Kubiak/Smith with guys that ran the same system, but were better with personnel, wouldn't that be your preference over a "younger, progressive mind"? Because that's what it is sounding like. To boil down the question to a basic two options; if you had to choose between replacing the system or replacing the players, what would you rather do?
