Bye bye Richard Smith

[Texans_Chick]

Originally Posted by aj.

N.D. Kalu spoke highly of Smith in his post game comments yesterday. Grain of salt - players hate change and like their comfort zone, yes, but he didn't have to gush over him like he did.

Jim Eddy's mess was ranked 3rd in the NFL (yards) and 9th in fewest points allowed. That's on a team with an offense that didn't exactly grind out clock eating drives. Eddy was the main fall guy for 35-3 but there was plenty of blame to go around on the offensive side of the ball in that fateful second half.

The following year, Buddy's D was #1 against the run, 23rd against the pass and 14th overall (yards). They were 4th in the league in fewest points allowed.

If the Texans fire Smith (I don't think they will) they will also need to replace Bush if they don't name him DC. I'm not high on Smith for the record...

I have a $100 gift cert to Fogo that's burining a hole in my pocket... not tonight...too many drunks on the road.

Heard that from ND too.

Agree with much of what you say. Esp. re: Bush. I think Smith stays but boy the defensive side of the ball has been difficult to watch.

Yes, Richard Smith had not much to work with.

But, what in Smith's background gives anyone encouragement that things will get better?

[b0ng]

Originally Posted by Texans_Chick

Heard that from ND too.

Agree with much of what you say. Esp. re: Bush. I think Smith stays but boy the defensive side of the ball has been difficult to watch.

Yes, Richard Smith had not much to work with.

But, what in Smith's background gives anyone encouragement that things will get better?

Nothing at all from the last 2 years is encouraging about the way the Defense has progressed. I find that to be a coaching error. Whomever says the talent isn't there seems kind of silly. Williams has produced the 3rd highest sacks in the NFL this year. Ryans is a pro bowler. Demps is a pretty good FS and pretty much always has been (His injury got him cut from the Giants). A team like Tampa Bay has done more with less for years, and they did it again this year.

Richard Smith's defenses are consistently (So far) in the bottom 1/3 of the league statistically, and the scoreboard also shows it.

I think he might end up on the outset of his job because I don't think Frank Bush is going to hang around forever waiting to get his shot at the job. All this Rex Ryan talk is nice and all, but I wouldn't bank on him coming over here. I think if Smith does leave (Could happen, I don't know why everybody thinks that he's going to be here for another year), Bush will be the new DC. I don't know what to think about that.

[Hervoyel]

Originally Posted by Texans_Chick

Heard that from ND too.

Agree with much of what you say. Esp. re: Bush. I think Smith stays but boy the defensive side of the ball has been difficult to watch.

Yes, Richard Smith had not much to work with.

But, what in Smith's background gives anyone encouragement that things will get better?

And THAT is what's foremost on my mind. Look (Marcus in particular) I understand that we can look at 2006 and say "First year in the system, not enough pieces in place" and we can look at 2007 and say "Lots of injuries in the secondary". I get that each of the past two years we've had extenuating circumstances.

I did not have much faith in Richard Smith to begin with however because frankly the guys track record is pretty pedestrian. His history is nothing to get excited about and in two years I haven't seen anything to change that. We've gone from 31st to 24th to 24th (defense ypg) and from 32nd to 25th to 22nd (defense ppg). We've improved under Richard Smith but not nearly enough considering the kind of talent we've brought in on that side of the ball (in my opinion). We didn't make much of a second step this year.

When I see something to get me excited about Richard Smith, Defensive Coordinator Guru then I'll get excited about him. Until then he's still the dopey guy in the army helmet who got the job because Gary Kubiak couldn't find anybody better (at least to me) and that doesn't instill me with tons of confidence.

[dickieb]

Looks like Rob Ryan is headed to the NY Jets. Rex Ryan is still out there though.

http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/news/story?id=3177174

[hookinreds]

Since we are having fun throwing out names...what about Wade Phillips? Signed a 3yr deal with the Cowboys to be the guy that can get them their first playoff win in a decade. Just supposed the Cowboys lose in the first round, then what? He will have not done what Jones wanted him to do. Package that in with that I believe Jones wants Garrett to take over the roll anyway, do you think he would sack Wade to keep Garrett since rumor has it that Garrett is going to visit with Atlanta and possible others if they become available? He runs a good 3-4 with more slanting, one-gapping and a hellova lot more blitzing than we have now. Anyhow, thougth I would just play along. I'd be interested if that situation presented itself. Be a good PR move as well, and we know our track record on that.

