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BILL O'BRIEN FIRED

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76Texan

Hall of Fame
100% agree with this post.
The way the NFL contract guarantees work is very problematic from a player's perspective. If they push for, and get, fully guaranteed contracts, they will be comparably miniscule to what they sign today in both length and money. Football is too violent and the rosters too large to ever have 100% fully guaranteed contracts of the size they currently sign under the CBA and hard salary cap.
Also, remember what Cal said in the interview yesterday?
He said they don't have enough cap space, and that's not true at all.
Cal was somehow led to believe that he would save money by letting Hopkins go, but in fact, he ended up paying much more for these underwhelmed receivers and RB.
 

76Texan

Hall of Fame
I don’t think anyone faults Nuk for trying to get more guaranteed money after his ran out. But I’m calling BS on this narrative he’s been trying to put forth that all he wanted was a little pay bump in light of the timing when he started making noise for more money, the whole “he disrespected me” angle that came out in the SI article and what he wound up getting in AZ. Nuk had been here a while playing under BoB, you don’t think that he saw **** with other players that this dude is unstable?

All I’m saying is Athletes play the media game too and are generally much more effective at it than coaches and GM’s as long as things don’t leak out from other sources. Plus too, they are who we cheer for. In that regard Nuk had a slam dunk win in the media against BoB b/c most of the fans already hated dude, thought the trade was stupid and Nuk was a great player who had a relatively unscathed track record. All he really had to do was do what he’s doing, put out cryptic tweets alluding to some form of the truth and/or HIS version of events.
It doesn't matter what game anybody was playing.

It's very simple.
There's at least one club, the Cardinals, that was willing to give Hopkins the signing bonus and the new deal.
That shows you his worth on the market, thereabout.
Top 5 money is really a given, and low top 5 at that.

The Texans, for some reason(s) didn't want to go that route.

If that was Cal's choice, it's rather dumb (even as he hold no grudge whatsoever against Hopkins, and why should he?)
You don't want to split Hopkins and Watson.
And the Texans ended up paying more for a RB + a receiver combo whose talent is nowhere near where they could have had with Hopkins and another RB that I had mentioned.
They still had to pay Cobb $18M in guaranteed money.
So, the GM, even if he doesn't hold any grudge against Hopkins, was still doing a VERY poor job.
 

DocBar

Hall of Fame
Contributor's Club
Nobody was talking about 100% guaranteed; where did you get that from?
Players have been talking about wanting 100% guaranteed contracts like they have in the NBA & MLB. It was a general remark along the lines of what SBT was saying about Hopkins not making a fuss about money until the guaranteed money had run out on his current contract.
 

76Texan

Hall of Fame
Players have been talking about wanting 100% guaranteed contracts like they have in the NBA & MLB. It was a general remark along the lines of what SBT was saying about Hopkins not making a fuss about money until the guaranteed money had run out on his current contract.
Well, nobody in the NFL is getting 100% guaranteed money in all of these new contracts, I don't understand why it should even be mentioned, whether in general or in specific.

The Texans ended up paying $18M in guaranteed money to Cobb, so what's the fuss about Hopkins want some of his money to be guaranteed? (Not directing toward you)
 

zshawn10

All Pro
The writing was on the wall after a brutal 0-4 start, including Sunday's loss to the then-winless Vikings, but players still didn't expect it to happen so soon, just a quarter of the way through the season. One Texans player says he knew it was coming at some point this season, and he says he and some of his teammates are feeling relieved because O'Brien's team culture didn't allow for guys to play loose and free. He says that has been part of the reason for this season's struggles.

"I am so excited just to go to practice tomorrow just to see how everyone's attitude is," the player said Tuesday, the players' day off. "It feels like there wasn't room for player leadership before, because everyone's voice was so suppressed. No one wanted to put themselves in the spotlight, because it felt like you would be subject to criticism for doing so. Now it feels like the door is open for guys to be themselves more and to have more fun. ... Before, it felt like if you were having too much fun, you weren't doing your job."

Tensions between O'Brien, who was the head coach and general manager, and his players came to a head two weeks ago in two situations, one on each side of the ball.

The Texans player says that during a practice in the week leading up to the Sept. 27 Steelers game, O'Brien kicked the first-team defense off the field during the 7-on-7 jog-through because it was missing a player. This wasn't typical behavior for O'Brien; he'd never kicked the defense off the field like that before. The defensive players were upset to be missing out on reps, and defensive coordinator Anthony Weaver and O'Brien had an argument about it. Star defensive end JJ Watt also argued with O'Brien, as first reported by the Houston Chronicle. O'Brien eventually restarted the practice, and the defense did end up getting in their full reps.

