How do you feel about Kubiak?

[Vinnie]

I'm somewhere between option 5 & 6. I went with 6. Hopefully they can keep the duo together and it will result in a championship.

[Hervoyel]

My opinion doesn't fit into any of these choices. I'm thinking that Kubiak did a lot to put my mind at ease last season. I think that right now 2010's 6-10 record looks like the aberration and that Kubiak is getting better. I'd have fired him years ago but at this stage I think we all get behind Gary (and Wade) and hope for the best. I guess #6 is closest to how I feel except I'm not so sure that neither one of them is necessarily a good head coach. They might both have learned how to get it done by now.

[axman40]

Originally Posted by Hervoyel

My opinion doesn't fit into any of these choices. I'm thinking that Kubiak did a lot to put my mind at ease last season. I think that right now 2010's 6-10 record looks like the aberration and that Kubiak is getting better. I'd have fired him years ago but at this stage I think we all get behind Gary (and Wade) and hope for the best. I guess #6 is closest to how I feel except I'm not so sure that neither one of them is necessarily a good head coach. They might both have learned how to get it done by now.

That would be my hope.

[KA4Texan]

Honestly I would much rather lose Kubiak than Wade.

To come in and change everything up as horrible as we were with a "short time" to change it with everything going on. I was BEYOND amazed.

Heres to hoping Wade sticks around and makes this D even scarier than it is now (and for once I mean that as a good thing)

I would be comfortable keeping Gary the next 10 years as long as Wade comes chained to him, but since that wasn't an option I had to go with the last option.

[Dread-Head]

Meh...

[ChampionTexan]

I think while there's a ton of culpability for it on Kubiak's part, he's been the victim of some extraordinarily bad defensive coordinating prior to this year.

In term of how that reflects on him as a HC, it depends on how well he's learned to avoid that if/when the need ever arises for Kubiak and the Texans to replace Wade.

I think with very few exceptions, most successful HC's in the NFL aren't deeply involved on both sides of the ball. I honestly think Sean Payton's had a pretty hands off approach to the Saints D with Greg Williams there, and will continue to handle it that way with Spagnuolo aboard. I don't even think Williams has been all that great while he was there - just considerably better than anything Kubiak's hired before Wade. I believe McCarthy in Green Bay and Reid in Philly are in the same boat. Belichick is an exception to this, and while there may be another one or two out there who fit that description, none leap to mind.

I have no desire whatsoever to see a Texan coaching staff without both Kubes and Wade anytime in the near future, but if/when that happens, I'd still much rather see Kubes as HC with a new DC then see Wade become HC. While I have respect for Wade's record as a HC, I still see upside with Kubiak, and I don't see that with Wade.

[Ole Miss Texan]

I want Kubiak as HC and Wade as DC for a long time. I think with where this team finally is and the coaching we have in place that we will be very good for a long long time. Still work to be done though.

[2012Champs]

Gary and all other HC are much like the President of the good old USA they get far too much credit when things go right and far too much blame when they go wrong

[Thorn]

Kubiak with Wade is a good pair I can support. Kubiak without Wade, not so much.

[Goldensilence]

I voted if next year is bad, let him go.

Like others I think there's been too many WTF moments. I think he's made some good personnel moves and some very questionable ones. The ones that come to mind are his choices for DC prior to Wade coming: Richard Smith and Frank Bush? Others include choosing to stick with "his guys" despite the fact they are maxed out on talent. His choice to go with Amobi over Willis, even with a trade down!

Realistically, I think if there was no lockout this past offseason Gary would be gone. I think Gary knew this and was forced to go out and find a DC with a proven track record to save his job.

I don't know if its much as Gary Kubiak got better as a HC, mostly I think that having a great DC covered up some glaring deficiencies.

[Pantherstang84]

The problem with Mr. Jason Cole of Yahoo Sport's thought process of his AFC Coach of the Year vote is this...

He was supposed to be voting for Coach the Year.

Not coach of the decade. Name another team that had to rely on 4 different starting QBs in the same season and still won their division and won a playoff game.

The problem with the intellectually lazy is that they let their prejudices and emotions guide their thoughts and not logic. Just another hack with a keyboard.

[thunderkyss]

Originally Posted by Rey

So My question is, how much good will has Gary bought with you this season?

