Poll: Who would you want as the Texans' Head Coach in 2014?
 

Poll: Who would you want as the Texans' Head Coach in 2014?

a) Gary Kubiak
b) Wade Phillips
c) Kevin Sumlin
d) Bill Cowher
e) Jon Gruden
f) Lane Kiffin
g) Art Briles
h) a Belichick disciple
i) a Harbaugh spawn
j) other (please name)

David Shaw is intriguing.

In all honesty, I don't think 5 of the guys on your list are remotely in the picture.
GK, WP, JG, BC, and Lane are the longest of longshots.

Why would anyone want Lane Kiffin.

I go with j) Cleveland Browns' Ray Horton. His defenses in Arizona and in Cleveland have been stellar.

Since we will either be starting over at QB or going with a guy with 10 starts, I want whoever we think is best at developing QB talent. Gruden did a heck of a job with Gannon and Brad Johnson. Sumlin is intriguing. I would interview him for sure and pick his brain on Manziel in the process. I am sure there are plenty of other offensive minds.

Briles is a great offensive mind but he is a perfect fit as a college coach and is born to recruit and glad hand and network. Those are awesome skills for a college HC, but don't really translate completely to the NFL in my eyes. He would be smarter to go to UT or some place similar.

I wouldn't hire Kiffin if I was the principal at a local HS.

Cowher is too far removed in my opinion. Plus with any good defensive coach you have to make a great OC hire. And then any success on offense means that OC is gone for then next HC job that opens up. I think continuity in offensive scheme is too important to be replacing OCs every other year. Defensive schemes are installed faster and produce results faster so I would rather have to replace a successful DC.

Don't look now, but San Fran is next to last in its own division and in a real struggle to make it into this upcoming post season. And this from the team that many have been saying for a couple of years has the best personnel in the NFL. Maybe they do, but as we know if your QB is playing poorly it won't be reflected in the "W-L" columns. So I think the appeal for a "Harbaugh spawn" is, well just less appealing now than perhaps it was just a short time agon.
McNair & the Texans need to make a "smart" choice instead of going for a PR move at HC like they did with their top FA signing in the most recent off season.

Lovie Smith will likely get an interview too.

Here’s some names not previously mentioned who have gotten some notice as potential NFL HC candidates:

Darrell Bevell, Sea OC
Pete Carmichael Jr., NO OC
Tom Clements, GB OC
Adam Gase, Den OC
Jay Gruden, Cin OC
Pep Hamilton, Ind OC
Aaron Kromer, Chi OC/OL
Josh McDaniels, NE OC
Greg Roman, SF OC
Ken Whisenhunt, SD OC
Todd Bowles, Arz DC
Mike Zimmer, Cin DC
Dave Toub, KC ST
Charlie Strong, Louisville HC

The last time McNair was looking for a head coach he brought in Dan Reeves as a consultant. If he does bring an outside perspective again I hope it’s someone with more experience in the front office. Ron Wolf consulted for the Chargers last year.

I could also see him leaning towards someone with an offensive background since developing a young QB is in the team’s future. If he goes that route it wouldn’t surprise me if he tried to keep Wade on board, especially if the new guy is a first-time HC.

I'd go with Clements and keep Wade as the DC. Keeping the WCO should help the offense to perform sooner instead of going through the growing pains of a completely different scheme. Plus, this guy has a decent history with tutoring QBs.

I'd go with:


1. Tony Dungee**
2. Jon Gruden*
3. Bill Cowher
4. Tom Clements
5. Adam Gase

The Tampa 2 scheme that Dungy excelled with in Tampa and Indy has basically been legislated out of existence with the rules changes. Since you cannot hit guys who go over the middle, TEs and slot receivers are 10Xs more valuable than they were ten years ago. So a cover 2 scheme that dares the opposing QB to attack up the seam is obsolete (See Monty Kiffin in Dallas). Playing zone, keeping everything in front of you, and tackling, just isn't a recipe for success when you aren't allowed to make guys pay for catching the ball in front of you (like John Lynch did).

I would be interested to see how flexible Dungy would be and what kind of scheme he would run to account for it being almost a whole new game. I am very impressed by him as a coach and man so I would guess he'd figure it out, but it would be a concern for any defensive guy out as long as him.

I like what I read on Bevell.

I'm not an advocate on keeping Wade. If we're going to clean house, let's do it all the way.

I was high on Jay Gruden in the past, now, not so much. You can take him off any list I am advocating.

How about Dan Quinn DC Seattle?

Bob Sutton DC Chiefs?

Marty Mornhinweg OC Jets, a WCO guy?

This one was listed by Warren, Pete Carmichael Jr., NO OC, interesting, 42 years old, never been a HC on any level, father was a former OC in the NFL.

Lovie would be a great defensive coach but his offenses were terrible.

Guys with no head coaching background are always risky, as are some college coaches, even great ones (Lou Holtz, Nick Saban, Steve Spurrier).

I like the Clements idea because he's had to fit a lot of different parts with the Packers and is a WCO guy. Of course, maybe it means Dom Capers returns as his security blanket on defense.

Right now, I have a far better idea of who I don't want instead of who I do want.

That's a great point. Defenses now are all about getting to the QB because they've outlawed hitting people. Would be nice to have coaches that emphasize tackling rather than just bumping. I'm so tired of missed tackles.

Count me in this group also.

Can Cameron got an interview in '05, think he'll get another?

Usually has a pretty good O. Has done a lot with a usually boring LSU O, plus helped Mettenbergers stock soar.

He also ran a very average Baltimore O that took off when he was replaced by Jim Caldwell. When Jim "cardboard cutout" Caldwell is an upgrade then the original must have been terrible.