In the other instance, during a meeting with the offense in the Texans' indoor practice facility, two sources say 10th-year veteran receiver Randall Cobb, in his first season in Houston, confronted O'Brien because he wasn't satisfied with the way the receivers were being coached. The Texans and Cobb declined to comment on this. Through his agent, O'Brien declined comment.

These two moments exemplify a coaching issue that grew throughout O'Brien's tenure. The Texans player says assistant coaches seemed like they were often afraid to call out and correct mistakes in practice, because O'Brien expected practices to be perfect. Once, the player says, O'Brien yelled at two assistant coaches for experimenting with a certain play design during practice because he thought they should have figured out the solution before practice.

"We weren't able to even truly focus on correcting mistakes," the player said. "Because it was almost like we're not supposed to make mistakes at practice. Practice is supposed to be where you make mistakes so you won't make them in a game. But it felt like we would get so heavily criticized for mistakes in practice that we didn't get to play as free."

In defense of O'Brien, the player pointed out that he liked a lot of what the head coach created with his disciplined style. He built a strong work ethic in players and taught guys how to handle themselves like true pros. The player says that O'Brien was consistent, and players never doubted how badly he wanted to win. The player says that he and most of his teammates understood the financials of trading receiver DeAndre Hopkins to Arizona, even if they didn't agree with the move.

The Texans player says there was a sense O'Brien did have too much power within the organization, but he doesn't think O'Brien deserves the criticism he has received for his moves as a general manager. After all, under O'Brien's leadership, the Texans won four of the last six AFC South titles.

"He found a lot of talented guys," the player said. "OB the GM was pretty good. OB the head coach: It comes down to the culture. The breakdown came in the culture of the building, with creating an environment where there is opportunity for player leadership."

[...]

Through his agent, a former Texans player said he was surprised that Easterby wound up the survivor in Houston because he had been a close supporter of O'Brien. A source close to the team says several current Texans players have questions about Easterby and how he rose to his current level of power.

Easterby's Texans bio says he "directs the overall culture of the organization," and the Texans player says Easterby has created fun competitions between the team for guys to get to know each other better. Last year, he divided the team into six mini teams of players from different position groups and directed team-building competitions between those teams.

The current Texans player thinks the timing of O'Brien's firing, so early in the season, actually helps the team.

"We still have a lot of football left to play," the player said. "Our team is way more talented. [But in the standings], we are on the same par as the Jets right now. Our team has too much talent on it to be where we are."
 

OptimisticTexan

2024 / Rebuilding Block 4 After Playoffs / Texans
The fact that Hopkins even tweet about it should tell us that he was willing to negotiate.

First, let's take a look of the situation:

"Hopkins was scheduled to make $12.5 million this year, $13.5 million in 2021 and $13.915 million in 2022 before his extension. None of Hopkins' money was guaranteed.

With AZ, Hopkins is getting is a $16.5 million raise this year. His 2020 compensation consists of a $27.5 million signing bonus and a fully guaranteed $1.5 million base salary. The Cardinals gain $5.5 million of salary cap room in the process as Hopkins' 2020 cap number goes from $12.5 million to $7 million."
................

Even before knowing about any deal, I can already guess that the first thing is almost always about "guaranteed money" and/or cash in hand.

Secondly, I imagine he wants to be paid top 5 money; which I can't say I blame him, can you?
(A J Green was at the no. 5 - $18.2M for 2020).

And thirdly, players usually prefer not to have a franchise tag on them, and maybe a no trade clause so they can choose where they want to go next.
(But, We've seen that some of these "presumably" perks didn't work out for Clowney.)

.........

Now back to the deal he signed with the Cards.
Notice how his cap number actually goes down by $5.5M for 2020?

Basically, it's just kicking the can down the road, but the Texans (with O'Brien) is already in the "supposedly" win-now mode, so they can always approach the schedule of payment in the same manner.
If they don't win, they will just have to dismantle the team and rebuild. It's not uncommon.

Hopkins is likely to agree to a deal for less than what he got in AZ to stay with his buddy Watson in term of up front money, but that figure $18.2M for 2020 probably needs to be met (or at least something close to that, depending on the negotiation.)

