McNair Interview in the Chomical.

[DocBar]

LINK

After seeing his team blow five games in the fourth quarter or overtime and finish 6-10 in what became the most exasperating and disappointing season in Texans history, owner Bob McNair vowed he would no longer tolerate losing.

"It's a good thing there aren't any cliffs in Harris County, or I would have found one," McNair said, looking back at last season. "I expect to win. When we lose, I'm so devastated I don't want to see anybody. It kills me because I'm so competitive. It's just very disheartening."

Now that the NFL lockout is over and the Texans are starting training camp and preparing for coach Gary Kubiak's sixth season, McNair's frustration has turned into unmitigated optimism. He has higher expectations than at any time during his first nine years as owner.

"I want to see us do more than just make the playoffs," he said. "That's what I expect. I think we have the talent to do it. I think we've got the coaching staff to do it.

"We've got to be as good as we can be. If we do that, we're going to be in the playoffs. Not only are we going to be in the playoffs, but we're going deep into the playoffs."Sitting in the library of his River Oaks home, McNair, 74, looks comfortable and sounds confident. He has recovered from hip-replacement surgery and has returned to the golf course.

He has plenty of time to devote to his NFL team — and more than a few opinions on how this season will unfold:

[ObsiWan]

Originally Posted by DocBar

"It's a good thing there aren't any cliffs in Harris County, or I would have found one," McNair said, looking back at last season. "I expect to win. When we lose, I'm so devastated I don't want to see anybody. It kills me because I'm so competitive. It's just very disheartening."

See Uncle Bob that's your problem, very little imagination....
There's the ship channel bridge, Conoco Tower, San Jac monument...


Seriously though, this was a good interview. Thanks for posting.

On free agents and players

McNair has the coaches he wants. He approved giving Joseph and Manning a combined $32.5 million guaranteed. He leaves it up to Smith and Kubiak to determine which players they want to pursue.
Talking about the free-agent acquisitions and re-signing their free agents, McNair focused on the need at cornerback.
"We wanted to strengthen that position," he said. "We did what we have to do. We also wanted to strengthen our safety position, and we did."
McNair's philosophy is to build through the draft. He is not shy about paying his players, but it's usually not his style to spend millions on players from other teams. This free-agent period was different, though, because the Texans had desperate needs that McNair, Smith and Kubiak thought could help the team make the playoffs for the first time.
Joseph and Manning signed deals totaling $68.75 million.
"It's how you spend the money, not how much money you can spend," McNair said. "Generally speaking, when you sign the really high-priced players, what you're doing is overpaying. And very often you're overpaying at a time that they've already peaked. You're taking money away from other positions that would have allowed you to strengthen your team.
"The key is to get a number of quality players. We've had good luck with the free agents that weren't the most high-profile."
Now the Texans have the second-highest rated cornerback in free agency in Joseph, who also was one of the top free agents overall.

That statement explains a lot

[DocBar]

Originally Posted by ObsiWan

See Uncle Bob that's your problem, very little imagination....
There's the ship channel bridge, Conoco Tower, San Jac monument...

The top of Reliant Stadium....just going with ya on this...

[ObsiWan]

Originally Posted by DocBar

The top of Reliant Stadium....just going with ya on this...

Seriously though, that was as much as I've seen Uncle Bob say in the media in quite a long time. Good post.

[DocBar]

I agree. I really liked the interview. It's been my position that McNair considers a lot more than most give him credit for. I think we have one of the better owners in the league and he's trying his best to build the right long term foundation for his team.

[Lucky]

"We've had good luck with the free agents that weren't the most high-profile."

Such as???

Good luck and free agents should never be in the same sentence when discussing the Houston Texans.

"Unmitigated" optimism? Hey, I'm optimistic. It's the football fan inside who wants to believe I'll get to kick the ball, no matter how many times Lucy lifts it before I can. But, that optimism is mitigated by watching these Kubiak-led "warriors" flop year after year. I'm hopeful. But if they don't win, I'll know why.

[Maddict5]

Originally Posted by Lucky

Such as???

off the top of my head: vonta leach, derek ward, joel dressen, kevin walter & chris myers (low rd rfa's), wade smith, rashad butler, pollard & demps for a season each

[Porky]

It's all lip service to me. Just a PR move to keep the turnstiles moving and the beer selling another year. I tend to be one that says don't tell me what your going to do, show me what you are going to do. Seeing is believing.