Not sure how much weight I'd put in this, but.....

@BFeldmanCBS: BREAKING: Kevin Sumlin has recommitted to stay as the head coach at Texas A&M, sources told CBS Saturday. #Aggies

Ok, got a little heavier, at least for this year. Oh well, he's never had a D that was worth a shit.

@MarkBermanFox26: Texas A and M announces it has reached an agreement in principle on a new 6-year contract with Kevin Sumlin

That is my concern as well. UH has a better defense with a 2 deep that basically has one upperclassmen. That means the average coach that replaced Sumlin at UH has done more defensively with his own young recruits than Sumlin did with a full cycle at UH. Combine that with the Aggie D this year and it would be a real concern for me.

Saw Bill O'Brien's name pop up in a couple of spots. That'd be interesting.

I agree. And we know McNair is a fan of the Patriots organization. I am too. Interesting name and he fits the mentioned requirements (HC experience, NFL experience).

@JasonLaCanfora: The Texans are using. headhunter Jed Hughes to lead their coaching search. Already turned down by some prominent former head coaches ...

ESPN reporting that the Texans are looking at former Arizona HC and Steelers OC Ken Whisenhunt as the next HC. We may be saying "Win One For The Wizzer" next fall.

One thing that came out of the early firing, is that the Texans were wanting to get the fact that they are looking for a new head coach out ASAP. So, not only are they probably going to have the 1st pick in the draft, they should be able to get the #1 head coaching prospect, too....

Whisenhunt is definitely an offensive guy, so if that's your preference (vs a D guy like Lovie S.), that should be encouraging.
Objectively I can see a couple big drawbacks to the attractiveness of the Houston HC opportunity to potential candidates:
(1) Cap issues, (2) main division competitor already is blessed with a franchise QB who is also very young and will therefor will be on the AFC South scene for many years, (3) once again being objective here, Texans really don't have a clue about the identity of their own franchise QB, i.e., they don't have one or one even in sight.

The Texans have a roster that is full of holes and an owner who thinks they have Super Bowl talent. I can see why the Texans would be a hard sell for anyone with any head coaching experience or basic common sense.

Horseshit. Every NFL roster has holes. Coaching and a top end QB covers them up. NE and KC are good examples.

Houston provides financial support for whatever, and an owner that doesn't meddle.

Except when he fires the head coach for not playing the fan favorite quarterback or except when he demanded that the same head coach fire his BFF DC and hire the guy that the owner wanted.

The Texans are going to be left with second and third tier coaching talent to choose from because anyone with any options will go to a real NFL team rather than this bunch of slapdicks. Are you surprised that experienced former head coaches have turned down the Texans? I'm not. And I haven't even accounted for having an albatross like Rick Smith guarding the door to the king's chamber.

Just because the players' facilities are supposed to be good (and they may be) and you think the stadium is outSTANding (it isn't, it sucks) doesn't mean that a real NFL coach is going to want to ringmaster this circus.

Now you have an issue with the stadium? I guess the superbowl committee disagrees with you.

The Colts are falling apart right now and have been outscored 161-99 while going 2-3 in their last 5 games (with the only wins coming over Tennessee. Their roster is far worse than ours when you take QB out of the equation. They were far better last year with Arians coaching them (and Arians stomped them a few weeks ago in his return). They had tons of cap space until their young GM spent a ton of money on mediocre Free Agents this offseason. And they are already down next year's 1st round pick because they traded for a running back who averages 2.8 ypc and was benched for Donald Brown. They will win a division title by default, but nobody is turning down jobs out of fear of the Colts.

Just the opposite of whatever Chuck mouths off about. So negative.

Make a few positive suggestions.

Perhaps name your preferred top tier of available coaches.

I disliked the stadium from the first moment I set foot in it which, as an original season ticket holder, was a practice. I made this clear at the time and it would be easily verifiable if that cowardly puke Ric hadn't gotten pissy and taken the original HPF site offline with no warning.

And, Nconroe, what, you want me to make a list of coaches that will never coach in Houston? Why? And I'm negative? What? Do you need another dozen years of abject failure to cement your own opinion of the franchise? Seriously?

I realize that I have a darker view of the team and its prospects than most of you and I try not to continually post the same BS over and over and over. And I hope I don't. (And if I do, I hope I get called on it.) But in times of transition such as this I think it is entirely appropriate to point out that I think that the owner is plainly not the sort of owner who is likely to see many consecutive years of success from his team. I've watched the Texans closely for as long as they have been in existence and my conclusion is, to me, obvious, and it also has the advantage of being supported by things like facts.

Who knows. Maybe he'll hire some young genius and the Texans will suddenly begin to draft great and go on a New England style run. But do you really think this will happen? Really? Deep down?

I didn't think so.

I'd put 99-1 odds that the former coaches that have already said No were the same 3 coaches who are brought up seemingly every single off season.

Cowher, Gruden, and Dungy.

Whoopity Doo.

Quoting Chuck "I'm being given as a reference in an internet argument. Awesome". And it was a ref by Chuck. Double whammy. :)

Here is info on the headhunter Texans using to help find a new coach. Sounds like he worked with San Francisco and Green Bay recently.

http://www.stateofthetexans.com/the-...l-head-hunter/

My populist sensibilities are warmed to know that the public internet is wide open even to those who never brought home plus marks down their reading comprehension report card columns.

How many season ticket holders do we have here? Keith? Who else?

How many people have never seen a Texans game in Reliant? Bob? Who else?

He's worked for Arsenal and Liverpool. Maybe he can find the Texans a kicker.

In all seriousness this sounds like a good move.

Since day 1. Probably seen 95 of the 100+ games played. Sometimes life just gets in the way. Sometimes......