Hopkins understand somewhat about the Texans cap situation (why he said he only wanted a raise).
The Cards just happen to have more cap space, so they were able to give a better deal.
So meet him somewhere close to his asking price and kick the can down the road.

Then you can use his contract to negotiate better deals with Tunsil and Watson; that's what I would have done.
A million here, a million there, the Texans might ending up raising the budget just slightly.

Bumping Hopkins salary from 12.5 to 18; that's 5.5M more, but that can be offset slightly by negotiating with Tunsil and Watson for a little less.
As seen with the Cards actually reducing their current cap space by extending Hopkins, it doesn't have to hurt the Texans at the moment, just the same.

Hopkins guaranteed money for the first two years with the Cards.
27.25 (singing bonus) + 1.5 (base salary for 2020) + 9 (option bonus to be paid in 2021) + 4.75 (base salary for 2021) = 42.5 cash outlay.

That's really not too bad.
If the team needs to be dismantled after 2021, his new contract isn't too bloated such that a contender would shy away from.

................

Now, I maybe incorrect in a few things that I wrote there, but the basis is still that it can be accommodated.
I mentioned before that OB's first offer should've been nothing more than bringing Hopkins in and letting him know the team would like to guarantee the final years of his contract. If OB had been the initiator.....it's very possible Watson is happy. If not, the next step would be to add a bonus or bonuses for a job well done. This might've been the easiest way to keep Hopkins happy and productive. Employees from all walks of life have always appreciated it when management initiates the recognition of a job well done with some type of raise or bonus versus the employee having to walk in the door and tell management why they deserve the raise. The Texans foolish rule has cost them talent or forced them to pay far more than the talent is worth.
 

Double Barrel

Texans Talk Admin
Staff member
Contributor's Club
Why do I get the feeling the interim GM will conduct a search and find the best candidate to be GM will be the.....interim GM?
Yep. Well said. When I read the news, this was my first thought.

look at Easterby and look at BoB. Look at all the thingsthat are now coming out about BoB. In that regard, do you really think that Easterby was going to pose a threat and/or try to or be able to obstruct BoB in doing what he wanted to do? It’s more likely that Easterby was a yes man rather than Robin to BoB’s Batman. Dude had probably already seen what happens to folks when they disagree with him.
Some of the biggest human snakes that I have ever met in business were the nicest guys you'd ever meet.

We had a guy working for us for decades, dude was like an uncle to me, and he started his own business for a couple of years while we paid him. Another woman, again employed for decades, ran the accounting department and was embezzling hundreds of thousands of dollars while she smiled and laughed and was everyone's friend. I could go on and on.

Being self-employed has taught me many valuable lessons, but the first is be careful who you trust. Everyone has their own agenda. Liars always smile when they are ripping you off.

He's been working in sports organizational management for a long time.


I'm not advocating he stays with the team, nor am I pretending to know what value he brings to the organization.

But while we're asking about Easterby's qualifications, what exactly are yours & what kind of qualifications do you think should be on his resume?

& while we're at it, Cal mentioned he's already reached out to a search firm to help find our next GM. I would bet most of the search team has less "qualifications" than Easterby.

This guy talked high level football organizational operations with the likes of Belichick & Piolli.
C'mon, man, none of us claim to be experts, and none of us are going to be employed by an NFL team.

If it's long-term sports organizational management experience you need, then maybe Charlie Casserly is who you call? ;)

Fans are not the only ones questioning Easterby's experience and resume. National media and NFL writers are also asking questions and doubting him.

Then this from another article just released (mentioned in another thread): "Through his agent, a former Texans player said he was surprised that Easterby wound up the survivor in Houston because he had been a close supporter of O'Brien. A source close to the team says several current Texans players have questions about Easterby and how he rose to his current level of power." ~ Source

Also, remember what Cal said in the interview yesterday?
He said they don't have enough cap space, and that's not true at all.
Cal was somehow led to believe that he would save money by letting Hopkins go, but in fact, he ended up paying much more for these underwhelmed receivers and RB.
His little softball "interview" yesterday just confirmed to me that he's a rich doofus. JMO.
 

Double Barrel

Texans Talk Admin
Staff member
Contributor's Club
That’s cool. I understand. But some of the vitriol joe blow displays here about the subject comes across as juvenile.

that’s all I’m saying
I understand, as well. Vinny always likened the forum to a bunch of football fans at a bar jibber-jabbering about the game.

