Lucky just ain't got a big enough pair...
Which begs the question, how would Marcus know?
For the record, if I were the owner of the Houston Texans, Gary Kubiak would have been fired following the 2008 season. But let's get the record straight: Prior to the debacle of the opening 2/3's of this season, no one outside the Kubiak household was a bigger supporter of Gary Kubiak as the Texans head coach than I.
I was totally behind Bob McNair's decision to hire Gary Kubiak. I supported Kubiak's decision to keep David Carr (OK, it wasn't really Kubiak's decision. Just play along). I supported Kubiak's decision to draft Mario, though I had been a Bushman prior to the draft.
I supported Kubiak's decision to dump Carr following the '06 season. I supported Kubiak's decision to sign Ahman Green. I supported Kubiak's decision to trade for Matt Schaub. I supported Kubiak's decision to draft Amobi Okoye (though I said it was a gutsy move that might be more beneficial to the 2009 Texans than the 2007 Texans). Yes, I sported the "In Kubes We Trust" sig.
I supported Gary Kubiak's gameday coaching during the 2006 and 2007 seasons. He's learning. Every coach makes mistakes. The team is improving. They will get better and the head coach will get better with them. Just wait until this team has a healthy Andre Johnson for 16 games.
I supported Kubiak's decision to go with a rookie left tackle. I supported Kubiak's decision to sign Jacques Reeves. I supported Kubiak's decision to retain Richard Smith as defensive coordinator, despite 2 miserable seasons. This is Kubiak's team, he knows what goes on behind closed doors. He realizes the talent level Smith has to work with. Just wait until this young talent grows in 2008. Kubiak has a plan.
The came the 2008 season. And I watched this team flame out in spectacular fashion over the initial 4 games. After every loss, Gary Kubiak would go before the media and blame himself. And I began to believe him.
Kubiak led his team into Pittsburgh completely unprepared and overmatched. His indecisiveness led to a Titan 1st half score in week 2, from which the team never recovered. Another tentative moment led to a Jags special teams score in week 3. Yes, the Rosencopter in week 4 was horrendous. But, the Texans still had the lead. It was Gary Kubiak that called for another rollout on the following drive.
Yes, the Texans had a historic 3 game win streak after that. Remember, we turned the corner? Only to find the all too typical 3 game losing streak. Followed by the monumental 4 game win streak (that's 2 David Carr haircuts). Hey, all good teams have bad days, like the Oakland game. Did you get the memo, Lucky? The Texans knocked the Chicago Bears out of the playoffs. This is a better 8-8 team than the 2007 8-8 Houston Texans squad. Can't you see that?
Yeah, I got the memo. In triplicate. But let me ask my fellow sports fans this question: What if this team had started out 5-1, but closed with a 3-7 finish? Would everyone be so polloyannishly positive over this team's chances in 2009 and Gary Kubiak's future? How many NFL head coaches in the post salary cap era get to keep their jobs after 3 non-winning seasons? Eric Mangini didn't keep his, and he went to the playoffs in 2006. Mike Shanahan got the boot, and he's coached 2 Super Bowl winners and 7 playoff teams. But, it's outlandish to suggest that this organization would be better off without Gary Kubiak as the head coach?
I've seen enough over the course of 3 seasons to believe that Gary Kubiak is not the coach to lead the Houston Texans to a championship. But, I very, very, very much want to be proven wrong. I don't think I will be. And I very much believe that Gary Kubiak is extremely fortunate to coach for an owner as meek and indecisive as he is.