Death to Google Ads! Texans Talk Tip Jar! 🍺😎👍
Thanks for your support!

Richard Smith/Hoke/Franklin - fired!!!

Lucky said:
Congrats to Gary Kubiak for opening the 2nd envelope.


How about coming on board with a head coach working on the 4th year of a 5 year contract. Not exactly job security. And having to take on assistants he may not know or may not be familiar with his coaching style or schemes.

Of course, Kubiak on the hot seat might be intriguing for a DC looking to vulture a head coaching job. Which is why Kubiak might want to stay away from a big name or young hot shot.
Click to expand...

Kubiak being on the hot seat next year actually fueled my fear that they would hold onto Smith and fire the lot of them if they didn't improve next year. Silly reasoning, I know, considering the Texans have to improve the defense in order for us to really win, but that was my train of thought regardless.
 
Kaiser Toro said:
Smith = Slowik
Click to expand...

You mean without the 8 years of experience as a DC?

This is starting to get very Goldilocks:

I want someone with prior DC experience.
I want someone with no connection to Denver.
Has to be a 4-3 guy.
Has to come from a last job where the D was really good.

Not sure the porridge is ever going to be just right.

I'm not advocating Slowik, but this is why I am saying keep an open mind (on everything except the 4-3 guy) and consider folks like the DB & LB coach from Philly.
 
infantrycak said:
You mean without the 8 years of experience as a DC?

This is starting to get very Goldilocks:

I want someone with prior DC experience.
I want someone with no connection to Denver.
Has to a 4-3 guy.
Has to come from a last job where the D was really good.

Not sure the porridge is ever going to be just right.
Click to expand...

I was referring to the hard head, stubborn, point of procedure applying coach because he earned it (Shanahan) and young turk, whose king maker is without a job that was told (implied) to get rid of his DC, within the context that their respective DCs left them exposed during the season and this off season.
 
Kaiser Toro said:
I was referring to the hard head, stubborn, point of procedure applying coach because he earned it (Shanahan) and young turk, whose king maker is without a job that was told (implied) to get rid of his DC, within the context that their respective DCs left them exposed during the season and this off season.
Click to expand...

OK--that went totally over my head the first time--I was being very literal.
 
Texans_Chick said:
...Things for the Texans in hiring a DC:

-McNair has $$$
-McNair is considered a good owner. He is very good to his coaching staff. He doesn't meddle.
-No state income tax
-Nice facilities
-Offensive minded head coach won't get in your kitchen so much
-Some core good players
-You know the offense can get good time of possession....
Click to expand...

... and most likely, this draft and FA's will be focused more on the defensive side. (again)
 
Lucky said:
Congrats to Gary Kubiak for opening the 2nd envelope.


How about coming on board with a head coach working on the 4th year of a 5 year contract. Not exactly job security. And having to take on assistants he may not know or may not be familiar with his coaching style or schemes.

Of course, Kubiak on the hot seat might be intriguing for a DC looking to vulture a head coaching job. Which is why Kubiak might want to stay away from a big name or young hot shot.
Click to expand...

If Kubiak hires a DC out of fear then he deserves whatever he gets. Hire the guy you think will be the best for the job (veteran, hot-shot, no name) and you are most likely going to save it than if you try to avoid certain types.
 
Lucky said:
Congrats to Gary Kubiak for opening the 2nd envelope.


How about coming on board with a head coach working on the 4th year of a 5 year contract. Not exactly job security. And having to take on assistants he may not know or may not be familiar with his coaching style or schemes.

Of course, Kubiak on the hot seat might be intriguing for a DC looking to vulture a head coaching job. Which is why Kubiak might want to stay away from a big name or young hot shot.
Click to expand...


...24 hrs ago, gary pubicly stated he let his young, hot shot OC call the best offensive red zone game of the yr. you really think kubiak is that kind of insecure HC that worries about people showing him up after that?
 
Kaiser Toro said:
I was referring to the hard head, stubborn, point of procedure applying coach because he earned it (Shanahan) and young turk, whose king maker is without a job that was told (implied) to get rid of his DC, within the context that their respective DCs left them exposed during the season and this off season.
Click to expand...

