Dude you cannot compare 17 years to 6 years. I thought I made that clear. Was Belichick a great coach after 6 years? NO. If you cannot see the parallel I cannot help you. There are plenty of coaches that have early success but cannot sustain it. Those coaches don't last very long. Look at the situations in KC, TB and even the NY Jets. Most great coaches had to go through a learning curve (regardless of early success or not) and Belichick (and many others) was not exempt from it. It's that simple. Is Kubiak a great coach? IDK. Only time will tell. But he's not as bad as many people try to make him out to be.
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How do you feel about Kubiak?
- Thread starter Rey
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Dude you cannot compare 17 years to 6 years. I thought I made that clear. Was Belichick a great coach after 6 years? NO. If you cannot see the parallel I cannot help you. There are plenty of coaches that have early success but cannot sustain it. Those coaches don't last very long. Look at the situations in KC, TB and even the NY Jets. Most great coaches had to go through a learning curve (regardless of early success or not) and Belichick (and many others) was not exempt from it. It's that simple. Is Kubiak a great coach? IDK. Only time will tell. But he's not as bad as many people try to make him out to be.
Gary should thank god everyday that Manning got hurt and Bum helped Wade get the DC job.
How many games did Gary win without Wade this yr?
Gary is Gary a quality OC. Wade is Wade a quality DC. Together they make a great combo.
This yr hopefully Gary makes the offensive draft picks and Wade makes the defensive draft picks. While Rick is locked in the bathroom for 3 days.
How many games did Gary win without Wade this yr?
Gary is Gary a quality OC. Wade is Wade a quality DC. Together they make a great combo.
This yr hopefully Gary makes the offensive draft picks and Wade makes the defensive draft picks. While Rick is locked in the bathroom for 3 days.
I remember last season when I said Sean Payton without Gregg Williams was akin to Gary Kubiak without a decent defensive coordinator (in this case, Wade.) I got mocked for it, or said how it was a "bad comparison." Looks like history once again showed the truth. 
I hope Gary is the coach for a long, long time. The downside is that the guy clearly needs to have someone else pick his defensive hires, but there is no mistaken Gary's offensive genius. Can you say that we don't make the effort each year to fix any problems from the previous year? One year we can't run the ball, we fix that. The next we can't convert on third downs, we fix that. The next we can't finish games, we fix that. Some will argue that a great head coach will rarely make those mistakes. No. Because if that same coach continues to make that one same mistake, then that's far from great. A great head coach learns from his mistakes. I say Gary does that.
Others have pointed out, and sorry if I can't recall names here, that Gary keeps his guys in line. That is another great quality that the great head coaches have. The NFL now-a-days is a league where coaches last maybe an average of three seasons and patience has been thrown out the window thanks to guys like the Harbaughs, Rex Ryan, and Ken Whisenhunt coming in and going far in the blink of an eye.
Now we're seeing what happens though when things get rocky with these guys. Rex Ryan's first "down" year, in what happens to be his third year, and suddenly you're hearing all kinds of locker room turmoil. The Texans have had far gloomier times under Kubiak than the Jets have had under Rex's 8-8 season this year, yet not once have we seen any of these Texan players throwing one another under the bus or going to the media to stir the pot. Kubiak has the actual respect of his players, as opposed to the false respect many other coaches in the league have (if we're winning, everything is okay). Not many coaches in this league have that kind of influence. Kubiak does.
I hope Gary is the coach for a long, long time. The downside is that the guy clearly needs to have someone else pick his defensive hires, but there is no mistaken Gary's offensive genius. Can you say that we don't make the effort each year to fix any problems from the previous year? One year we can't run the ball, we fix that. The next we can't convert on third downs, we fix that. The next we can't finish games, we fix that. Some will argue that a great head coach will rarely make those mistakes. No. Because if that same coach continues to make that one same mistake, then that's far from great. A great head coach learns from his mistakes. I say Gary does that.
Others have pointed out, and sorry if I can't recall names here, that Gary keeps his guys in line. That is another great quality that the great head coaches have. The NFL now-a-days is a league where coaches last maybe an average of three seasons and patience has been thrown out the window thanks to guys like the Harbaughs, Rex Ryan, and Ken Whisenhunt coming in and going far in the blink of an eye.
Now we're seeing what happens though when things get rocky with these guys. Rex Ryan's first "down" year, in what happens to be his third year, and suddenly you're hearing all kinds of locker room turmoil. The Texans have had far gloomier times under Kubiak than the Jets have had under Rex's 8-8 season this year, yet not once have we seen any of these Texan players throwing one another under the bus or going to the media to stir the pot. Kubiak has the actual respect of his players, as opposed to the false respect many other coaches in the league have (if we're winning, everything is okay). Not many coaches in this league have that kind of influence. Kubiak does.
In 2006, there were several rumors.... players in it for the check... David Carr not putting in the work.. Dunta also had his time in the media that year..... then there was the franchise Dunta year....
It hasn't all been peaches & cream in the Texans locker room under Kubiak.
Granted, not being in the area, I've probably missed some things, so I'm sure you're correct. It did spur me to research a bit into Robinson's comments of Carr and you were most certainly right here. (Although I should point that in the same article, Robinson spoke extremely highly of Kubiak.
but I digress.)The thing is that when a team has as many emotionally draining seasons as the Kubiak-era Texans have, you'd figure the coach would lose the locker room at some point, especially after the 6-10 2010 season. I think you'd agree that Kubiak and his players maintaining a positive environment overall is something not many coaches can draw from their players.
