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Texans hire Bill O'Brien as HC

Nice article that brings to light some behind the scenes events that O'Brien dealt with which eventually led him to our Texans.



On Dec. 4, I was returning from Penn State’s men’s basketball game at Pitt when I had a 20-minute phone conversation with Bill O’Brien, who was himself driving on what he said was a recruiting trip.

It was then that I had a pretty good idea he might not be the head football coach at Penn State much longer. Because he told me so.

I was not at liberty to quote him then because the dialogue was agreed upon to remain strictly off the record. But it was clear to me when the call ended that O’Brien’s incongruous two-year marriage with Penn State was in jeopardy.
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http://www.pennlive.com/sports/index.ssf/2014/01/bill_obrien_the_outsider_arriv.html
 
STEEL BLUE TEXANS said:
Nice article that brings to light some behind the scenes events that O'Brien dealt with which eventually led him to our Texans.
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Interesting article. I went to their fan message board, but didn't read anything other than the Subjects. The cult of Joe is way too strong up there for any coach to do anything for a long time. I have never understood such over the top hero worship.
 
JCTexan said:
They're all bashing a guy who went there during the toughest time imaginable and had back-to-back winning seasons. I'm not sure what to make of it.
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I know exactly what to make of it..

They're bashing a guy because he left their nest/team. If we didn't fire Kubiak this season and another football program pulled him away and hired him would people around here really be upset about it? Nope, they wouldn't.

The fact that they're all pissed off and are crying leads me to believe we made the right decision since they're so upset about him leaving.
 
I am excited!

Finally - someone with a little fire on the sidelines, someone who actually game plans, someone who can make adjustments in the game plan, someone who does not turn his back on a field goal.

Learned under Bill, maybe we can learn how to NOT take our foot off the gas when we have a lead in a game and crush our opponents instead of playing nice.
 
Grams said:
I am excited!

Finally - someone with a little fire on the sidelines, someone who actually game plans, someone who can make adjustments in the game plan, someone who does not turn his back on a field goal.

Learned under Bill, maybe we can learn how to NOT take our foot off the gas when we have a lead in a game and crush our opponents instead of playing nice.
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Here's to him finding a QB with that same passion.

Someone who wants the ball and knows they can win every game!

Go Texans!!!
 
STEEL BLUE TEXANS said:
Nice article that brings to light some behind the scenes events that O'Brien dealt with which eventually led him to our Texans.






http://www.pennlive.com/sports/index.ssf/2014/01/bill_obrien_the_outsider_arriv.html
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From reading the article and some psu message board posters O'Brien sounds like an emotional hothead. But I would rather see some fire on the sidelines instead of the emotionless stare. Texan players need this type of fire. It is the perfect time for it.


Here is some more of the article:



Anyway, I was already a bit stunned because the bombshell had come a few seconds earlier when O’Brien said, off-the-record: “That’s why, in probably about a month, they’re gonna be ----ing looking for a new coach.”

I just let him go after that and listened. Near the end of the call, when he’d settled down, I asked, “You’re not really leaving, are you?” And he replied, “I’m not leaving.”

I mentioned that quote in a column a few days ago. But now you know the context I couldn’t tell you and why I never really believed his assurance.

A few minutes after we hung up, O'Brien texted me: "Thank you for listening." I guess venters know how to let venters vent.


So, with all this unloaded, is it more accurate to say O’Brien is running from Penn State or running toward the Houston Texans? I think it’s the latter. He’s made no secret that the NFL is his destination. He adores the pro game, the purity of it, without the university politics and pretense of the college version. And this is the time to get there.
 
Good hire.

He seems like a true competitor that wont be a "players coach". Players coaches rarely succeed.

If he gets the right staff around him, and is allowed to have input into the players he wants to coach, I think it will be a nice departure from the Kube days of mediocrity and loyalty at all costs.

Move over Bob and Rick and let this man do his job.
 
TexansFanatic said:
I think I just fell in love with a man, and it ain't Tom Brady...
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haha yeah and i love it how he keeps trying to get back to brady. I like his fire, he is the kinda coach who will get ejected from a damn game if he feels strongly enough about something !
 
BullNation4Life said:
I meant wasn't. Freaking auto correct on IPhone
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That's what I assumed you meant. No way anyone was expecting Schaub to be in the plans next year.