You laugh at me, I laugh at you, we all laugh together. :ahhaha:

My own skepticism about Easterby is based on the doubts that people in the industry have publicly stated about him. I would not be asking questions about his qualifications if more informed people than me were not asking those same questions.

And let's face it, the history of Texans management has rightfully created a lot of doubters in the fan base (myself included).
 

DBCooper

Outlaw
Contributor's Club

Never Pick A Fight With J.J. Watt

One of the incessant knocks on Bill O’Brien’s coaching system was how overwhelmingly and unnecessarily complex it was. While having a ton of wrinkles in your offensive scheme opens up limitless possibilities, it also brings confusion and often needless mental challenges for players trying to remember a seemingly infinite number of play call variations, passing trees, blocking schemes, and such. Further proof of that can be seen in the minefield of ex-Texans wide receivers who had great NCAA careers only to flame out under Bill O’Brien. Guys like Keshawn Martin, DeVier Posey, Braxton Miller, Jaelen Strong and Demaryius Thomas, just to name a few.
 

zshawn10

All Pro
Pancakes mailbag; just got destroyed

Q: Here, the Scandinavian winter is slowly setting in, but for me, the firing of BOB was a small light in the darkness. However, I don’t think the future will be paved with Super Bowl rings unless we find the right GM and HC. How do you see the role of Jack Easterby? Shouldn’t the Texans get rid of him as well, since he was an instrumental part in some of the roster moves that backfired and left the team 0-4? Also, he seems extremely unavailable for the press, which must be frustrating. Med venlig hilsen. — Kristian S.

A: Tusen takk, Kristian. If you were in Houston, it’s in the high 70s and low 80s with some rain on the way because of Hurricane Delta that’s headed for Lake Charles again. If McNair had fired Easterby and O’Brien, the Texans would have had nobody to run the front office. Someone has to take that role until the new GM is hired. Easterby is the interim GM like Romeo Crennel is the interim coach. When the GM is hired, Easterby will continue with his current role as executive vice president of football operations and work with the new GM. If I’m the new coach, I’m keeping Crennel on the staff because of his popularity, experience and the respect he gets from everyone. As for Easteby’s role in decisions made by O’Brien, who had final say on everything involving personnel, only the two of them and Cal McNair knew if Easterby agreed or disagreed with the moves.

Q: This will be my last email! I hope you know how important it is for us as fans to count on people like yourself to give us honest opinions. You have way more access than us. I don’t think you ever gave us a honest opinion about O’Brien. He cost the franchise a lot. It will be years before they can recover without picks. There won’t be a division title this year, something you always used to defend O’Brien. I can only imagine that he is a friend of yours! There is no other explanation. I guess I respect your football knowledge too much to accept that you really thought all this was going to end in a Super Bowl. I will never understand why you never were willing to call it like the majority of the reporters around the country. When after all you are there present every day with access. I’m glad it’s over, just always expected more from you! You were still defending him on your podcast after he got fired! We’re going to have to live with all his mistakes for some time. In all honesty, it’s more the ownership to blame than O’Brien. I just hope you realize how much it matters what you say! Or what you don’t say! At least it does to me, as your fan. — Francisco P.

A: Francisco, we have had no access to anyone other than Zoom calls since the coronavirus caused so many problems. You say I never gave an honest opinion. Do you mean I gave a dishonest opinion? I’m guessing you’ve never seen my grades. I have written, broadcast, tweeted, etc. what I think of O’Brien, and I’ll do it again. I think he’s a good coach, good enough to win the division and a playoff game at home, but not good enough to get beyond that. He proved it. Anyone who thinks he’s a bad coach is clueless about football. You don’t win four division titles in five years if you’re a bad coach. I’ve never predicted the Texans to reach the Super Bowl, much less win one. I didn’t even pick them to win the division this year, but I did pick them as a wild-card team. And I never base any of my opinions on what any other members of the media report, especially those who never cover this team. I try to be fair, first and foremost, to everyone. I’m sorry my reporting has disappointed you and you’re e-mailing me again. Hopefully, you’ll change your mind at some point.