Of course injuries had nothing to do with the poor season, this year.
 
Mr. Smith sparò ,Mr Hoke огонь , Mr. Franklin disparado !
Obrigado !Merci ! Danke !
:texflag:
 
Maddict5 said:
...you really think kubiak is that kind of insecure HC that worries about people showing him up after that?
Click to expand...
"There's two kinds of coaches, them that's fired and them that's gonna be fired." - O.A. "Bum" Phillips

Don't think for a second that Kubiak isn't aware of that. He just saw his Super Bowl winning mentor canned. He realizes that 2009 is a make or break year. Kubiak will hire a DC he knows and trusts. Kubiak said after the road loss at Indy that he had the right people. Maybe he believes he has the right people, but they have the wrong job description.
 
Lucky said:
"There's two kinds of coaches, them that's fired and them that's gonna be fired." - O.A. "Bum" Phillips

Don't think for a second that Kubiak isn't aware of that. He just saw his Super Bowl winning mentor canned. He realizes that 2009 is a make or break year. Kubiak will hire a DC he knows and trusts. Kubiak said after the road loss at Indy that he had the right people. Maybe he believes he has the right people, but they have the wrong job description.
Click to expand...

Interesting theory.

Heard the news around 7 pm this evening. Did a dance around the living room. Shook my money maker and even got a dollar shoved in my drawers!
 
Lucky said:
"There's two kinds of coaches, them that's fired and them that's gonna be fired." - O.A. "Bum" Phillips

Don't think for a second that Kubiak isn't aware of that. He just saw his Super Bowl winning mentor canned. He realizes that 2009 is a make or break year. Kubiak will hire a DC he knows and trusts. Kubiak said after the road loss at Indy that he had the right people. Maybe he believes he has the right people, but they have the wrong job description.
Click to expand...

Just a thought, but maybe he was just telling Mr two chin what he wanted to hear.
 
Lucky said:
Why would McClain want to hear that?

Mr. two chin? Has Da General dropped some weight (and chins)?
Click to expand...

He seems like he is an apologist for Smith but also Kubiak is like Belichick in that he never discloses anything.

I got a name to throw out that no one has mentioned ... Greg Robinson as DC, since he was Denver's DC when they won Super Bowls.
 
Specnatz said:
He seems like he is an apologist for Smith but also Kubiak is like Belichick in that he never discloses anything.

I got a name to throw out that no one has mentioned ... Greg Robinson as DC, since he was Denver's DC when they won Super Bowls.
Click to expand...

Maybe not in this thread, but he has been mentioned in others. Honestly, i would be more interested in what Frank Bush could do over either of the Gregs, Williams or Robinson.

Still, more interested in something that's not any of those guys.
 
infantrycak said:
You mean without the 8 years of experience as a DC?

This is starting to get very Goldilocks:

I want someone with prior DC experience.
I want someone with no connection to Denver.
Has to be a 4-3 guy.
Has to come from a last job where the D was really good.

Not sure the porridge is ever going to be just right.

I'm not advocating Slowik, but this is why I am saying keep an open mind (on everything except the 4-3 guy) and consider folks like the DB & LB coach from Philly.
Click to expand...

Ron Rivera. Perfect fit.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ron_Rivera
 
Texans_Chick said:
It would be a lateral move because he was promoted to DC with the Chargers. And he is under a two year contract with them. If the Texans wanted him, they should have moved LAST year.
Click to expand...

But - this time last year, none of us wanted to get rid of Richard Smi--

Oh wait, yes we did. :|
 
The next Defensive Coordinator needs to have the respect from Smith and Kubiak with regards to defensive personnel decisions. He needs to be someone with a clear vision of his defensive philosophy and he must be able to articulate this as well. Finally, he needs to be someone whose defensive philosophy meshes with the existing personnel that is here plus a few additions through free agency and the draft to fill in the holes, if not time will be wasted changing systems due to the need for a complete changeover. In otherwords, changing to some form of a 3-4 defense should be out of the question.