[bckey]

Originally Posted by hookinreds

Since we are having fun throwing out names...what about Wade Phillips? Signed a 3yr deal with the Cowboys to be the guy that can get them their first playoff win in a decade. Just supposed the Cowboys lose in the first round, then what? He will have not done what Jones wanted him to do. Package that in with that I believe Jones wants Garrett to take over the roll anyway, do you think he would sack Wade to keep Garrett since rumor has it that Garrett is going to visit with Atlanta and possible others if they become available? He runs a good 3-4 with more slanting, one-gapping and a hellova lot more blitzing than we have now. Anyhow, thougth I would just play along. I'd be interested if that situation presented itself. Be a good PR move as well, and we know our track record on that.

I like what you are saying here. The problem I see with it is Wade Phillips is a 3-4 guy. I actually like the 3-4 better but seriously doubt we would go but to it so soon especially after drafting Okoye in the 1st round and our lack of talent at lb.

[GP]

I doubt Wade Phillips is going anywhere.

Cowboys look much more polished and focused with Phillips as opposed to how they looked with Parcells. I think Phillips is staying for awhile.

BTW, what exactly is the allure of Bill Parcells? I know he has won two Super Bowls. And I know he takes bad teams and turns them around. I just think it's funny how much this guy is idolized by the NFL media.

Parcells strikes me as a guy who is going to MICRO-MANAGE the GM and HC in Miami. Whoever gets the GM and HC jobs should be prepared to have a huge thumb pressed onto their backs at all times.

I wouldn't touch the Dolphins job if I were an up-and-coming HC candidate. This has Pat Riley/Stan Van Gundy/Miami Heat written all over it.

[Pantherstang84]

Originally Posted by bckey

I like what you are saying here. The problem I see with it is Wade Phillips is a 3-4 guy. I actually like the 3-4 better but seriously doubt we would go but to it so soon especially after drafting Okoye in the 1st round and our lack of talent at lb.

Yeah. The Texans would have to totally retool the defensive roster to move to a 3-4.

[hookinreds]

Originally Posted by Pantherstang84

Yeah. The Texans would have to totally retool the defensive roster to move to a 3-4.

My brainfart here on this one guys. Reading one thing and thinking one thing another. Obviously we aren't running a 3-4 and we wouldn't want to change schemes yet again. Ok, we wont get him, but I still bet if they lose, Wade is out and Garrett is in as HC if Jones has anything to do about it.

[badboy]

Two seasons ago, I kept hearing Smith say he had to simplify the defensive package, especially to help Mario. This past season again he stated he had to cut back to basics and some of the players voiced this also. Often this was after a W. My question is why not start with a simple basic D scheme and add to it as season goes along? Also, the tackling looked terrible to me. How do you "simplify" wrapping a runner up?

[thunderkyss]

Originally Posted by Second Honeymoon

Actually when your secondary is hurting, you need to put more pressure on the passer. People got this backwards. Sitting in a zone and rushing 3 or 4 people is making backup QBs look like Johnny Unitas. When your secondary is struggling or undermanned, you gotta get after the QB especially if he is a backup or unproven. You can't let a QB get in rhythym and we let QBs get in a rhythym on a weekly basis.

correct me if I'm wrong, but I think QBs find their rhythm throwing short & intermediate passes... the longer stuff comes after they've found said rhythm.

Which again, points to my assertion, we need to upgrade our LBs.

[Second Honeymoon]

Originally Posted by thunderkyss

correct me if I'm wrong, but I think QBs find their rhythm throwing short & intermediate passes... the longer stuff comes after they've found said rhythm.

Which again, points to my assertion, we need to upgrade our LBs.

your not wrong. QBs find their rhythym when they are given enough time to host a tea party in the pocket while our DC has our talent sitting back in a soft zone with half the guys covering NOBODY or themselves. They get the rhythym regardless of whether they are throwing short, intermediate, or long passes. My point is to not let them get in a rhythym. I don't have a problem with Peyton torching our defense but when a preaseason 3rd stringer like Gray looks like Dan Marino against your defense, its time to question the skill and balls of our Defensive Coordinator, Richard Smith.