Q: One would think that for as many years you have coveted the Texans and your status as the so-called dean of the beat reporters, you would provide more insight into the inner workings of the organization, especially in the wake of the firing of Bill O’Brien. But you seem to offer no insight, anticipation of events or tic-toc that would enlighten the reader about what’s really going on within the organization. Your reporting is superficial at best. It seems I have to go elsewhere for this information, which leaks out in bits and pieces. It appears you have no real understanding of the beat except reporting the superficial and the obvious. You were not long ago asked on radio what stories you have broken that you’re proud of and you struggled to come up with anything. It was embarrassing. Either you see things you simply don’t report or you are clearly out of the loop. Readers in the country’s fourth-largest city deserve better. You clearly are not a story teller and it’s obvious that insightful reporting is either not within your skill set or interest. I come from a journalism background so I know of what I speak. Your editors should demand more. This is one of the biggest stories in Texans history and you have nothing special to offer. Did you even see this coming? We want insight. We want smart analysis. We want anticipation. We want good writing and strong narratives. You offer none of these. In the sports world, you have a great gig. It’s too bad you have wasted your opportunities. — Pete M.

A: Pete, I’m sorry I don’t live up to your high standards. I’m surprised you’re not more accurate. I was asked what was my favorite story I’ve broken during my 45 years at the Chronicle. They caught me off guard. That’s a lot to think about. By the way, just so you’ll know, I broke the O’Brien being fired story, the Hopkins trade story and the O’Brien promoted to GM story of the major ones I can think of recently. I’m sorry you missed them. Probably because so many around the country try to take credit for stories they don’t have first. After covering the NFL for 44 years for the Chronicle, I’m sorry I can’t enlighten you in a manner in which you’re accustomed because of your journalism background. Since you don’t like the way I cover the Texans, we have others at the Chronicle, including Aaron Wilson, who also cover the Texans. We have columnists like Jerome Solomon and Brian T. Smith, too. Hopefully, they’ll provide the kind of insight you’ve been missing with me.

Q: In your article in today’s Chronicle, you state toward the end that Romeo Crennel was hired by O’Brien in 2014 to be defensive coordinator. You gave a little bit of his history namely he had five Super Bowl rings. Your history is incomplete. You fail to state Romeo as head coach was fired by Kansas City before coming to the Texans because the Chiefs won two games and lost 14. If you’re going to give the history of a player or coach, then be complete. By omitting his recent failure at Kansas City you do not give a complete picture of this coach and by omission, you mislead the public. Not very professional. My point was that in THIS article, if you are going to talk of Crennel's history as a head coach, you should include all of his results, good and bad. If you check his record as a head coach, it is 28-55. Notwithstanding the above, your associate Aaron Wilson's article in today's Chronicle did what I believe you should have done, namely, the good with the not so good. See Wilson's second column, third paragraph in his article today. Anyway, thank goodness that O'Brien is gone, not that Crennel is going to turn a bad team into a good one over night or in a season. At least he and his successor may be a start to rebuild the Texans notwithstanding the absence of first and second round draft choices in 2021. — Richard K.

A: Richard, I knew Aaron was using his record, and I knew you’d read his story, too, so I didn’t want you to have to read the same thing twice.

Q: How amazing would it be to reunite Dabo and Deshaun or bring in Eric Bieniemy, Lincoln Riley, Urban Meyer or Jim Harbaugh? — David M.

A: Bieniemy is my top choice, David, but please, no Harbaugh.

Q: They need to fire unqualified and inexperienced Jack Easterby. Do you think Cal will do the right thing and fire Easterby? — Terry C.

A: Easterby isn’t being fired, Terry.

Q: I don't think many feel the Texans should keep any former Patriots organization members in the front office, but I think everyone would agree if anyone deserves a nice run as an interim head coach, it's Mr. Crennel. Did Cal McNair fire Bill O'Brien too long after the playoff loss, too soon into this season or both. — Tim K.

A: Tim, I don’t think it’s fair to fire a coach who’s coming off a division title and a playoff victory. McNair fired O’Brien because it was clear to anyone watching this team it’s been going in the wrong direction. I thought they’d beat Minnesota and Jacksonville before going to Tennessee, where they won’t last year. That loss to the previously winless Vikings was very telling.

Q: I bet it’s been a really busy but interesting week for you. Would it be reasonable to characterize Jack Easterby as Machiavellian? Between his relationship to BOB, and then Cal’s favoritism to him it seems like he knows how to play power dynamics. He also went to Robert Kraft’s house to recruit Nick Caserio after it was made public that Easterby didn’t like the Kraft incident that went down, isn’t that correct? Also, is there a chance that Easterby finds himself on Cal’s shortlist for permanent GM? Especially if he continues to impress Cal during this interim period. — Cody C.