Is he completely out of the dog house? (if he was ever in yours)

Is he still on your hot seat?

If he has a bad year next year, then what?

I like to think I'm fair. I think there are many aspects of the job that go unnoticed, but are extremely important towards building a dynasty.

I think Kubiak does many of these things extremely well.

You've got to be able to sell a vision. You've got to be able to pull people together. You've got to be able to control your locker room. You've got to be able to get the most out of your players. You've got to be able to get your players to "reach for greatness." You've got to be fair, you've got to make some tough decisions. You've got to be able to develop talent. You've got to be able to develop people. You've got to be able to change mindsets & behaviors.

I could go on. These are the things, I think, guys like Singletary and apparently Rex Ryan struggle with. But this is the foundation. If this work isn't done, it's difficult to build a winning franchise that will last. The Colts had this under Dungy. The Patriots have this under Bellicheck. You don't hear discension from their players, you constantly have guys stepping up & filling big shoes...... Sanders would get hurt, Bullit earned his spot.

We're seeing flashes of that.... maybe the beginning. Only time will tell.

Then there are the obvious things that you should see, that we don't.

#1 is the ability to win manageable games. Several people were extremely upset that we didn't beat the Saints or the Ravens in the regular season, with very good reason. We played extremely well for 3, maybe 3+ quarters, but fell apart at the end & ended up getting "blown out" of games that we were just "in"

We lost control of those games, which means he lost control of those games. This isn't something that is new. Many a Texans' fan have complained about this since 2006. Our fans know our team has beat itself consistently (although fewer this season).. we should have been 8-8 in 2006, you know that. We should have been 9-7, maybe 10-6 in 2007 & 2008...... should have been in the play-offs. We should have had 10+ wins in 2009.

Of course the other team gets some credit..... I'm factoring that in, otherwise I'd say we should have been 16-0.

I also don't think we do a good job of taking advantage of individual match-ups on game day, nor do we game-plan for them, & we don't adjust (by taking advantage of these match-ups) in games very well.

Bernard Pollard's name should have been called an aweful lot with Dressen & OD playing the whole game. We don't take advantage of poor or inexperienced CBs (like other teams have done to us), LBs, DEs, etc... we've played many games, where a player on the other team goes down, an OL, a safety, a DT.... & they've got to put in a back-up.... a rookie or someone who's just not good enough to start. We don't take advantage of that, we continue to do what we planned on doing.

Gameday, game management, finger on the pulse of the team kind of stuff..... he still has room for improvement.

I'm impressed at Kubiak's ability to be able to overcome adversity on offense... I always have, he's a great offensive mind, but that's OC territory, not HC responsibility. Wade vs Frank Bush, that's the only real difference if you ask me.

But, we should have won that Indy game at the end of the year. HC decisions could have been made through out that game that would have won it. Same thing with Tennessee.... that game shouldn't have come down to a 2 point conversion with time expiring.

That Baltimore game was winnable, we should have won it, if we had, my opinion of Kubiak would have changed. I said that when Schaub went down... maybe before.

My opinion, Kubiak doesn't get a contract extension unless he can put together back to back winning seasons......

Originally Posted by IDEXAN

Parcells had a saying: "you are what your record says you are", which means Kubiak is a winner. End of story.

Kubiak has a losing record as a HC. The Texans have a winning record for 2011.

[ObsiWan]

Originally Posted by Mr. White

Speaking of Parcells, I've been tough on Kubiak over the years because I used to think the only guys that could win Super Bowls are guys like Parcells. I thought that style was really the only way to lead. I thought there was no way that a HC who calls the offense could win a Super Bowl.

...then I heard that Sean Payton has called the offense the whole time he's been the HC at New Orleans. And I'm sure he isn't the only one. The thing that he needed to get over the hump was to bring in a really good defensive mind.

After McNair brought Wade in, I decided to shut up and put away the pink soap. Now I think Kubiak is a damn good coach as long as they keep a strong DC around.

This is it for me in a nutshell. Kubiak should stay to run the offense and train QBs. But he definitely needs a defensive sidekick like Wade (or some Wade-level equivalent) to keep the team clicking on both sides of the ball.

