McClain's latest Q & A (Chronicle)

[tacoman_j]

According to McClain, it just improve!!!

http://www.chron.com/cs/CDA/ssistory...fb/nfl/2620399

[scourge]

I found this part very interesting... while I had known of Palmer's previous teams, didn't know they played out like that.

Palmer’s like almost every offensive coordinator in that he’s a target for criticism. Here’s the deal, and Patriots’ fans should know this: When he was hired to coach the Patriots, one of Bill Parcells’ first moves was to hire Palmer from the Oilers. Parcells wanted Palmer so desperately that the Oilers filed tampering charges. Not only did Palmer coach receivers, but he also helped tutor Drew Bledsoe. They are still very, very close. Palmer helped the Patriots reach the Super Bowl.

When Parcells left for the Jets, he offered Palmer a job, but he went to Jacksonville instead. While Palmer was the Jaguars’ offensive coordinator, they had one of the NFL’s most prolific offenses. He parlayed an outstanding job with the Jaguars into a head-coaching job with the Browns. He got the shaft after two seasons when he was back-stabbed and fired unfairly. Several teams wanted to hire Palmer, and the Texans got him. Last season, Mark, injuries to Carr and Domanick Davis affected the offense. More important, injuries on defense forced the offense to alter play calling and try to be more conservative to keep the defense off the field. The Texans ended the season with more players on injured reserve than any team in the league. Palmer didn’t get stupid all of a sudden. When his players are healthy and more of a unit because of experience, you’ll see them become more consistent and productive.

[Vinny]

The Jags were virtually unstoppable when he was running their offense. Coughlin has a good offensive mind also though.

[TheOgre]

What I like about Palmer, is that he wants to learn from all of the great minds he can. That gives him a wider range of experiences to draw upon. I think the offense will improve some this year and I expect us to make a big move in 2005.

[El Tejano]

He took New England to a Super Bowl, they almost won if not for Desmond Howard. I think this year we will be real suprised.

[aj.]

Not sure how a quarterbacks coach can take a team to the Super Bowl, but he did help Bledsoe with his mechanics that year and their offense tore it up. They also had a pretty good RB in Curtis Martin and some pretty good defenders like Willie McGinist, Ty Law and Lawyer Milloy....not to mention some guy named Parcells.

[El Tejano]

My point is that he helped the offense and has been associated with SuperBowl teams and highly regarded at that. Hey, I want to see the offense pumping TDs as much as the next guy. I would just rather rip him more this year than the previous years or this offseason.

[nunusguy]

http://www.chron.com/cs/CDA/ssistory.mpl/sports/2620399

[Ibar_Harry]

Doesn't seem like he has much to say about the Texans that he hasn't said before. He's not very high on them.

[edo783]

He is at best luke warm towards the Texans, but generally he says things that are true. Just doesn't give it a homer spin. I think he sees himself more as a national sports writer than a Chronical/Houston writer.

[Ibar_Harry]

Yes, and I believe his title is associated with the NFL and he seems to talk a lot about everything, but the NFL. Seems like he is very errogant. I really wonder how much the Texans feed him based on what he talks about.

[texman8]

Yes, he is their national football writer; he seems to concentrate on Boys and Titans,though. I wonder what he would do when QB McNair retires. Maybe ,he won't be so patronizing.

[WWJD]

I don't find John arrogant sounding at all.

He's the NFL beat writer for the Chronicle. The Texans have their own writers. Perhaps the criticism should be directed more towards them or the paper itself. I will go along with the notion that the team is not covered very well during the off-season. That is true.

[nunusguy]

I think McClain is an average type of journalist who is, more importantly, a consumate NFL insider amoung local and regional journalists. The guy has the
low down on a lot of subjects, though he is wrong his share of the time
when it comes to judgement calls,e.g, Andre Johnson's rookie year will be
unproductive and will have to wait for year 2 before he makes a contribution.
On the other hand, he seemed to know all along last year that Boselli would
not return, just go thru the motions to collect his mony - presume he had
some insider info the rest of us weren't privy to.
But I always read his stuff, 'cause I'm interested in the content. And listen to him on radio - he's informative and entertaining.
He is a political guy, careful not to bad mouth the wrong person.

[DominatorDavis]

I dont think that McClain is arrogant either. He is matter of fact. He is certainly not smug like Jim Rome.

Now Romey is arrogant. Limbaugh is arrogant. McClain is not.

What I think that he brings is a local perspective to the Houston area. Most people in Houston are Texans fans. As they should be. After that fan loyaly falls to the Cowboys and then lastly to the Titans because they were the Oilers here for so long.

He writes for a local Nashville column as well and appears on the local sports radio in Tennessee just like he does for Sports Radio 610. So we will get some very good information from him about the Titans - as they too will get good information about the Texans. So there will be some natural spill over in his commentary about the Titans since that is an area of his knowlege base where he has a particular specialization.

Having said that, I would like to add one more point. I too am frusterated with the coverage of the Texans. Untill football season comes around there is essentially an informational void. It sticks in my crawl. There needs to be a Houston Texans TV station - or a Houston Texans live radio feed. That'd be nice. Though I seriously doubt it would ever come to fruitition.