I'd be more concerned that he might have agreed to work with Keenum next year. I don't think that likely (I'd hope that McNair was smarter than that at this point) but it's more likely than a return to Schaub I think.
 
Without a doubt in my mind I know O'Brien is picking our QB with the first pick and whoever he chooses will be the best prospect for his system and I'm personally good with that. I personally would like Bridgewater or Manziel but that decision is on O'Brien.
 
STEEL BLUE TEXANS said:
Nice article that brings to light some behind the scenes events that O'Brien dealt with which eventually led him to our Texans.

http://www.pennlive.com/sports/index.ssf/2014/01/bill_obrien_the_outsider_arriv.html
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Note that this was after O'Brien let go long time Paterno assistant Ron Vanderlinden, and he got the same retort he was getting from the many armchair quarterbacks in power up there... "That's not the way Jo Pa(Paterno) would handle it. We should have brought in a Penn Stater."

That insight into O'Brien shows a man who's passionate about football but not so much about the politics that goes along with it. O'Brien is that guy who needs to regularly blow his top without being judged for it. One of the most important considerations for the Texans FO will be to make sure there's that sounding board for BO'B. But I don't think it'll be a FO guy.

We got our guy and he's the right guy -- my boy, he's wicked smaaart. I guess we'll need to find him some good Boston chowda and laaabsta rolls.
 
b0ng said:
http://bwi.rivals.com/forum.asp?style=2&sid=890&fid=36&pid=0

internet PSU posters weigh in.
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Thanks for the link. Here's one I found there. Interesting stuff.
The Texans knew they’d be in the job market around a month ago, when they fired Gary Kubiak.

But Kubiak’s official departure came two days after his replacement confided to a reporter that he wasn’t long for Penn State.
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Lots of interesting stuff...
There seemed to be particular frustration with the political side of being a college coach, the glad-handing and recruiting that takes up more time than the football. Trying to manage that at a place wracked by the Jerry Sandusky scandal, and the legions of fans beholden to former coach Joe Paterno, was a line O’Brien tired of walking.

“You can print this: You can print that I don’t really give a —- what the ‘Paterno people’ think about what I do with this program,” he said. “I’ve done everything I can to show respect to Coach Paterno. Everything in my power. So I could really care less about what the Paterno faction of people, or whatever you call them, think about what I do with the program. I’m tired of it.

“For any ‘Paterno person’ to have any objection to what I’m doing, it makes me wanna put my fist through this windshield right now. . . .
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TheIronDuke said:
Here's an article about O'Brien and his son, who has a rare neurological disease. I just thought it was a good insight on the new coach. http://www.sportingnews.com/ncaa-fo...s-jack-penn-state-coach-replacing-joe-paterno
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Wow...
The episodes come so often and so random, are so mind-numbing in their frequency, there’s never really an opportunity to reflect on the sheer terror of it all.

Multiple times every day, Jack O’Brien stops breathing.

“I’m always waiting,” Colleen O’Brien says. “Please take that breath. Take that breath.”

A breath of life, a breath of perspective.

“People ask me about pressure in this job,” says Bill O’Brien, Penn State’s new coach. “Really? Pressure?”...
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I have never been this excited as a Texan fan. We finally have a HC that ignites a lot of fire and life on the sidelines. A guy who has a reputation for holding guys accountable. I can't wait to see the direction he takes this team from a rebuild perspective to be able to execute his systems.
 
Texecutioner said:
I have never been this excited as a Texan fan. We finally have a HC that ignites a lot of fire and life on the sidelines. A guy who has a reputation for holding guys accountable. I can't wait to see the direction he takes this team from a rebuild perspective to be able to execute his systems.
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yeah, this is the very first time I'm excited about who our HC is.
 
Norg said:
...I don't see a franchise QB so trade down...
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Hub Arkush of Pro Football Weekly, who's astute when it comes to these things, agrees with you.

In an interview on 610 this week, he said any team that takes Manziel or Bridgewater early in the first round - let alone with the No. 1 pick - will be doing some major overreaching.

He believes the QB group as a whole is mediocre, and that Mettenberger (before his knee injury) was/is by far the most NFL-ready of them.

