How important are coaches?

[gtexan02]

This board has a serious case of "go-with-the-current-opinion-itis". Let me explain:

After 04, everyone loved everything about the Texans and thought we were only a few key pieces away from the playoffs. After 05, everyone blamed Capers and Co. and thought coaching was the big change we need. Kubiak comes in, and everyone is ecstatic. 3 games into the preaseason, and people are already doubting the players, the system, and sometimes even the coach?

I have seen posts calling for Carr to be benched, Morency to be starting, more zone blocking, and more deep balls to be thrown.

People are already reverting to their Capers and Co. days when they questioned everything the coaches do.
"Why isn't Morency starting??"
"Why isn't Carr throwing deep to AJ??"

I don't get it. Kubiak is the coach everyone wanted right? He is an ex-QB, QB specilaistic, offensive coordinator turned HC who is great with the running game as well.

He says, "DC is our QB. He is even more athletic than I thought. He has the tools, he just needs time. He is the QB."
And, he starts Lundy.
And he calls the plays.

And yet there is so much questioning. Why? You wanted Capers and Co. gone, you got it. Its been 3 months. THREE FREAKING MONTHS. And everyone is already ready for us to be superbowl contenting, dominating monsters of the AFC South.

The SAME PEOPLE post messages saying they will be happy with a 6-10 season, because thats showing improvement, but then whine about how awful everyone is when DC doesn't have great outings, or Lundy doesn't pick up 1 block, or the like. How many 6-10 teams have flawless play from their entire team? None. How many 6-10 teams have even good to very good play from their key positions (QB, RB, WR?). Not many.

The point I'm trying to make is quit ******** at this point. We were 2-14 last year. TWO AND FOURTEEN. That is AWFUL with a capital A. It is going to take a lot of work and time for this team to make a turn around. Many people blamed last years record on how awful Capers and Co. were. So give Kubiak and his crew the TIME to turn them around. Its not going to happen in 3 months. If you claim a 6-10 record will be improvement, EXPECT THE TEAM TO PLAY LIKE A 6-10 TEAM and not like a 12-4 team.

Its like everyone on the board takes the opinion of one or two well-voiced indiviauls, and so as soon as one person expresses some doubts, EVERYONE jumps on board and we suddenly have 20 threads about why so and so is sucking, or why we aren't doing something. I personally like everything about Kubiak so far, and am giving him the benefit of the doubt. I don't get why other people seem to be questioning his motives/choices so much.

So I ask you, how important are the coaches? Was our 2-14 record and horrible play Capers fault, or was it the players? Because if you believe that it was primarily due to poor coaching, and you think Kubiak is a good coach, QUIT questioning the players! They need time to be brought back from Capers philosophy. This isn't Madden. We don't get "instant" changes.
Sheesh.

 

[real]

Ill first admit that I didn't read your whole post, it was rather long...but in short; no one is perfect, all coaches make mistakes; so therefore I think that it's reasonable to question some of kubiaks moves...however I believe there is a general consensus that Kubes brings more to the table than Dom could ever dream of...so therefore people tend to trust Kubiaks judgement more...but if that judgement fails, you better believe that those pink soaps will eventually pop back up again, with kubes on them...no one is exempt except Mr. McNair

 

[Capster67]

Coaching definitely does make a difference. I was at the Denver/Houston regular season game 2 years ago that we lost 31-13 and you could feel that once the team got behind they didn't have the leadership to fight back. Last night when things were ugle (down 10-0 with 22 total yds offence with 4:22 to go in the first half) Houston dug down and fought back to make it competitive. I LOVED that they were in it up until the conversation on 4th down with 2:00 minutes to go. Obviously this year they have the coach and the leadership qualities to make things interesting in each and every game (yes, even Indy on the road). Just because I think Kubiak & company have leadership qualities, however, doesn't mean I surrender my right to disagree with them. I would definitely start Morency and bring Lundi off the bench as I believe Morency has the energy, the moves, and the experience which Lundi lacks right now. I will, however, support the coaching staffs decision and support whoever starts.

 

[Tailgate]

Very important. Simply put, we are headed in the right direction because of the changes we have made. Its a long off season, and its a time when people can start to make themselves believe in a team thats more than it really is. Its natural optimism.

Again, bottom line.... we are headed in the right direction... and have more upside imo with Kubiak than we ever had with Dom. Just a matter of when I hope.

 

[texflex513]

I think coaches are the most important aspect of football. The players are the ones who translate coaching on the field...they get the glory and coaches barely get attention. The coaches are the first ones to go when players dont get it done..on the field so their value is tops. IMO

 

[Kaiser Toro]

Coaching is huge as well as Player Personnel. We are headed in the right direction on all fronts except for one and the most visible, David Carr. The reason there are more questions about Morency and our WR's is because we are excited about them, but know that they are limited due to the limitations of Carr.

Our defense is heading in the right direction. Our O line has looked good. Even in the sacks that are not DC's fault there is not a total breakdown of the line.

I am extremely happy about the direction of this team except for one major contract. Kubiak should have never tied his name to that anchor. The best thing Sherman could do this year is tell Kubiak to make the change earlier than later. We are at the last resort stage with Carr in my opinion. Bench him for a start or two and see how he responds.

 

[the wonger need food]

After 04, everyone loved everything about the Texans and thought we were only a few key pieces away from the playoffs.

Not everyone. Capers lost the team about halfway through '04 and a few of us saw it. There's no question now that he should have been fired after his 3rd year.

To answer your question, coaching is a huge factor on every level of football. I don't really see people questioning anything but David Carr. The entire team has improved with the exception of this one player. The longer Kubiak stays with him the longer this team is held back from making it to the next level. Personally, I will give Coach until the bye week to sort out the QB position. If the team is losing and Carr is not on the bench then Kubiak deserves to be questioned.

 

[Meloy]

IMO fans gave Dom credit as a coach that had put together the Panthers and that team had a good run. I personally like the 3-4 defense with the correct players. What I saw was a group of coaches who kept drafting players from 4-3 college teams and trying to retrain. Those names are well known. As mentioned above, the wheels started coming off in 2004 & this is where Capers lost me. He stuck with the coaches and developed a strategy in 2005 of hoping to "remain close enough that in the 4th quarter, we might pull it out." Kubes came in with a great resume and lots of respect from NFL coaches and players. He is well liked by Denver's owner & management. He is a Houston native. That means a lot in this state. He is offensive minded to Caper's defensive. But, he hired people to run the defense. I think it will all come together, just not sure when. People rightfully expect a 5th year QB to be able to get the ball down field and 4th year receiver to catch them. Yes, there are slips, failure to jump timely,etc, but fans are simply pumped @ the potential that 06 may bring. It is hard to be patient while the baby is birthing. Once the kid is safe all is well (until he pees on you). The hard part will be giving the staff the time to pull things together. The next most difficult for fans is to have reasonable expectations. We seem to differ on the latter's definition.