Personally, I would like somebody that has learned under Monte Kiffin or Jim Johnson.
 
Working with the personnel already in place is a good point and I see the sense in not trying to completely flip the defense into a 3-4 "rebuild".

BUT, having said that.....

Every time a change is made at any level in the NFL the person brought in "wants his own people" to some extent. A new head coach wants new assistants and starts replacing his players. A new assistant coach wants his assistants (if any) to be "his guys" and will want some input in bringing in new players. We always see this and it's going to happen with our defense too.

What works about this is that we were going to see it anyway I think. The draft, as if there was any question or doubt is probably going to be all about the defense. Any kind of free agent signing we might have of any note will be a on defense. I have no doubt that Kubiak feels bad about letting these men go. They wouldn't be here if they weren't friends of his to some degree and his statement about having failed Richard Smith by not giving him the players and resources to be successful is very telling. It wasn't just coach speak I think. He'll give the next guy a lot more help partly because he feels it's needed and partly because well, he can. The offense is mostly finished at this point.
 
Hervoyel said:
The offense is mostly finished at this point.
Click to expand...

Absent an injury (knocks on wood, rub the rabbits foot (never helped the rabbit) and kick a black cat (that one is just for enjoyment)) I don't see a single starter changing on the O next season unless some undeniable BPA person falls in their lap like Demeco did. Backups like a RB, sure.
 
infantrycak said:
Absent an injury (knocks on wood, rub the rabbits foot (never helped the rabbit) and kick a black cat (that one is just for enjoyment)) I don't see a single starter changing on the O next season unless some undeniable BPA person falls in their lap like Demeco did. Backups like a RB, sure.
Click to expand...

Is it just me or is it strange to even say that? Not that its a bad thing, but I never thought we'd see the day where we could say the offense is set.
 
FirstTexansFan said:
Sorry, but I don't think this offense is set by any measure. Two glaring issues to me is our center and right guard.
Click to expand...

Our RG is probably the most consistent Lineman we have. That is according to OD and Joel Dreissen yesterday on 1560. Not to mention thatalmost all of Slaton's big gains came right behind Briesel. And the coaches love the guy. I think Meyers can get the job done. Having continuity on the line is huge. Especially in the ZBS scheme. I think that was pretty apparent as the season went along and the linemen all got comfortable with each other.
 
bigbrewster2000 said:
Our RG is probably the most consistent Lineman we have. That is according to OD and Joel Dreissen yesterday on 1560. Not to mention thatalmost all of Slaton's big gains came right behind Briesel. And the coaches love the guy. I think Meyers can get the job done. Having continuity on the line is huge. Especially in the ZBS scheme. I think that was pretty apparent as the season went along and the linemen all got comfortable with each other.
Click to expand...

We haven't seen Myers bodyslammed into the RB since the Pittsburgh game.
In the ZBS, the center is the "quarterback" of he O-line. Myers is also
VERY young by O-line standards. I see this unit improving TOGETHER
with time. We don't need 5 ALL-PRO linemen, just a good UNIT. They
will get accolades when they gain consistency. Leave the line alone,
and the Texans offense will be a MONSTER.
 
bigbrewster2000 said:
Our RG is probably the most consistent Lineman we have. That is according to OD and Joel Dreissen yesterday on 1560. Not to mention thatalmost all of Slaton's big gains came right behind Briesel. And the coaches love the guy. I think Meyers can get the job done. Having continuity on the line is huge. Especially in the ZBS scheme. I think that was pretty apparent as the season went along and the linemen all got comfortable with each other.
Click to expand...

Consistency can often times be a very misinterpreted term. Jacoby Jones is our most consistent punt returner- he consistently fumbles the return.

But that really is good to hear from OD, JD and that the coaches really like him. I do think as this line plays together more they will improve.
 
FirstTexansFan said:
Sorry, but I don't think this offense is set by any measure. Two glaring issues to me is our center and right guard.
Click to expand...

I just don't think we need to tinker with this combination for at least another year. We need to let these guys play together for more than one season to see how good they can get as a group. If we keep swapping parts out every year then we'll never know and always be complaining about problems on the line. I'm fairly certain that we've never started two seasons with the same players starting all 5 positions on the line.