It was great to hear some sanity brought to the QB-draft discussion.
 
Tolar's Ghost said:
Hub Arkush of Pro Football Weekly, who's astute when it comes to these things, agrees with you.

In an interview on 610 this week, he said any team that takes Manziel or Bridgewater early in the first round - let alone with the No. 1 pick - will be doing some major overreaching.

He believes the QB group as a whole is mediocre, and that Mettenberger (before his knee injury) was/is by far the most NFL-ready of them.

It was great to hear some sanity brought to the QB-draft discussion.
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I gotta chime in on this "NFL ready" thing....

For instance, the most "NFL ready" wr was Hopkins but anyone who is objective would take the "less ready" Cordarrelle Patterson after their rookie seasons.
 
Tolar's Ghost said:
He believes the QB group as a whole is mediocre, and that Mettenberger (before his knee injury) was/is by far the most NFL-ready of them.

It was great to hear some sanity brought to the QB-draft discussion.
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I heard no such statement about Mettenberger being "by far the most NFL-ready." He did say Met was a late 3rd to 4th round talent who would likely go late 2nd to 3rd because some team would reach.

His distribution of QBs being drafted did seem much more realistic - a couple early 1st then trickling off to some being taken 2nd half of the 1st instead of 6 being taken in the 1st with 4+ in the top 10.
 
TheIronDuke said:
Here's an article about O'Brien and his son, who has a rare neurological disease. I just thought it was a good insight on the new coach. http://www.sportingnews.com/ncaa-fo...s-jack-penn-state-coach-replacing-joe-paterno
Click to expand...

11050906-large.jpg
 
Vinny said:
I gotta chime in on this "NFL ready" thing....

For instance, the most "NFL ready" wr was Hopkins but anyone who is objective would take the "less ready" Cordarrelle Patterson after their rookie seasons.
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It's like a college guy smashing 82 MPH fastballs with an aluminum bat and saying he's ready for the majors ( Astros included ) . He may have the potential to succeed but you can't test the mental part until he goes live .
 
Tolar's Ghost said:
You're right, my mistake -- I heard him say that on a CBS Sports Radio national show.

But in the 610 interview he said basically the same thing: "He (Mettenberger) looks the most like an NFL quarterback."

He also said the QB crop for 2014 is "terribly overrated":

http://houston.cbslocal.com/2013/12/31/are-the-texans-top-targets-at-qb-overrated/
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Who cares what a columnist has to say about anything? Everyone has opinions, one dude's isn't anymore valuable than another's.
 
Except that he and his publication have a very good reputation (earned over many years).

Where's Joel Buchsbaum when we need him?

He wouldn't have fallen for the Johnny Football hype.
 
Vinny said:
yeah, this is the very first time I'm excited about who our HC is.
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Definitely. Capers seemed like a safe pick and Gary seemed like a reach to me. O'Brien might crash and burn spectacularly (I don't see it happening for the record) but if he does then at least Bob will be "wrong in the right direction" for a change.

I really like the emphasis he seems to place on intelligence. It's a quality I think our roster has been lacking over the years.
 
Vinny said:
I gotta chime in on this "NFL ready" thing....

For instance, the most "NFL ready" wr was Hopkins but anyone who is objective would take the "less ready" Cordarrelle Patterson after their rookie seasons.
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Or waited until the 3rd round to select Kennan Allen or Terrance Williams.
 
Hervoyel said:
Definitely. Capers seemed like a safe pick and Gary seemed like a reach to me.
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Kubiak's resume read as if he were ready for the position. 11 years as OC for a perennial playoff team with 2 Super Bowl trophies. 22 years in the league as a player and coach on winning franchises. He just didn't have what it takes to be a successful head coach. O'Brien doesn't have the resume Kubiak had, but he has the look of a leader. We'll see if he has everything else it takes. I'm hopeful.
 
My gut tells me we just hired the next Capers/Kubiak.

This guy has done absolutely NOTHING that impresses me.

#1 I could be Brady's OC. It's Brady. Here's the gameplan --
"Hey Tom, do what you want bro.."

#2 Did Penn State win their conference this year?

Honestly, I like McNair, but I'm starting to think he's just
too much of a football novice.

