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All encompassing Rick Smith thread

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James Palmer ‏@JPalmerCSN
#Texans GM Rick Smith said he's seeing everything he saw in Bill O'Brien during interview process here at #SeniorBowl. Hard work, inovative

Rick Smith said with 1st pick in each rd, picking the best player available is what #Texans plan to do. Added it adds flexibility in draft 2

Rick Smith said the HC experience Romeo Crennel has is something BOB will be able to constantly draw from. RS called RC "Special". #Texans

Don't be surprised if #Texans and Bill O'Brien don't hire an OC.

"it starts with the coaches & coaching staff & we're working to put that whole thing together." - RS. #Texans have OL, OC spots left.

"We've got a lot of things to do to correct what happened to us last year." - #Texans GM Rick Smith at #SeniorBowl
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i have never heard of a team without an OC. has it ever happened before?

surely it can't be true and we hire someone
 
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aussie_texan said:
i have never heard of a team with an OC. has it ever happened before?

surely it can't be true and we hire someone
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Good question, don't have an answer.

OB will hire/appoint an OC and create a chain of command after whatever period of time he needs to feel his OC is trained in his style & he trusts his playcalling. But I kind of appreciate the honesty of, "I'm functionally the OC right now, not going to hang a title on some guy just for appearances."
 
Playoffs said:
Good question, don't have an answer.

OB will hire/appoint an OC and create a chain of command after whatever period of time he needs to feel his OC is trained in his style & he trusts his playcalling. But I kind of appreciate the honesty of, "I'm functionally the OC right now, not going to hang a title on some guy just for appearances."
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Agree, but I'm a little worried about the whole "struggling to transition into head coaching duties while also calling plays."

Kubiak was lousy at juggling head coaching and playcalling duties. But I guess I'll give O'Brien the benefit of the doubt that he has an elevated skill set.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
aussie_texan said:
i have never heard of a team with an OC. has it ever happened before?

surely it can't be true and we hire someone
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I think the Patriots have done this. I think there was a period after Josh McDaniel's left where OB was calling the plays but he was not the "Offensive Coordinator".
 
The Pencil Neck said:
I think the Patriots have done this. I think there was a period after Josh McDaniel's left where OB was calling the plays but he was not the "Offensive Coordinator".
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Ah ok. Think I get it now. There may be someone else on staff who could eventually transition into playcalling. Ok that makes sense, somewhat.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
Playoffs said:
Good question, don't have an answer.

OB will hire/appoint an OC and create a chain of command after whatever period of time he needs to feel his OC is trained in his style & he trusts his playcalling. But I kind of appreciate the honesty of, "I'm functionally the OC right now, not going to hang a title on some guy just for appearances."
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his certainly a different coach than we are used to. can't wait for training camp
 
I thought I'd read somewhere that we were eying George Godsey, TE coach for the Pats?

Do we have a QB coach yet? I mean, is OB going to coach QBs and run the offense?

Just a personal observation, but I think this cat might be taking on too much all at one time.
 
Dutchrudder said:
Did the Texans ever have a ln OC under Kubiak? Dennison could have been a blowup doll and made the same impact on the team.
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I thought the rushing attack greatly improved under Dennison. But with Kubiak gone, it was clear Dennison knew squat about the passing game.
 
Lucky said:
I thought the rushing attack greatly improved under Dennison. But with Kubiak gone, it was clear Dennison knew squat about the passing game.
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I dunno how much he had to do with it. I think Duane Brown becoming a solid LT had a lot to do with it, and so did bringing in Wade Smith. We still had Mike Brisiel at the time too, Winston at RT and Myers has always been the center. We still had Vonta for another year, before moving Casey into the FB role. And of course, the biggest X factor was Arian Foster coming alive.

I'm not sure how much can be attributed to Dennison. I mean, what did he really change? Did our ZBS change significantly or at all? Did he call the running plays? I really didn't notice much of a difference in the running plays being called, it always seemed rather vanilla to me. We just had really good run-blocking from our o-line at the time, but then we lost our RG and RT and it all went to hell.
 
Dutchrudder said:
I dunno how much he had to do with it. I think Duane Brown becoming a solid LT had a lot to do with it, and so did bringing in Wade Smith. We still had Mike Brisiel at the time too, Winston at RT and Myers has always been the center. We still had Vonta for another year, before moving Casey into the FB role. And of course, the biggest X factor was Arian Foster coming alive.