He can say how much he wants to win - but he hasn't shown it. And now we let Leach go, another move a loser makes just at a time when we were gaining momentum this offseason. That is showing me that he doesn't want to win. We needed to keep Leach and 3 yrs at 11 mil is reasonable for an all-pro who helped turn a UDFA into the league's top RB a yr ago. You don't replace a guy like that with someone off the street.

The wool gets pulled over our eyes again, but some of us understand this man's losing mentality.

[Wolf]

During a recent interview with John McClain of the Houston Chronicle, Texans owner Bob McNair said it's time for the Texans to not only make the playoffs, but do something when they get there.

"I want to see us do more than just make the playoffs," McNair said. "That's what I expect. I think we have the talent to do it. I think we've got the coaching staff to do it."

Read the entire article here.

McNair spoke about several topics related to the state of the franchise. Let's take some of the more significant comments and slice and dice, one-by-one.

On the quote above about doing more this season than just making the playoffs:

Houston Texans Examiner (HTE): Great. Agree wholeheartedly. The bar needs to be set high enough so that even if you don't reach your goal, you've achieved something more than what you have in the past.

On what would happen if the Texans have another losing season:

McNair: "We're all accountable. If we don't deliver value for our fans and make for a happy experience when they come to Reliant Stadium, (Gary Kubiak and Rick Smith) won't be there. But (just) Gary and Rick? (The jobs of) everybody in the organization (are) on the line. They all know that. We'll be patient and give people the resources and give them enough time to get the job done, but if they don't do it, then we have to get somebody else."

HTE: Patience and loyalty are admirable qualities in a person. Being able to recognize when you're being patient and loyal to a fault is even more admirable.

On McClain stating the obvious that McNair doesn't want to fire Kubiak:

Continue reading on Examiner.com Bob McNair speaks, we react - Houston Houston Texans | Examiner.com http://www.examiner.com/houston-texa...#ixzz1ThmHCbSD

http://www.examiner.com/houston-texa...air-s-comments

[BigBull17]

Originally Posted by Porky

It's all lip service to me. Just a PR move to keep the turnstiles moving and the beer selling another year. I tend to be one that says don't tell me what your going to do, show me what you are going to do. Seeing is believing.

He can say how much he wants to win - but he hasn't shown it. And now we let Leach go, another move a loser makes just at a time when we were gaining momentum this offseason. That is showing me that he doesn't want to win. We needed to keep Leach and 3 yrs at 11 mil is reasonable for an all-pro who helped turn a UDFA into the league's top RB a yr ago. You don't replace a guy like that with someone off the street.

The wool gets pulled over our eyes again, but some of us understand this man's losing mentality.

Except they spent that money on a CB and Safty tha we desperately needed. We also have our draft picks to sign, need one more depth Cb, and want some "just in case" money for camp casualties. A loser over pays a fb that is a's one dimensional a's it gets instead of making your team better.

[Marcus]

Originally Posted by Porky

It's all lip service to me. Just a PR move to keep the turnstiles moving and the beer selling another year. I tend to be one that says don't tell me what your going to do, show me what you are going to do. Seeing is believing.

He can say how much he wants to win - but he hasn't shown it. And now we let Leach go, another move a loser makes just at a time when we were gaining momentum this offseason. That is showing me that he doesn't want to win. We needed to keep Leach and 3 yrs at 11 mil is reasonable for an all-pro who helped turn a UDFA into the league's top RB a yr ago. You don't replace a guy like that with someone off the street.

The wool gets pulled over our eyes again, but some of us understand this man's losing mentality.

We're not overreacting too much on the Leach thing, are we?

I mean, what do you expect when you vote the guy to the Pro Bowl? And what do you expect from free agency? Only to win some, and not lose some?

But to say that losing Leach to free agency shows you that McNair "doesn't really want to win" . . .

Yeah OK . . . Whatever.

[Porky]

Leach was also important in the passing game and worked as a relief valve for Schaub numerous times. I don't think of him as one dimensional. If we pick up a halfway decent FB, I think we can still be ok there, but I do think you guys under estimate Leach's value to this offense. This was a huge blow to this team, no doubt in my mind. And you let decent guys go, but you don't let all-pro's go when the cost is as reasonable as Leach was going to be.

