Nothing against O'Brien, but I think McNair did us no favors hiring a coach that didn't fit the team he had been building. We wasted years replacing Ben Jones, Chris Myers, & Brandon Brooks when we should have been trying to find replacements for Newton... & Duane Brown.
Or maybe O'Brien sold him a bill of goods, it did look like we were going to incorporate the outside zone running that first year. Then it looked like O'Brien changed his mind... & couldnt make up his mind. Thankfully Crennel was able to keep on keeping on. I doubt we'd have been 9-7 the first three years otherwise.
The inherent problem is an owner that was not a football man and had no football background when he bought the team. He doesn't know what he's building other than a great marketing company. Maybe that's for the best, but he needs to figure out how to hire competent football minds to do it.
He hired Casserly based on a resume built on Joe Gibbs. He hired Capers because he had already been a HC of an expansion team with the Panthers. I'm convinced that the other owners' recommendations of these two were the proverbial "kick me" sign on the new guy's back.
It was fun for three seasons while we still had that new team smell, but time to rebuild after 2-14 pursuant to company policy.
Kubiak had a solid asst. coach resume and a great feel good hometown story. Apparently he also got the experience that non-football-minded McNair thought he needed between 2001 and 2006. Of course, the conditions of employment was to waste the first year of his head coaching career by trying to fix a broken Carr (bless his heart). And oh yeah, help hire a GM. Thank Gary for Rick Smith.
Fast forward 8 seasons, the Special Friends of Gary program at DC, and eventually listening to a Houston legend about hiring his son as DC, and McNair finally has the much coveted skins on the wall. Small ones, but still better than the 20 year drought the Saints experienced. I'm thankful for it as a fan, though. I'm not sure how Saints fans endured two decades without a winning record.
Unfortunately, 2-14 reared it's ugly head again (which ended up being one of the best things that ever happened to Gary Kubiak in hindsight). Company policy dictates that you lose your coaching gig at 2-14. Bye, Gary!
So, at that point, McNair was not sure what to do, because everything his successful business acumen had told him about resumes and previous experience had failed him.
He did get a new stepson, though, who seemed to act like he knows about football, and, most importantly, he liked Cal!. . .errr. . .I mean, he's trustworthy. Yeah, that part is important. MOST IMPORTANT, so let's keep him around for at least 15 years.
Then the boardroom braintrust of Bob, Cal, and Rick had to figure out what they wanted in a new HC. Previous HC experience is important (apparently at any level). Uncle Bob really liked the way his buddy Robert Kraft does things, so maybe take someone from that coaching tree (in spite of no edible fruit EVER coming from that tree in the past). Along comes Bill O'Brien to fill that need.
It was three blind mice trying to play real world Madden franchise mode.
Regrettably, now we are facing an inevitable 3-13 record, and this is a critical moment for Bob McNair and his hapless Texans. While O'Brien has added some skins to the wall with the team that mostly Gary and Wade built, he's got a potty mouth, is mean to his stepson, and doesn't know how to find a QB. Typically, a 3-13 record would usher in a coaching change for McNair (company policy!), especially under the previously mentioned circumstances.
The McNairs and stepson are at a crossroads right now. Hiring yet another head coach is another traumatic experience. . .I swear if they bring in Lovie Smith. . .I'm just not sure what I'll do beyond laughing maniacally and begin barking at the moon. . .
The problem is that all of the above coaches probably talk great football to someone that does not have a deep background in it.
Has anybody taken a hard look at Watson? I love the kid but he's downright frail. He's a thin little thing on pin legs. I mean, just look at him and compare with other QBs in the league. Can he put some meat on those legs?
Same thing was said about Teddy Bridgewater and he. . .errr. . .crap.