A: Easterby won’t be the new GM, Cody, but he’ll be part of the search committee McNair will head.
 

TheMatrix31

Hall of Fame
God, all the articles and dirt coming out about this guy.

This guy ******* sucked so bad. I'm so angry that it took so long for people to see what I saw from pretty much the beginning.

It's incredibly sad and angering that we had to deal with this for 7 years during which my (and many others) interest in the team and sport were systematically and progressively diminished and destroyed because of this guy (among other reasons). I used to live for NFL Sundays. I hope to one day live for them again.
 

xtruroyaltyx

Hall of Fame
Also, remember what Cal said in the interview yesterday?
He said they don't have enough cap space, and that's not true at all.
Cal was somehow led to believe that he would save money by letting Hopkins go, but in fact, he ended up paying much more for these underwhelmed receivers and RB.
If that’s true then either Cal doesn’t understand what’s going on or he does and lied to his fan base because most are not die hards and will not fact check.

I hope Cal is a liar.
 
We gonna need to get some wins here soon just to get some happiness flowing cause............ the state of this team is just pure ****!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
 

IDEXAN

Hall of Fame
Contributor's Club
The player think they have a lot of talented guys on the team. :ahhaha:
Interesting analysis but in my own humble opinion I think some day in business schools throughout the country they will be studying
the Bill O'Brien story in Houston as a classic example of the Peter Principal.
O'Brien has been a reasonably capable HC in the NFL here in Houston but when promoted to GM the wheels came off with some of his decisions as it's hard to argue the Texans roster became stronger and not weaker since his promotion.
And to make his new position even more challenging O'Brien was to also continue as HC after becoming GM.
 

76Texan

Hall of Fame
Interesting analysis but in my own humble opinion I think some day in business schools throughout the country they will be studying
the Bill O'Brien story in Houston as a classic example of the Peter Principal.
O'Brien has been a reasonably capable HC in the NFL here in Houston but when promoted to GM the wheels came off with some of his decisions as it's hard to argue the Texans roster became stronger and not weaker since his promotion.
And to make his new position even more challenging O'Brien was to also continue as HC after becoming GM.
I'm not ubderstanding your reasoning.
In my eyes, BOB has always been a below-average HC/OC.

1. The most telling fact is his failure to develop players on offense.
There's such a thing call a cap space.
When you can't evaluate prospects and develop them, enjoying the cheap wages of the rookie contract in the process, it will eventually hurt your team.
Examples: Chris Myers, Mike Briesel, Arian Foster, Ben Jones, OD, Glover Quin, A J Bouye, D J Reader, etc.

2. BOB's early records were fools' gold as he rode the coat tails of those players as well as the defense, with guys like JJ Watt, Mercilus, KJackson, JJo, and so on.
It was also a time when the AFC was weak.
The Titans won a total of 5 games in 2 years.
The Jaguars have been a mess (except for the one year) with Bortles.
The Colts only had a 100% healthy Andrew Luck for one year (2014).

3. He sells out future resources from draft picks to cap space to acquire more offensive players in the last few years.

.......

The lesson should be for owners to look at the details before hiring, perform an internal audit/eveluation yearly by an independent source (they do that for their business side; they need to do the same on the football side).
 

mws

Rookie
The reason BOB got fired is simple.
He's incompetent at the job.
One of the main reasons I think O'Brien was not a good head coach is his regular season record against winning teams. He played 47 games against above 500 teams with a record of 14-33 wth a .298 win percentage. In my opinion that is why we could never advance in the playoffs where almost every game is against a winning team.

He could beat the bad teams but from the day he got here there was a 70% chance he would lose to a good team.
 

IDEXAN

Hall of Fame
Contributor's Club
I'm not ubderstanding your reasoning.
In my eyes, BOB has always been a below-average HC/OC.

1. The most telling fact is his failure to develop players on offense.
There's such a thing call a cap space.
When you can't evaluate prospects and develop them, enjoying the cheap wages of the rookie contract in the process, it will eventually hurt your team.
Examples: Chris Myers, Mike Briesel, Arian Foster, Ben Jones, OD, Glover Quin, A J Bouye, D J Reader, etc.

2. BOB's early records were fools' gold as he rode the coat tails of those players as well as the defense, with guys like JJ Watt, Mercilus, KJackson, JJo, and so on.
It was also a time when the AFC was weak.
The Titans won a total of 5 games in 2 years.
The Jaguars have been a mess (except for the one year) with Bortles.
The Colts only had a 100% healthy Andrew Luck for one year (2014).