I'm not sure how much can be attributed to Dennison. I mean, what did he really change? Did our ZBS change significantly or at all? Did he call the running plays? I really didn't notice much of a difference in the running plays being called, it always seemed rather vanilla to me. We just had really good run-blocking from our o-line at the time, but then we lost our RG and RT and it all went to hell.
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Dennison got here in 2010 and that was Fosters first big "holy ****" year and it basically continued until 2013 when everybody died. You can give all the credit to Foster (I'm sure some fans on this board will disagree) or Dennison or Kubiak, but when Dennison arrived, the run game came alive.

It was pretty obvious that when Kyle S. left the passing game took a bit of a hit, but when Dennison came in the running game took a huge leap in usage and efficiency. The best running team we really had prior to Dennison was in 2008 when Slaton had his one good year (And even then, we still had problems with short distance running).
 
b0ng said:
Dennison got here in 2010 and that was Fosters first big "holy ****" year and it basically continued until 2013 when everybody died. You can give all the credit to Foster (I'm sure some fans on this board will disagree) or Dennison or Kubiak, ...
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Or you can not give all of the credit to any of them because how easy is this?

...but when Foster arrived, the run game came alive.
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b0ng said:
Dennison got here in 2010 and that was Fosters first big "holy ****" year and it basically continued until 2013 when everybody died. You can give all the credit to Foster (I'm sure some fans on this board will disagree) or Dennison or Kubiak, but when Dennison arrived, the run game came alive.

It was pretty obvious that when Kyle S. left the passing game took a bit of a hit, but when Dennison came in the running game took a huge leap in usage and efficiency. The best running team we really had prior to Dennison was in 2008 when Slaton had his one good year (And even then, we still had problems with short distance running).
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My problem with that is that Foster played the last 3 games in 09 and was clearly up and coming as a starting RB. Just two years prior we had Slaton running for 1200+ yards and 10 TDs and it looked like we had our starting RB for years to come. Then he got injured, and we went through a few worthless guys in 09 until Foster showed his stuff at the end of the season. He was averaging nearly 5 YPC in those games too, so it's not like our system was completely broken.

I think we just lacked talent at RB in 2009, Christ Brown was washed up, and Ryan (can't remember his last name) were JAGs. So I'm not sure it was so much the system as it was the RB's vision and speed.
 
Dutchrudder said:
... Just two years prior we had Slaton running for 1200+ yards and 10 TDs and it looked like we had our starting RB for years to come. Then he got injured, and we went through a few worthless guys in 09 until Foster showed his stuff at the end of the season. He was averaging nearly 5 YPC in those games too, so it's not like our system was completely broken.
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The reality is that during Kubiak's first four seasons, we had one year where we finished in the top half of the league in rushing yards, and that was 13th. The Texans finished in the top 10 in rushing yards each of Dennison's 3 years here. I find it to be extremely believable that even with Arian's presence, Dennison elevated the run game compared to what it was previously and what it otherwise would have been.

On a YPC basis, Ben Tate, Justin Forsett, and Derrick Ward all had better seasons under Dennison than Slaton's best season in the NFL. Granted, the latter 2 were with limited carries, but both were at 50 carries or more, and both posted the best seasons of their careers (on a YPC basis) under Dennison.
 
ChampionTexan said:
The reality is that during Kubiak's first four seasons, we had one year where we finished in the top half of the league in rushing yards, and that was 13th. The Texans finished in the top 10 in rushing yards each of Dennison's 3 years here. I find it to be extremely believable that even with Arian's presence, Dennison elevated the run game compared to what it was previously and what it otherwise would have been.

.
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I agree.. before Dennison got here, Kubiak gave up on the run way too easy. If we were down by 1 point with 3 quarters to go, he was airing it out.
 
eriadoc said:
Moats. Wish I didn't remember that.

Also, every time I see this thread with new posts in it, I click it, hopeful that Rick Smith has been fired. Please stop tormenting me! :D
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With Pioli signing on with Atlanta it looks like Slick Rick is here to stay.
 
SportsHutch @SportsHutch
@taniaganguli How are Texans front office opportunities under Rick Smith viewed now by outside executives after recent purge?
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@taniaganguli: One question I've heard bandied about centers around who actually has the power. Some around the league believe there will be more infiltration from former members of the Patriots organization. Others wonder how secure Smith's position is and whether O'Brien's power will increase in personnel matters, even though Texans owner Bob McNair has put his full public support behind Smith more than once.
 