I would have at least waited to get Wisenhunt an interview

TJ
 
Lucky said:
Kubiak's resume read as if he were ready for the position. 11 years as OC for a perennial playoff team with 2 Super Bowl trophies. 22 years in the league as a player and coach on winning franchises. He just didn't have what it takes to be a successful head coach. O'Brien doesn't have the resume Kubiak had, but he has the look of a leader. We'll see if he has everything else it takes. I'm hopeful.
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I thought his resume read like "Career OC" a little bit. Kind of like he'd been around so long that if he'd really had that desire to lead he'd have gone down to the college ranks to do it. For years we always heard about how he was going to get a HC gig somewhere but that's a long time to wait patiently for your opportunity I think. I remember a distinct concern voiced around the board back then that he was maybe of a product of just years of tagging along with Shanahan.

Could be some 20/20 hindsight kicking in on me though. I was never crazy about Kubiak. I don't ever remember being that excited about the Texans hiring him.
 
IDEXAN said:
Or waited until the 3rd round to select Kennan Allen or Terrance Williams.
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I wanted to work on the trenches and go WR later. I wanted Kenny Stills. Having said that I didn't hate the Hopkins pick. Still don't. Just would of gone a different way.
 
I just hope this doesn't turn into a Texans version of the
Schiano experience..

Then again, at least Schiano got blown out after a couple of
years. That might be better than giving this guy 6 like
Gary and Dom if he's a .500 coach

TJ
 
Fred said:
But on a serious note you seem to be one of the posters who hates and despises EVERYTHING about the Texans.
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No, I don't really see it that way. I think of it as being more of a realist, unbiased, objectivity. The record seems to bear me out. I do understand how the homers and the koolaid drinkers see me as a hater, a negative or a Debbie Downer. I just don't believe that Bob McNair and company can do no wrong and every decision they make is the absolute perfect decision. I have always said Bob wants to win, just doesn't know how. History seems to be on my side. I have been watching and studying football for over 50 years. At some point you have seen it all. You get a sixth sense. Like when Detroit fired Matt Millen and replaced him with Matt's right hand man. You just knew this wouldn't end well. That's kind of what the Texans did here with Kubiak and Smith. Also there are varying degrees of Texans fans, not all are homers or koolaid drinkers. All the undeserving rah rah can be a bit tedious and boring at times.

For the record: I was gung ho initially when Bob hired Kubiak. I thought at the time that Kubiak would be like another mild mannered Texan, Tom Landry. That lasted all of about 2 months when Kubiak explained why he was hiring young inexperienced coaches. The final straw for me was hiring Frank Bush without conducting one interview with a proven DC.
 
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speedfreek said:
#2 Did Penn State win their conference this year?
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Did you follow what O'Brien did at Penn State at all? Do you believe they had the talent to win the Big 10? I was impressed by how he kept the team's head up and never let them feel sorry for themselves after the sanctions went down. I was impressed that O'Brien stayed at Penn State after the sanctions were imposed.

I get the skepticism of McNair. He's been in the league 12 years, but he still seems like a novice. Only winning big and winning consistently can change that. I wanted a big name here that could change the culture of this organization. O'Brien is not a "big name". But, maybe he can change things down on Kirby.
 
I can't help but be pumped about FINALLY having a HC who won't tolerate excuses or perpetuate loser mentality. Being tough but fair is no guarantee that O'Brien will be successful...but moving away from the passive methods of Capers/Kubiak is step in the right direction regardless of how it ends.
 
Lucky said:
Did you follow what O'Brien did at Penn State at all? Do you believe they had the talent to win the Big 10? I was impressed by how he kept the team's head up and never let them feel sorry for themselves after the sanctions went down. I was impressed that O'Brien stayed at Penn State after the sanctions were imposed.

I get the skepticism of McNair. He's been in the league 12 years, but he still seems like a novice. Only winning big and winning consistently can change that. I wanted a big name here that could change the culture of this organization. O'Brien is not a "big name". But, maybe he can change things down on Kirby.
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I don't think people put the Penn State situation in the proper context . They were almost as penalized as SMU and had a winning season . I also think O'Brien wanted to be coach bad enough to take that job as a way to prove himself . A man with two young boys taking a job at that place shows something .

Take all that and add his time with Bill B on how to get things done while working with Brady makes me think it's a good gamble .
 
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