Memo to Gary Kubiak's players: Here's you how might save his job
Gary Kubiak is respected by his players for his decency and honesty. They know all Kubiak wants is what's best for his players and what's best for the franchise. They are speaking up for him in a way that players don't often speak up for their coach.
He has handled these last few difficult weeks with extraordinary grace. To watch him now is to understand he's the kind of guy you'd be happy to share a foxhole with.
I don't know if it's too late to save Kubiak's job or not, but I do know his players would like to try. I suggested to Joel Dreesen this morning on 1560 that he should take a group of players to see Bob McNair Monday morning and make their case.
I've thought some about that advice and now think Monday morning might be too late. They need to go Friday afternoon, or maybe Sunday evening. Regardless, the Texans need to beat Jacksonville. They need a crisp, impressive performance, a performance that would at least finish the season on a good note.
The players should speak to McNair passionately about their coach, tell him they're amazed at how this season has turned out and that if he sticks with Kubiak, the Texans will make the playoffs in 2011.
Forty years ago this season, the Cowboys suffered a humiliating home loss on Monday Night Football against the St. Louis Cardinals. Tom Landry was booed off the field at halftime. I still remember the final score: 38-0.
At that point, Tom Landry had virtually no public support among the general public. But the next day, with everyone calling for Landry's head, Cowboys owner Clint Murchison told Tex Schramm he was calling a news conference to announce he was giving Landry a 10-year extension.
No matter what others thought of Landry, Murchison believed he was the right man for the job, and even though it had taken longer than anyone hoped, the Cowboys eventually would win a championship with this coach. Murchinson was talked out of giving Landry the extension, but his faith in Landry was well placed.
He became one of the greatest coaches in NFL history. The Cowboys went to the first of two straight Super Bowls that season and the rest is history.
Players can only do so much. But I believe McNair is looking for any reason to keep Kubiak. He may have to stand up for his guy the way Murchison stood up for Landry.
Richard, you've just become the first person in history to favorably compare Gary Kubiak to Tom Landry. You're either very, very smart or very, very dumb.
OK, let's not run too far with the Landry-Kubiak comparisons. At the time of that 38-0 loss, the Cowboys had just come off four seasons when they'd gone 42-12 and twice played for the NFL championship and twice suffered first-round meltdowns against the Browns.
Landry was being ripped because he couldn't win the big one. Kubiak can't win enough of the little ones.
If the players make an impression on McNair, Kubiak must do the rest. He must lay out a clear blueprint for 2011 in his own meeting with McNair. He must tell him he has made mistakes in hiring too many of his buddies. He should announce he'll change both his staff and the personnel department.
He may not be able to throw his guys under the bus. If he can't, so be it. It's a bottom line business, and the bottom line says Kubiak has failed. If he has a plan for the future, if he has the guts to do what's necessary, if he can get out of his comfort zone in hiring the next round of coaches, McNair may be persuaded not to fire him.
Thanks for the info TB. I'll go listen to it./