Playoffs said:
SportsHutch @SportsHutch


@taniaganguli: One question I've heard bandied about centers around who actually has the power. Some around the league believe there will be more infiltration from former members of the Patriots organization. Others wonder how secure Smith's position is and whether O'Brien's power will increase in personnel matters, even though Texans owner Bob McNair has put his full public support behind Smith more than once.
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I wonder what her user name on TT is. :kitten:
 
The GM has to be concerned with the long term view of the team. Rick has been year to year worried about saving his job.

See Morey for Rockets he built up talent and used them as chips to continuously make the Rockets a force. Smith just rents his players or overpays for others. (See Reed, Schaub, and others)

I can hear it now " Rick Smith just can't improve this team because of the cap."
Guess what Smith is the reason the Texans are in this situation.

McNair thinks this team is much more talented than it really is. That is the main reason I guess McNair hasn't gotten rid of Smith. Seriously Smith is the person in the brain trust with the most football knowledge on this organization? We are still drowning then.

See his resume and highlights
http://www.houstontexans.com/team/st...3-5f875710e9b2

Schaub, Yates, Brooks Reed, Mercilus, trading DeMeco, KJ, and Crick are mentioned as a few of his GREAT moves in his resune. SERIOUSLY!!!!?????

I think Hopkins is average at best. Really does nothing special. Makes spectacular catches every once in a while because he doesn't have the speed or quickness to get separation.

I am still pissed because I see at BEST intermittent success for this franchise.

Kind of like "Even a blind hog finds an acorn" I think sums up our time with Smith in charge.

Also don't like snakes. The right thing was for Smith to fall on the sword also instead of using it to stab Kubiak.

If he was really GM material, we would not be asking what he did all this time. He would have taken over and not allowed this team to be in its current situation. A real GM would have stood up and said NO instead of just going along. If he "was" responsible for the talent/situation this team is in then he should not be here. Whatever the situation, he was a part of the brain trust that put this team in this situation.

How is he still hear?

Just my opinion as always.
 
gafftop said:
How is he still hear?
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He convinced Bob McNair that he was the main reason the Texans picked JJ Watt. That's it. All the other stuff has been blamed on others, like Ed Reed was mostly the medical staff's fault, etc etc... Watt is the only reason Rick is still employed, but Rick is going to have to do really well in this draft to keep hang onto his position next year.
 
Dutchrudder said:
He convinced Bob McNair that he was the main reason the Texans picked JJ Watt. That's it. All the other stuff has been blamed on others, like Ed Reed was mostly the medical staff's fault, etc etc... Watt is the only reason Rick is still employed, but Rick is going to have to do really well in this draft to keep hang onto his position next year.
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You think he's actually going to have to draft players who can contribute this year? Because that pretty much never happens. I also can't believe a former DB can't find a good DB to save his own life. Rick Smith is a moron.
 
I still say Rick smith is one of the reasons this team went 2-14 and is in the situation we are in now so why keep that around ..???? I hope Mcnair is not dumb enough to keep him around just cuz hes a family member now ..??????????????// o boy ..... if that's the case then this franchise is pretty much Doomed for a while then
 
TheIronDuke said:
You think he's actually going to have to draft players who can contribute this year? Because that pretty much never happens. I also can't believe a former DB can't find a good DB to save his own life. Rick Smith is a moron.
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Looking at this definition of a GM's purpose on a team, if you fire the GM without firing the sucky scouting department, you haven't accomplished a dang thing...
In the NFL, the general manager is the highest standing employee in the team’s personnel department.

He answers directly to the owner and has final veto power on all player-related decisions the team makes. Job responsibilities include hiring the head coach, building the remainder of the personnel department staff, coordinating the rubric for scouting college prospects and compiling the team's roster in accordance to the NFL’s salary cap.

Clearly, the general manager can’t possibly handle all of these tasks personally. He divvies up the labor amongst his other front office staffers, but the general manager ultimately is accountable for all of the team’s personnel decisions.

When a team lands a Hall of Fame quarterback like Peyton Manning in the draft, it won’t be the lead scouts who are recognized and attributed with the home run selection: It’s the general manager.

Conversely, when a team drafts a bust like Ryan Leaf, the scouts who propped him up and recommended the selection are not held to the fire, it’s the general manager.