As much as everyone hates to hear people say "give them time to gel" that doesn't change the fact that it's still necessary. We finished the season on offense 3rd in total offense, 4th in passing offense, and 13th in rushing offense. We gave up 32 sacks.

Now, 20 of those sacks came in the first half of the season (games 1-8) and 12 of them came in the second half of the season. Pass protection got better. It got better because the running game became real as opposed to theory.

In the first 8 weeks of the season we averaged 111.3 yards on the ground per game. In the last 8 weeks we averaged 119.4 on the ground. In numbers that's a small little 10 yard blip but when taken in context it's significant. Early in the year our running game was here one week and gone the next. We bounced around from 75 yards against the Steelers to 146 against the Titans and then back to 79 yards against the Jaguars before busting out for 156 against the Colts. We were all over the place and we were splitting carries a lot between Ahman Green and Steve Slaton. One guy was too old and the other was a rookie. As Slaton seemed to find his legs at this level Green finally went down to the inevitable injury. That put us in a weird spot around the middle of the season. We basically piled it all on his shoulders and he responded. He did a lot of that early stuff on his own. To top things off we were throwing the ball way too much early on because we couldn't seem to rely on the running game. During the time Sage came in and started from halftime at Minnesota to Monday Night Football against Jacksonville Slaton got going and from that point on our sacks started dropping and our turnovers started to go away. We were still too generous but at least things were getting back under control.

We have to see if they can continue to improve and even if they can't this is still good enough to leave alone while we work on our defense for a year or so. If we had been able to keep two of our first four opponents under 30 points we would be 10-6 right now. If we'd been able to keep Indianapolis under 30 points the second time we'd met them then we'd be 11-5, in the playoffs with a 5-1 record in the AFC South and that's with the offense as-is.
 
Expectations are to be a playoff team next year. Within those expectations we need to address three things - Red Zone offense, cut back turnovers and a DC. In my opinion, we have to address the interior line in this draft or FA as it simply cannot be counted on to own the LOS in the red zone.
 
Kaiser Toro said:
Expectations are to be a playoff team next year. Within those expectations we need to address three things - Red Zone offense, cut back turnovers and a DC. In my opinion, we have to address the interior line in this draft or FA as it simply cannot be counted on to own the LOS in the red zone.
Click to expand...

I agree with the comments on continuity of the line, and believe we should re-sign Brisiel and stay with the current five. More importantly, Kubiak has stated that he'd like to see this line stay together next season, and he's been pretty much a straight shooter on stuff like that (he either gives the truth, or he gives nothing, but he doesn't give you lies), so I think it's a reasonably safe bet that we will stay with the current line.
 
Marcus said:
What if we go 11-5 and still miss the playoffs, like the Patriots did this year?
Still, a failure?
Click to expand...

No. If that happens then we're winning and the conference just shook out like that. Not much we can do about it but come back the next season and try to win 12 or 13.
 
Kaiser Toro said:
Expectations are to be a playoff team next year. Within those expectations we need to address three things - Red Zone offense, cut back turnovers and a DC. In my opinion, we have to address the interior line in this draft or FA as it simply cannot be counted on to own the LOS in the red zone.
Click to expand...

As long as defense is the question and the draft is a subject...I'd add MLB to a massive need in FA or the draft. I just think DeMeco is going to wear down at some point. Maybe some D-linemen clogging the middle will help. Right now he takes punishment though.
 
Kaiser Toro said:
Expectations are to be a playoff team next year. Within those expectations we need to address three things - Red Zone offense, cut back turnovers and a DC. In my opinion, we have to address the interior line in this draft or FA as it simply cannot be counted on to own the LOS in the red zone.
Click to expand...

Pretty much my thoughts on the OL. Looks good in between the 20's but has a real difficult time in both the RZ and in short conversions where we need to dominate or at least hold the LOS. I'm not sure this unit is capable of that. Maybe it can be helped with a bigger back or running more stretch plays where we can cater more to the speed of our OL.
 