[ChampionTexan]

Originally Posted by Porky

Leach was also important in the passing game and worked as a relief valve for Schaub numerous times.

Numerous = 8?

While I do have a concern about Vonta's leaving, it's mostly in Red Zone situations. I think his pass catching role will be considerably easier to replace - it doesn't even have to be a FB who replaces it.

[thunderkyss]

Originally Posted by ObsiWan

Seriously though, this was a good interview. Thanks for posting.

That statement explains a lot

I don't agree with that statement.
Some people do.

Several organizations have become successful with that thinking. Patriots, Colts, Pittsburgh.

So even though I do not agree with his belief, I am not going to act like mine is the only one.

I wonder if he thinks he is over-spending for Joseph & Manning. It would have been nice if we had drafted them..... but we didn't. We can only draft so many players, sometimes we get it right, sometimes we get it wrong. I think it is important to acknowledge when we are wrong & do what it takes to fix it.

Johnathan Joseph is the perfect example. We didn't draft him in 2006. We fix that problem signing him in FA. Paying Dunta that same money to stay would have been worse than what we have now.

[steelbtexan]

Billionaire BoBBy if you were sincere in your comments why do Rick and Gary still have jobs? There w/l record says that you aren't holding them accountable.

BTW, BoBBY bringing in Bum and Dante as PR schills for the losers that are Rick and Gary as a preemptive PR move was a stroke of marketing genius. Forget about what the paying customers want and Garys W/L record. Just keep on with status quo. We dont want to do anything traumatic like hiring a winning GM/HC.

I think it's sad that Wade ran the draft this yr and it was the best draft since 2006. IMHO That's an indictment of Rick/Gary. Where's the accountability that seems to be your mantra BoBBY? Are you content with blowing smoke up your fans butts?

[Porky]

Originally Posted by steelbtexan

Billionaire BoBBy if you were sincere in your comments why do Rick and Gary still have jobs? There w/l record says that you aren't holding them accountable.

BTW, BoBBY bringing in Bum and Dante as PR schills for the losers that are Rick and Gary as a preemptive PR move was a stroke of marketing genius. Forget about what the paying customers want and Garys W/L record. Just keep on with status quo. We dont want to do anything traumatic like hiring a winning GM/HC.

I think it's sad that Wade ran the draft this yr and it was the best draft since 2006. IMHO That's an indictment of Rick/Gary. Where's the accountability that seems to be your mantra BoBBY? Are you content with blowing smoke up your fans butts?

Couldn't have said it better myself. This guy reminds me of our President. Talks a good game, but actions speak much louder than words.

[thunderkyss]

Originally Posted by Porky

It's all lip service to me. Just a PR move to keep the turnstiles moving and the beer selling another year. I tend to be one that says don't tell me what your going to do, show me what you are going to do. Seeing is believing.

He can say how much he wants to win - but he hasn't shown it. And now we let Leach go, another move a loser makes just at a time when we were gaining momentum this offseason. That is showing me that he doesn't want to win. We needed to keep Leach and 3 yrs at 11 mil is reasonable for an all-pro who helped turn a UDFA into the league's top RB a yr ago. You don't replace a guy like that with someone off the street.

The wool gets pulled over our eyes again, but some of us understand this man's losing mentality.

Leach was a beast, but he served his purpose.

Remember the first fullback Kubiak picked? He's supposed to be more of a threat out of the backfield than a run blocker. We stumbled onto Leach at a time when the OL wasn't doing its thing. Kubiak trusting different people to teach his OL. 2008, Kubiak threw all that away & went back to what he knows.

IMO 2008 he started teaching his version of the ZBS. Our OL struggled, part of the reason why Steve struggled to find holes. By the end of the season you could see a big difference in the way they blocked. That also happened to be around the time Arian Foster showed up.

2009, no doubt about it, our starting five have got it down pat......

I think we were going to be moving away from Leach anyway.

[thunderkyss]

Originally Posted by ChampionTexan

Numerous = 8?

While I do have a concern about Vonta's leaving, it's mostly in Red Zone situations. I think his pass catching role will be considerably easier to replace - it doesn't even have to be a FB who replaces it.

That's another thing. In short yardage situations, why get away from what we're good at, stretching the field. If we don't have the people to blow defenses off the line, why try?

Run the zone stretch, every now & then throw in a naked bootleg.