And let's not overlook the underlings. The gaggle of assistants Team Wary have gathered have done an outstanding job. They've turned Myers from whipping boy into a pro bowl player and seem to be on their way to doing the same thing with K.J. They successfully turned the "project" we feared Duane Brown would be into a serious monster. It hasn't all been successful (see J. Jones. ...hmmm... maybe we need a new WR coach.. ) but I think they play a key role in Team Wary's success.

I think the whole package is necessary. One or two bad pieces (say a DB coach that don't know what he's doing) and the whole thing could go to ruin.

[ObsiWan]

Originally Posted by Pantherstang84

The problem with Mr. Jason Cole of Yahoo Sport's thought process of his AFC Coach of the Year vote is this...

He was supposed to be voting for Coach the Year.

Not coach of the decade. Name another team that had to rely on 4 different starting QBs in the same season and still won their division and won a playoff game.

The problem with the intellectually lazy is that they let their prejudices and emotions guide their thoughts and not logic. Just another hack with a keyboard.

Eggggzackly!!
His vote should be based on performance during the 2011 season only. If he can't wrap his brain around that concept then maybe his voting rights should be revoked.

[Double Barrel]

Originally Posted by 2012Champs

Gary and all other HC are much like the President of the good old USA they get far too much credit when things go right and far too much blame when they go wrong

'eh, in some ways yes, but in most ways no.

The president does not take office and then decide who will be every member of Congress and the Supreme Court.

The head coach of the Texas basically has control over every aspect of the team, including the GM by most accounts. He decides styles of gameplan and implementation of the offense and defense, as well as the final say over what players make the team.

In the end, the final product of a football team is very much representative of the head coach. Not so much for the president, simply because he does not have the power over government that a head coach has over his football team.

If anything, I'd say QBs are much like the president in your example. Too much credit and too much blame, but really just a cog in the machine that he neither builds nor completely controls.

[gary]

I think Gary is good enough to win with Wade or any other good/great DC. I still wonder why he has not upgraded the number two receiver and some other gameday decisions he has made but overall with a great DC I think I am now fully behind him.

[TheMatrix31]

I thought he did an unbelievable job this year, especially considering all the injuries and tumult. And the way the players play for and respond to him is incredible.

That said, if there's any slip into old habits, he needs to be gone.

[bckey]

Originally Posted by eriadoc

I don't like the overall job he's done, and if I had my way, he would have been gone a couple years ago. I posted in another thread basically the same thing this sports writer said, which is one good year does not erase the bad from the past. What it does do is buy him the opportunity to make people overlook those years.

Kubiak is a very good offensive coordinator. He seems to be a guy that the team will fight for, which is a must. In the end though, I keep stumbling on too many moves or decisions that just strike me as dumb, and then play out that way. Even with this season's success, we just heard about how he was running practices before Wade got here where the DL wasn't allowed to bat balls. WTF? I mean, that's just freakin' stupid. So here's this guy, supposed to be this brilliant mind, and he does **** like that? Or he drafts guys and then never plays them. Or he plays the ones that have proven they suck way too long. Then there are the on-field things like challenges, time management (better this year), etc.

He just has way too many "WTF?" moments for me to consider him a good HC. No idea how that fits into the poll, so I didn't vote. As for Wade, I think he's gotten a lot more flack for being a way better HC than Kubiak has been. That doesn't mean Wade is a great HC, but he shouldn't be panned.

This sums up what I think about Kubiak also.

[WolverineFan]

As far as head coaching goes, I'm not a Kubiak fan. He's a great OC, but does not make great decisions during games. Too offensively focused, that was always his problem before we hired Wade.

Wade saved his job this year. As long as we have a good defense I want him around because of the offense he runs, but if it weren't for Wade we'd be shopping for a coach right now.

[beerlover]

If Mr. McNair is happy then so be it, doesn't really matter what I or you or we have to say about it unless there is an avalanche of negative bad will (ain't happening).

I would like to see a more positive choice like, Kubiak is growing in his first head coaching position showing enough improvement to at least be considered elite Head Coaching material.

That's how I would vote. Even naysayers must admit Texans have come a long, long ways since 2005/2006. Other teams will recognize this & be happy to take him off Houston hands, seeing a leader with football savy who can execute a long term game plan (building his resume) with disclaimer: not for those seeking instant gratification or overnight success. So back to you, Bob enjoy the ride your investment is paying off