FirstTexansFan said:
Sorry, but I don't think this offense is set by any measure. Two glaring issues to me is our center and right guard.
Click to expand...

infantrycak said:
Not saying everything is ideal on O, only I don't expect any changes.
Click to expand...

Yes we need upgrades at certain positions on offense, including running back (Not starting running back, calm down). With that said it sure has hell is not a glaring weakness like the Defense is.

Safety
OLB
DE
DT (run stuffer)
 
Just a thought on all this, but if we had a good DC would the current crop of players do better? Other than AJ and Slaton, (maybe Schaub, Walter) do we really have any super stars on our offense? Maybe it's because of the coaching they did so well this year. I think it's reasonable to think the same could happen with the defense.
 
This is from some poster at TC's blog at the Chronicle and all I have to say about the following is :mcnugget:.

Larry Johnson wants out of KC lets get a package together and trade mario and company to KC and maybe Mario and a draft pick for Larry Johnson. Come on Texans make a move like you really want to win and win now. The Jets, Browms, and Detroit are serious about their football teams and they are not just something to brag about or to just have as another symbol that our city is a happening place. They want a good coach and team because they love football. One day Houston will get with the program. I can't beleieve they didn't make a clean sweep and get serious about finding a good experienced caoch that can take this team and move them to the next 2 levels, like Atlanta and Miami. It's almost like we still don't have a professional team here. Well at least we get to watch other good teams as they come to Houston from time to time. I guess another sub-par year will warrant a coaching change and then we will be even that further behind the competition.
Click to expand...

:mcnugget:

chron.com TC's blog


I edited my post, I didn't know how much I goofed, Sorry Stephanie.
 
Last edited:
Brando said:
is is from TC's blog at the Chronicle and all I have to say about the following is :mcnugget:.



:mcnugget:

chron.com TC's blog
Click to expand...

This is TC's response to the user comment that you quoted. In the event there is any confusion.

[You want to trade one of the best young defensive ends in the league and a draft pick to KC for a running back who will be 30 next year, faces legal troubles and is often injured? Is this a put on? -S]
Click to expand...
 
Thorn said:
Just a thought on all this, but if we had a good DC would the current crop of players do better? Other than AJ and Slaton, (maybe Schaub, Walter) do we really have any super stars on our offense? Maybe it's because of the coaching they did so well this year. I think it's reasonable to think the same could happen with the defense.
Click to expand...

We have them, but since they play for the Texans, they aren't as popular.
 
Thorn said:
Just a thought on all this, but if we had a good DC would the current crop of players do better? Other than AJ and Slaton, (maybe Schaub, Walter) do we really have any super stars on our offense? Maybe it's because of the coaching they did so well this year. I think it's reasonable to think the same could happen with the defense.
Click to expand...

Amen. I firmly believe that there's a good number of average to slightly above average NFL players who are considered to be better than they are because of the system they're in. I think there's a pretty good chance we have some players on this team who could fall into that category if given the right system. The theory also works the other way around, and I think that's where we've been to this point.

I think this is one of the big reasons "Big Name" FA signings are often disappointing. Different system - different player.
 
ChampionTexan said:
Amen. I firmly believe that there's a good number of average to slightly above average NFL players who are considered to be better than they are because of the system they're in. I think there's a pretty good chance we have some players on this team who could fall into that category if given the right system. The theory also works the other way around, and I think that's where we've been to this point.

I think this is one of the big reasons "Big Name" FA signings are often disappointing. Different system - different player.
Click to expand...

Outside of the top 10-15 players at a given position, the rest of the NFL is full of system players. Success is about matching systems and players. The Texans offense did not get an overload of highly regarded draft picks and high dollar free agents, but has found a way to improve greatly by right player in right situation.
 
Brando said:
Thanks, I forgot to include that, I guess his "trade Mario and a draft pick for Larry Johnson" scenario threw me off.
Click to expand...

Phewwwww!! I thought you had really gone loco Brando!!:headhurts:

Must have been a Cowboy fan that posted such nonsense!! Trade Mario for ANYONE and Houston fans would go balistic!!
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top