Wait, so Kubiak's expectations are inherently lower than Rex's? And I'd agree with you about the Texans being "wide eyed kids" if this were the third year into the Kubiak era, but it's not. This is year six. SIX. It took four years to get a record above mediocrity. It took six years for Gary's team to make the playoffs. I'd be inclined to say players should be more angry with five years of nothing than one year of 8-8 after two AFC Championship appearances.
Meanwhile, a lot of other coaches on losing teams lost their locker rooms long before one year, such as Eric Mangini in Cleveland and Josh McDaniels in Denver. Todd Haley lost his even when the team was on their way to a division title just last year. The players have to respect you, and gaining the respect of these guys isn't as easy as people probably think it is.
Texan_Bill
Hall of Fame
Meh, Kubiak sucks and it's time to cut bait.
Mangini and McDaniels had both experienced some success before their teams went awry. McDaniels got off to a rocky start with the players from the beggining but he had a pretty good start on the playing field.
It's just a fact that the New York Jets had higher expectations heading into this season and previous seasons than the Houston Texans did. If you want to call that inherent...so be it...
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welsh texan
You may say I’m a dreamer but I’m not the only one
Kubiak lost two games without Wade running the D this year.
Kubiak lost four games WITH Wade running the D this year.
He lost twice as many games WITH Wade as without.
So what?
I agree with the rest of your post and have said so many times. Together they won ten games and the division title. May next year together be even better.
For the record, I'm starting to believe Rick Smith doesn't really make any picks. He goes out and finds the free agents we need to fill voids left after the draft. And he's done a pretty decent to very good job in that area.
Now I could be all wrong, but I think the draft is directed by the coaches.
Rick may hand in the selection card but it's the coaching staff who decides which name is on that card.
SuperSerial
Practice Squad
Okay fair enough brah. Whatever you say is good.
Let's all agree we want the Texans to win, no matter who is at the helm. Get 'er dun'.
Since Kubiak has been here, this has been a group-think organization. Every decision is made by a group. Bob, Cal, Gary, Rick, and whoever may be at OC, DC, & position coaches, & all the scouts. Last off-season defense was definitely the focal point & I'm sure Wade's opinion weighed in heavily. But it's not like he said, "Get me Jonathan Joseph at all cost, not that Nnamdi guy." Everyone had them ranked Nnamdi, then Jjo.
Von Miller, Marcell Darius, Patrick Peterson, Aldon Smith, JJ Watt, Nick Farely, Robert Quin.. the rest of the league may not have ranked them that way, but I have no doubt Rick Smith did. Taking JJ Watt over Farely & Quin looked like classic Rick Smith to me, gambling that Ayers & Reed would be there in the second.
I like Wade & I'm not trying to take anything away from the job he did in H-Town. But just two years ago, Rick Smith was heralded as one of the best young executives in the NFL. I can't find the story, but I found this from 2008
I know everyone was/is extremely excited about Wade Phillips, but this organization is starting to look like the organization we hoped we were getting when Bob dropped them dollahs on Kirby.
I don't know how much Rick Smith had to do with the Watts pick, but I have no doubt in my mind that he plays a large role in the draft process. No way can one person handle that process by themselves.
I agree with most of what you say here. The organization as a whole is what really matters anyways. Well...Right now it's what matters...
Who or what is the glue that is going to help us see many years of success even when different parts start to go elsewhere (Knapp to Oakland for instance)...
Was this just a magical year, or did someone or some people in the organization finally get it right? Perfect storm?
Goldensilence
hipster elite
The offense has looked pretty damn good the past 2-3 years with Kubiak getting the pieces he wanted to fit. The offensive coaching staff as well is pretty solid in that they all are on the same page philosophically speaking. The other thing is at the most key position QB, Kubiak gets productivity because of how the offense operates.
The problem the past 2-3 years has been a defense that starts slow and towards the end of the year picks it up. There's also been a lack of a real coherent scheme. I know the phrase "aggressive 4-3" got ran into the ground by Smith and Bush, but the reality is its was always a "read and react defense".
I would say amazing turnaround on defense without a doubt, but the real reason this was a magical season bar none was not only getting a DC with a real track record, but one that is elite. There has been a identity offensively, but this year we got a defensive one. That made ALL the difference in the world.
hmm...
I'll agree that our offense has put up "good" stats over the years, but to say the problem has been primarily a defensive problem for the alst 2-3 years isn't exactly accurate.
We've had trouble offensively one way or the other for the last 6 years. We couldn't run the ball in '06 or '07... the running game of '08 proved to be unsustainable. I don't think our OL got on track until mid-way through the '09 season.
We've had red-zone issues, turnover issues, health issues, depth issues on the offensive side of the ball, just like on the defensive side. Kubiak has done a much better job of managing those issues with lesser talent. But we need play-makers on the offensive side of the ball.
The way we were able to run the ball vs Cincy & the first half of the Baltimore game was impressive. Was that because we had AJ on the field? If so, I think we need to get studs at the OG positions to allow us to run the ball at will. Everyone wants another playmaker at the #2 WR position, & though we all love Schaub, it's time to start thinking about his replacement.
Bottom line, I'd love to see what Kubiak can do when the talent on the offensive side of the ball resembles that of the defense. I think the man is an offensive genius & has "gotten us by" with what he had to work with.