[thunderkyss]

Originally Posted by steelbtexan

Billionaire BoBBy if you were sincere in your comments why do Rick and Gary still have jobs? There w/l record says that you aren't holding them accountable.

He's answered this question hundreds of times. He feels like Kubiak is his coach. He feels like Rick Smith has done at least an adequate job.

Firing someone is not the only way to hold someone accountable.

Are you accountable at your job? How many times have you been fired?

Originally Posted by steelbtexan

BTW, BoBBY bringing in Bum and Dante as PR schills for the losers that are Rick and Gary as a preemptive PR move was a stroke of marketing genius. Forget about what the paying customers want and Garys W/L record. Just keep on with status quo. We dont want to do anything traumatic like hiring a winning GM/HC.

Don't speak for me.

Originally Posted by steelbtexan

I think it's sad that Wade ran the draft this yr and it was the best draft since 2006. IMHO That's an indictment of Rick/Gary. Where's the accountability that seems to be your mantra BoBBY? Are you content with blowing smoke up your fans butts?

These guys haven't got on the field yet, & it's the best draft since 2006? What's sad is that we fans keep moving the freak'n target & wonder why it's so hard for McNair to hit.

This draft is no different than the 2009 draft. Cushing, Barwin, Caldwell, Casey, Quin, McCain, Nolan..... no different other than we've seen those guys play in the NFL.....

2010 draft don't look all that bad either. Ben Tate, Earl Mitchell, Darrel Sharpton, Dorin Dickerson are still plenty to get excited about. Sherrick McMannis, I like that pick as much as the Carmichael pick.. & the book isn't closed yet on Kareem Jackson.

The book hasn't been opened on the 2011 draft... & you say better?

[Lucky]

Originally Posted by Maddict5

off the top of my head: vonta leach, derek ward, joel dressen, kevin walter & chris myers (low rd rfa's), wade smith, rashad butler, pollard & demps for a season each

Other than Leach, none of these guys are special (though Pollard had his moments). Just about every GM in the league can point to finding JAG players like Dreessen, Myers, and Walter (who wasn't signed by Smith). No better (or worse) than most teams in this regard.

I almost went off (again) on McNair, but aj saved me the trouble:

On McClain stating the obvious that McNair doesn't want to fire Kubiak:
McNair: "Nobody wants to win more than Gary does. He's from Houston. He's a good person. He's a good coach. His players like him. He's never lost control of the locker room - a lot of things fans don't take into consideration."
HTE: Okay, here we go. This is the part that almost prompted me to start writing this at 2:30 this morning.

• "Nobody wants to win more than Gary does" >> Okay, I'll give you that one. That's probably true. But wanting to win and knowing how to win are two distinctly different things.
• "He's from Houston." >> So what? I'm from Houston. We're all from Houston. Give me a guy from Alaska or Timbuktu - as long as he can coach winning football.
• "He's a good person" >> I think we all know that about Gary, he's a helluva nice guy and character is at the top of McNair's list of priorities, but when you start rationalizing this into the equation, that's how you get to a head coach with a 37-43 record entering his sixth year in the league.
• "He's a good coach" >> Some argue that he's a great offensive mind, a great offensive coordinator, but lacks the leadership skills that make good head coaches.
• "His players like him. He's never lost control of the locker room" >> Losing the locker room is the kiss of death for coaches, so yes, that's important. And of course his players like him because he's a nice guy. But being a nice guy doesn't mean you're a good leader. I think any of us that have been in the working world for a while have run across members of management that are really nice guys or gals but aren't very good managers.
• "(these are) a lot of things fans don't take into consideration" >> You're right. Fans don't place top priority on whether our head coach is a "nice guy" or that he's from Houston or that his players really like him. We care about the number in the win column being larger than the number in the loss column. If you're a winner and you happen to be a nice guy too, then great, bonus. This is what some fans refer to as the "holding on to David Carr too long syndrome" - because he was such a nice guy.

I read something like this from McNair, and I wonder if he will ever get it. Basically, he'll have to luck into a winner. Because winning his not his top priority. Every once in a while, Mike Brown gets to the playoffs. Not because he's a good owner. But because his team eventually gets lucky. I'm not saying that Bob McNair is a bad owner in the same fashion as Mike Brown. Just that like Mike Brown, he doesn't value winning as his highest priority.