General managers are starting to receive more public attribution for the essential role they play in an NFL team's success, but that praise comes at a price. At the conclusion of the 2012 season, six general managers were fired, and with Carolina firing theirs during the regular season, the total number of axed general mangers in 2012 was seven.
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News-Shelby-Tiffany-Smith-Rick-Smith-January-2014_222353.jpg
 
dis seems like a good time to bust out

r1c31g.jpg


right now it seems kinda like rick smith like Murked Kubes just to gain MORE POWER !!!

in 3 years who do u think will have more power around here O brien or RIck ..????? I would think in a few years BOB would want full control over everything kinda like kubes had and bring in his own Front office

and I see rick is spending his off season time right ..... isn't this supposed to be the most busy time for the FO and GM ..???
 
:hmmm:

Jayson Braddock ‏@JaysonBraddock
IMO the Texans 2014 OL would have looked like LT-Brown, LG-Brooks, C-Myers/Jones, RG-DeCastro, RT-Quessenberry. That concludes What Ifs.

Texans went on to draft Whitney Mercilus. IF Houston was able to get DeCastro, they would have a perfect line for Zone/Man concepts.

2012 draft flashback: In 2012 Houston tried to trade up w/ Detroit to acquire David DeCastro. The Lions decided they rather draft Riley Reiff
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Brian T. Smith ‏@ChronBrianSmith
#Texans are not involved in contract extension talks with J.J. Watt. Discussions are still internal among Texans at this point, Smith said

#Texans' Smith cautioned taking a player based too much off need can be dangerous in the end. #NFL

"Need" will be a factor for #Texans at No. 1. Talent trumps all, though, Smith said. #NFL

#Texans have internally discussed becoming a tougher team, Smith said. Definitely a focus under O'Brien. #NFL

#Texans' Smith said Bob McNair will not pressure team to draft local (Johnny Manziel). Will simply make best pick. #NFL

#Texans GM Rick Smith said team is open to trading No. 1 pick. Won't be boxed in. #NFL

#Texans' Rick Smith said No. 1 pick is "not narrowed down" to a few players at this point. Still in early evaluation process. #NFL

#Texans' Rick Smith: "We've had to be honest. It's been tough to look at our team" after 2-14 season. #NFL

Rick Smith time ... #Texans
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Drew Dougherty ‏@DoughertyDrew
"He's a colorful, confident guy."- #Texans GM Rick Smith on Johnny Manziel.

"A lot of it's projection, a lot of it's risk assessment."- #Texans GM Rick Smith on the Draft.

"We are open to all possibilities."- #Texans GM Rick Smith on whether or not team is open to trading top pick.
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Tania Ganguli ‏@taniaganguli
Rick Smith said he doesn't anticipate using the franchise tag. #texans
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Jayson Braddock ‏@JaysonBraddock
Chris Mortensen reports that Bill O'Brien told him that the media is focusing on the top 3 QBs, but they dont have to draft one in the 1st.

Rick Smith on Johnny Manziel saying the Texans better draft him "Johnny's a colorful player. He did some really spectacular things in CFB"

...will be & how well & how successful he will be in our league, that dictates where you'll take the guy."

Rick Smith almost poetically "It's a futures projection. To the degree that you can be clear about what you think the guy's ability....

Smith cont'd "we are not going to take a quarterback because we want to hitch ourselves to a new regime. "

On O'Brien hitching himself to a young QB - "I know that we want effective play out of the position. We will evaluate all of these players..

On talent on the team - Smith says "Well there's talent, but we were 2-14....but what we did not do last year was play well collectively"

On Arian Foster being back by Training Camp-"Yeah, yeah he's doing well. His rehab is going well. All indications now is that he'll be fine"

On #1 pick - "it is a valuable place to be, it gives you the opportunity, multiple times to pos urself to take the best player on the board"

Nice 1-on-1 interview on Total Access with Texans' GM Rick Smith.
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With the clock ticking, and Rick Smith the only remaining person from the previous regime. What are your thoughts about Mr. Smith, and the likelihood that he could suffer the same fate as Casserly did?

Outside of this message board you do not really hear positive or negative comments about Rick Smith, at least I don't. Having said that, I just had to share this gem from "Mike Stembridge" which I came across while reading posts on FB.

So let's just try something here, for a just a few minutes of our precious time, minus over-whelming mountains of emotion and sports media pessimism. Everyone willing? Okay?

The first round is the only one that we truly have absolute control over. After it others can pick in ways we never even imagined. The only round that's completely predictable is the first, and that makes it the most important one. We need a quarterback, despite the emotion, despite the media hype, despite how much we like which ones, or not, we still need a good or great quarterback on our team.

