Frank Bush

[Dan B.]

So I waited on Frank Bush tonight. Great guy and his wife is sweet as anything. We didn't talk much football, as I wanted to give the guy a nice dinner away from work. But at the end of the meal when his wife was distracted talking to their friend and he was sitting silently I asked him if he minded if we talked for a minute. I then asked him what was the biggest change in our defense over the second half, and whether there were any changes he made in the last 8 games with our defensive scheme. In fact I asked him point blank if he was calling the plays.

He attributed the difference at the end of the season largely to Dunta, although he went out of his way to compliment our LB corps, and while he didn't say he called the plays, he did say that "Coach and I" (I assume Kubiak) banned certain plays by Smith, but let him call his own game otherwise. Maybe it's just me, but telling a coach that some of their basic plays are off limits is pretty damn close to removing play calling duties. I can see the conversation now -- "Sure you can call any play you want. Except that one. Or that one. Maybe this play would work?"

He didn't seem all that certain about getting any promotion. He just said that Kubiak is going to be a great head coach very soon, and we discussed how Gary is learning to stop micromanaging -- he is hiring people he trusts and learning to trust them to call the shots (using Shanahan's offensive playcalling as an example). FWIW he seemed to agree with me that Schaub needs to have some independent control in the offense as well. Thinking of how explosive we could be with a no huddle offense and effective audibles makes me giddy.

[steelbtexan]

Thanks for the info Dan

[DiehardChris]

Whoa, cool. Nice info, and great inside stuff about the bans on certain plays.

[BSofA04]

Very cool. Thanks for sharing.

[DexmanC]

What!?? Bush told Smith not to drop Mario into to coverage?
He doesn't want Calvin Johnson to be guarded by Travis Johnson?

LOL

The defense was TOO GOOD at the end to attribute to Smith trying to
"save his job." Kubiak is an "attacking" play caller, and I bet he wants one on
the defensive side of the ball. The Texans are in good hands.

[nunusguy]

So now you're confiding in the Texans' coaching staff and giving them advice, eh Dan ? And is Bush doubling as D-Robs agent ?
Enough of that, what's really important to know is if Bush is a big tipper ?

[b0ng]

How come the only people I ever got to wait on were unimportant asswipes? Thanks for the heads up, and I think it's funny that Bush and Kubiak banned some plays from being called. I wonder if "Jessee Nading in coverage" was a play that was banned before the Chicago game.

[GP]

That, my friend, was a nice job of journalism.

A golden nugget of information straight from the mouth of Frank Bush himself. This wasn't McClain or some other journo pontificating on things or editing his info before publishing it. This was a fan, daring to approach a coach, and coming away with solid intel.

We'll be referencing this information for years, Dan B.

Great job, bro. Rep your way!

[bckey]

Thanks for the info Dan. Great stuff! Rep your way.

[BattleRedToro]

Originally Posted by Dan B.

So I waited on Frank Bush tonight. Great guy and his wife is sweet as anything. We didn't talk much football, as I wanted to give the guy a nice dinner away from work. But at the end of the meal when his wife was distracted talking to their friend and he was sitting silently I asked him if he minded if we talked for a minute. I then asked him what was the biggest change in our defense over the second half, and whether there were any changes he made in the last 8 games with our defensive scheme. In fact I asked him point blank if he was calling the plays.

He attributed the difference at the end of the season largely to Dunta, although he went out of his way to compliment our LB corps, and while he didn't say he called the plays, he did say that "Coach and I" (I assume Kubiak) banned certain plays by Smith, but let him call his own game otherwise. Maybe it's just me, but telling a coach that some of their basic plays are off limits is pretty damn close to removing play calling duties. I can see the conversation now -- "Sure you can call any play you want. Except that one. Or that one. Maybe this play would work?"

He didn't seem all that certain about getting any promotion. He just said that Kubiak is going to be a great head coach very soon, and we discussed how Gary is learning to stop micromanaging -- he is hiring people he trusts and learning to trust them to call the shots (using Shanahan's offensive playcalling as an example). FWIW he seemed to agree with me that Schaub needs to have some independent control in the offense as well. Thinking of how explosive we could be with a no huddle offense and effective audibles makes me giddy.

The part about the playcalling reminds me about a little joke my grandfather told me, when we were talking about old cars.