3. He sells out future resources from draft picks to cap space to acquire more offensive players in the last few years.

.......

The lesson should be for owners to look at the details before hiring, perform an internal audit/eveluation yearly by an independent source (they do that for their business side; they need to do the same on the football side).
By virtue of his record of winning 4 AFC South division titles in 6 years I think O'Brien deserves to be labeled atleast a mediocre NFL HC.
I dunno but I think it's 4 out of 6, maybe I'm mistaken about that ?
 

76Texan

Hall of Fame
By virtue of his record of winning 4 AFC South division titles in 6 years I think O'Brien deserves to be labeled atleast a mediocre NFL HC.
I dunno but I think it's 4 out of 6, maybe I'm mistaken about that ?
If you like to look at it that way.
 

Texian

Hall of Fame
Strict culture works, worked for Belichick, Johnson, Saban. Some guys know how to be Gen Patton, others know how to be an A-hole.
 
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Texian

Hall of Fame
These were probably posted already... I'm just getting to them.


Thank you Rich Eisen. It is this kind of reporting that embarrasses the Texans and City of Houston that hopefully may eventually convince the McNairs that it is time to sell. That will be the day you will see me jumping for joy.
 

amazing80

Hall of Fame
Thank you Rich Eisen. It is this kind of reporting that embarrasses the Texans and City of Houston that hopefully may eventually convince the McNairs that it is time to sell. That will be the day you will see me jumping for joy.
They aren’t selling that cash cow.
 

Scooter

Funky
My worry about firms like this is they can seem to favor finding 'the next big thing' instead of the best and most cohesive options. "The next big thing" comes out fast and tends to collapse just as quickly because they don't have an NFL experienced staff or experience to keep a FRANCHISE (not simply team) moving forward. This is potentially dangerous if the focus is on the surface obvious "who would be good for Watson" instead of "who is best for the Texans".
 

Earl34

Hall of Fame
My worry about firms like this is they can seem to favor finding 'the next big thing' instead of the best and most cohesive options. "The next big thing" comes out fast and tends to collapse just as quickly because they don't have an NFL experienced staff or experience to keep a FRANCHISE (not simply team) moving forward. This is potentially dangerous if the focus is on the surface obvious "who would be good for Watson" instead of "who is best for the Texans".
Good point. I wonder how many of these firms would have chosen John Harbaugh a special teams coach without any HC experience for the Ravens?
 

Texian

Hall of Fame
Good point. I wonder how many of these firms would have chosen John Harbaugh a special teams coach without any HC experience for the Ravens?
I think John Harbaugh was one of those Darrell Royal hires. You know where you ask 4 or 5 people about who you should hire as your next head coach and ALL of them say you need to hire this guy Darrell Royal or John Harbaugh. There may be that guy out there, Lincoln Riley but the bigger question is would they want to come to an organization where a preacher is the head of football operations, who you will likely answer to, there is an unnamed GM to be hired who you will likely have to answer to, no 1st or 2nd Rd. draft picks, the salary cap is an discombobulated mess, the defense is horrible because it was sacrificed to improve the offense.
 

Scooter

Funky
I think John Harbaugh was one of those Darrell Royal hires. You know where you ask 4 or 5 people about who you should hire as your next head coach and ALL of them say you need to hire this guy Darrell Royal or John Harbaugh. There may be that guy out there, Lincoln Riley but the bigger question is would they want to come to an organization where a preacher is the head of football operations, who you will likely answer to, there is an unnamed GM to be hired who you will likely have to answer to, no 1st or 2nd Rd. draft picks, the salary cap is an discombobulated mess, the defense is horrible because it was sacrificed to improve the offense.
I would add someone like ST coach Bill Cowher in that mold, and it seems that Bienemy is that 'ask the smartest people' guy. By all accounts an incredible coach, and if he brings the great thought behind Andy Reids' offense it's a bonus - not the other way around. But, as you said, the Patriots' chaplain is our current president of football operations, fired the GM and headcoach, and installed himself as interim GM (uh-oh).

The selling point is Watson at QB and a history of giving employees time to establish themselves. The whole world knows we're sunk and need at least 2-3 years to recover from such destructive moves ... it's actually quite the blank check for both coach and GM.
 
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