We should prudently pick a quarterback in the first round and then pick up all the pieces in the remaining rounds, because that's definitively our greatest need. We have to take all the seconds, and hand-me-downs, from whatever might even be left over from the pouncing, grabbing, feeding wolves, or other teams, after the first round concludes. Then in our remaining rounds we should act swiftly to build the rest of our team around the quarterback. We get the quarterback, first, so that we can concentrate, breathe a nice sigh of relief, and pounce on whatever's left to feed upon in the remaining ten picks distributed throughout the seven rounds of the draft(our seven standard, or regular, rounds, plus the four compensatory, or extra, picks GM Rick Smith earned us).

We should come away simply stellar, and smelling like a rose, due to the fact that thanks to Texans General Manager Rick Smith's hard work behind the scenes, we still have ten whole picks, subsequent to our first one, in the draft. He did that by controversially shedding older, and higher paid, players, and it was a brilliant strategy that he keenly utilized for the team's, and the fans', great benefit. -Mike Stembridge
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Now that is some Rick Smith love right there.

Your thoughts?
 
Nitrofish said:
Your thoughts?
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Just because we have a bunch of picks doesn't mean that Rick Smith has done a great job. There are other teams, like the Jags, who have just as many picks as we do... and they didn't even get any compensatory picks.

Secondly, I disagree that you pick a QB at 1-1 because you've got a need for a starting QB and you have your pick of the litter at that spot. Just because you pick what you hope is the best QB in a draft of sub-standard QB doesn't mean that you're going to be set at QB for any period of time. That sort of thinking didn't work out well for the Raiders (Jamarcus Russell.)

No. You have to pick the best player that you think is going to make the most improvement to your team. If that's a QB, great. If not, great.

When it comes to Rick Smith, I don't really know one way or another how good he is at his job. I don't know which actions rest solely on him and which actions were shared and which actions were someone else. I don't know if he's even going to be our GM after the draft.

And, frankly, I don't care.

I don't care who our coach is. I don't care who our GM is. All I care about is having a dynasty that wins lots and lots of Super Bowls. If Rick Smith can help deliver that, great. If not, get him out of here. If OB can help deliver that, great. If not, get him out of here.
 
To answer the OP's question, Smith should suffer the same fat as Casserly, but he wont. Smith knows how to play the game. Unfortunately the game he knows how to play has nothing to do with being competent at what should be his job. (Finding the best talent available. See: his track record picking his college position DB's)
 
steelbtexan said:
To answer the OP's question, Smith should suffer the same fat as Casserly, but he wont. Smith knows how to play the game. Unfortunately the game he knows how to play has nothing to do with being competent at what should be his job. (Finding the best talent available. See: his track record picking his college position DB's)
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You do know that he isn't the actual scout pushing the player right? :kitten:
 
JB said:
You do know that he isn't the actual scout pushing the player right? :kitten:
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I do know he's a backstabber, you know the type of person I want nothing to do with. Maybe he should be doing more scouting, you know like Ozzie/Schneider/Thompson etc.... It seems like he has atleast decided to attend the combine/pro days so there appears to be improvement on Smith's part. Funny how when having your job on the line makes you work harder.

He's not a scout, but he hires the scouts and has a voice in the war room. He apparently has something to do with cap management. (See: Dunta Robinson) The cap was a mess this offseason. You would think that he had a hand in re-signing Schaub/Foster/Cushing. Bottom line for me is the Texans org/fans can and should do much better than Rick Smith as GM.

Where would you rank Smith in relation to the job other GM's do in the NFL.
 
I always thought Tricky Rick should have been fired right along with Kubes. McNair should have Smith on a very short leash.
 
steelbtexan said:
To answer the OP's question, Smith should suffer the same fat as Casserly, but he wont. Smith knows how to play the game. Unfortunately the game he knows how to play has nothing to do with being competent at what should be his job. (Finding the best talent available. See: his track record picking his college position DB's)
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We got Watt instead of Patrick Peterson. You sure you want to hang your hat on that?
 
Pitbull 56 said:
I thinking drafting JJ was more of Wade's doing than Rick or Kubes.
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You can think that but the reports are the Texans had Peterson targeted and then got jumped on the deal. Then as the story goes they contemplated making the same trade to take Aldon Smith and decided against it and ended up taking Watt. So to the extent you want to guess Wade was influential it sounds like Watt was his 3rd choice.
 
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