He said that when he was young and those classic antique cars were brand new, you could get one painted any color you wanted as long as that color was black.

[DBCooper]

Originally Posted by GP

That, my friend, was a nice job of journalism.

A golden nugget of information straight from the mouth of Frank Bush himself. This wasn't McClain or some other journo pontificating on things or editing his info before publishing it. This was a fan, daring to approach a coach, and coming away with solid intel.

We'll be referencing this information for years, Dan B.

Great job, bro. Rep your way!

Have you been hanging out with Runner?

[Marcus]

So, can you bring in a big name defensive coordinator worth his salt and get him to work with Frank Bush and Ray Rhodes, instead of just bringing in their own staff?

Seems to me that would be a kind of a stickler during the interviews.

[Goldensilence]

Interesting info and somewhat confirms some of the board speculation about Smith's playcalling duties. I think Dunta's presence in the secondary might've made them feel more comfortable being aggressive with the front seven but the LB corps looked so much better with Adibi starting. It's also good to hear that Kubiak seems to be learning to delegate responsibilities and tha will pay dividends especially if he continues to make intelligent assistant staff hirings.

Sounds like a real great guy and I hate to say it like this, but I am glad that it's looking like we're are going to go out of staff for our next DC.

[RipTraxx]

Originally Posted by Marcus

So, can you bring in a big name defensive coordinator worth his salt and get him to work with Frank Bush and Ray Rhodes, instead of just bringing in their own staff?

Seems to me that would be a kind of a stickler during the interviews.

All we really have left is Johnny Holland and Bush and Rhodes (in a assistants roll)

I dont know ANYONE who wouldnt want to work a guru like rhodes.

[The Pencil Neck]

Originally Posted by Goldensilence

Interesting info and somewhat confirms some of the board speculation about Smith's playcalling duties. I think Dunta's presence in the secondary might've made them feel more comfortable being aggressive with the front seven but the LB corps looked so much better with Adibi starting. It's also good to hear that Kubiak seems to be learning to delegate responsibilities and tha will pay dividends especially if he continues to make intelligent assistant staff hirings.

Sounds like a real great guy and I hate to say it like this, but I am glad that it's looking like we're are going to go out of staff for our next DC.

Although Dunta's presence really helped, I think that Adibi gave them the ability to really put pressure on the QB with their blitzes. He gave us some speed that we didn't have with Greenwood and Bentley.

We've either got to find a way to keep him healthy or find someone better to put on the outside.

[ArlingtonTexan]

Originally Posted by nunusguy

So now you're confiding in the Texans' coaching staff and giving them advice, eh Dan ? And is Bush doubling as D-Robs agent ?
Enough of that, what's really important to know is if Bush is a big tipper ?

As someone who bartended earlier once he said nice guy w/o mentioning the tip, Bush at least did was would be expected if not better.

[Jackie Chiles]

What restaurant do you work at so I can give some anonymous gift certificates to the rest of the coaching staff and FO? Seriously though, thanks for sharing some nice info.

[Dan B.]

Originally Posted by ArlingtonTexan

As someone who bartended earlier once he said nice guy w/o mentioning the tip, Bush at least did was would be expected if not better.

LOL there's a man that can read between the lines. Bush tipped well, and was an easygoing guest. These don't always overlap. Sometimes really demanding people tip great; sometimes the friendly jokey guy stiffs you, but still shakes your hand and compliments you on the way out. Frank was that rare combination of both.

Not to get too cynical about it, but I looked at it as getting part of my money back after treating my dad and stepmom to the Colts game earlier this year. I think I earned at least a partial refund. Would've been better had I gotten the tip from Sage*

Or I could just thank all of y'all that gave the Texans a few bucks this year.

*note: Sage is a really nice guy as well. I didn't see him much this year (which is really sad because he used to come in with his wife a lot, or even bring in the whole offense sometimes). I feel a little dickish making this joke, in fact -- It's sad what that Indy game did to Sage's confidence.

[edo783]

I wonder if they let Smith off the reservation in Oakland and he reverted to form or was that just a bad game? If he reverted to form and the game came out that way, he put the bullet in his own head and has no excuses.

[TexansFanatic]

The internet rocks! What the hell did we do before it?

Dan just gave us a hell of a scoop and it's something he only could have shared with his next-door neighbor 15 years ago. Today, all of us fanatics on TexansTalk get it.

Thanks, Dan!