As for your assertation that we need to upgrade our LBs. Damn straight we do. Greenwood and Clark would be backups on playoff teams. Its time we get some edge LBs that can contribute to the pass rush...but of course with Richard Smith that ability woudl be wasted because the guy doesnt have enough sack to send more than 4 people against even the most noobish quarterback. It just really gets me sick that it is shaping up that we have that loser back as our DC. Just embarassing to the franchise and an indictment of the culture permeated from the owner down to the head coach. Just too niiiiiiiice and too slow to react. They don't try and put a fire out until its already burned down the whole damn house.

Look at the Carr situation for a parallel. It wasn't until his horrible play was so horribly bad and the team was near total mutiny that they took any action at all...and frankly, it was already too late because they had resigned the loser because they were so niiiiiiiice and didn't want David to feel that he didn't have their backing and confidence. What has Richard Smith done to inspire loyalty? Nothing. Just like Carr. Looks like we are destined to be reactive and not proactive...and that means lots of losing and lots of disappointments.....

...but anyways, nice seeing you around TK. Hopefully they will address some of our holes both on the field and in the booth. Just look for it to be a reactive move and not proactive like more committed teams do. God forbid we hurt anyones feelings by firing them for doing a piss poor job....

[Pantherstang84]

Originally Posted by hookinreds

My brainfart here on this one guys. Reading one thing and thinking one thing another. Obviously we aren't running a 3-4 and we wouldn't want to change schemes yet again. Ok, we wont get him, but I still bet if they lose, Wade is out and Garrett is in as HC if Jones has anything to do about it.

Don't get me wrong. I would love for Wade Phillips to come here as DC. However, we will have to change out a bunch of parts on the defensive side of the ball. Therefore, the defense will continue to suck for a while until the parts swap is complete.

[joedinkle]

Why do you guys think Wade Phillips would leave a HC job in Dallas, the number 1 seed in the NFC, for a DC job here in Houston?

[hookinreds]

Originally Posted by joedinkle

Why do you guys think Wade Phillips would leave a HC job in Dallas, the number 1 seed in the NFC, for a DC job here in Houston?

Not "leave" on his own accord. My belief is that Jerry Jones wants Garrett to be the HC of the Cowboys. He and his father have been with the organization forever and Jones thinks very highly of him. Garrett is looking for the head spot, and is getting looked at by other organizations. If the Cowboys were to lose early in the playoffs and there was a chance that Garrett could get pulled away by another team for a HC position, I have no doubt that Jones would buy out Phillips on the excuse that he was brought in to win it all and he didn't, and give Garrett the shot at HC.

Your exactly right, I wouldn't expect Wade to "leave" for Houston.

[76Texan]

If we use Football Outsiders DVOA as a guideline, I believe we have the most difficult schedule in the NFL, with the Redskins and Eagles right behind us.

Roughly equal on both sides of the ball.
Add to that the TOs by the offense and ST.
And the fact that we've been playing with a patchwork defensive backfield all season long.
Our LB corp also has their fair share of knicks and dings.
The average age of our starters (including temporary starters) is about 24.5 (team average just under 27), most likely among the youngest in the league, if not the youngest.

I think we can wait until after next year to evaluate Richard Smith.

[Wolf]

First off I think Smith will still be around this season and with that said

I almost feel if this were a college team in a college division... defensive coordinator (or something would change on the defensive coaching)would be gone with no questions asked


going 1-5 in the division and we are giving up an average of 33 points a game to our divisional foes.

That wouldn't fly with the alumni. when you are getting beat by rivals..

[aj.]

The Texans were weak at QB and everyone blamed the OL. Turned out it was mostly due to the QB and lack of a quality RB.

The Texans are weak at both OLB spots and 3/4 of the secondary positions and everyone blames the DC. Turned out it was [ TBD ].

[Wolf]

Originally Posted by aj.

The Texans were weak at QB and everyone blamed the OL. Turned out it was mostly due to the QB and lack of a quality RB.

The Texans are weak at both OLB spots and 3/4 of the secondary positions and everyone blames the DC. Turned out it was [ TBD ].

lack of a good safety

and lack of a previous rating of talent on FA's by a certain GM and staff