Texans Fire Richard Smith!!

[coloradodude]

I wonder what Capers is doing about now?

[Roy P]

Originally Posted by coloradodude

I wonder what Capers is doing about now?

Bite your tongue!


I've already gone on record about wanting Sean McDermott. However, let me make a case for somebody else just for the moment.

Can anybody guess who was 4th in the NFL in total defense behind the Steelers, Ravens, and Eagles? They let their high-priced Defensive Coordinator from the year before go on his merry way and replaced him with Greg Blache. I'd imagine that name doesn't ring too many bells.

The Defense allowed only 288 yards per game, while the Texans allowed 336 (22nd). This defensive unit allowed 296 total points (6th), compared to the Texans 394 points (27th). The Redskins were able to do that with one less sack than us.

Now Blache has no reason to jump ship for the same job, but there is a guy on his staff who you might know. His credentials include playing for the Rams, Oilers, and Bucs. He coached at SMU before coaching with the Titans and Bills. He is on everybody's Rooney list when interviews for HC positions come open. Why not take a look at bringing in Jerry Gray to run the defensive side of the ball?

[Roy P]

Originally Posted by coloradodude

I wonder what Capers is doing about now?

Seriously, he's with Bill Billicheck in New England.

http://www.nfl.com/teams/newenglandp...e=head&team=NE

Dom Capers

Special assistant/Secondary coach; born August 5, 1950, Cambridge, Ohio. Defensive back Mount Union College 1968-1971. No pro playing experience. College coach: Kent State 1972-74, Hawaii 1975-76, San Jose State 1977, California 1978-79, Tennessee 1980-81, Ohio State 1982-83. Pro coach: Philadelphia/Baltimore Stars (USFL) 1984-85, New Orleans Saints 1986-1991, Pittsburgh Steelers 1992-94, Carolina Panthers 1995-98 (head coach), Jacksonville Jaguars 1999-2000, Houston Texans 2001-05 (head coach), Miami Dolphins 2005-2207, joined Patriots in 2008.

[Roy P]

One final name I'll drop tonight comes from Seattle. I'm not sure if Mora Jr. is going to be keeping everybody in place up there once he's the Head Honcho. Ray Rhodes has some ties up there too.

He's a little young, but so is Kyle Shanahan.

Zerick Rollins

Linebackers; born June 20, 1975, Houston. Defensive end Texas A&M 1995-97. No pro playing experience. Graduate assistant Texas A&M 1997-2000. Pro coach: Joined Seahawks in 2001.

[painekiller]

I guess a few of you guys do not read the TT forum, so I will send you to the Z report on Chron.com.

Lance makes his prediction on the 3 jobs available. It makes sense.

For the DC, he is looking at Frank Bush, this has always been Kubiaks 1st choice. Not a reach here.

For the DB/CB David Gibbs of the KC Chiefs, formally of the Broncos. He is son of Alex. David has a solid track record and it would please Alex, which means he might stay longer.

Last but not least, DL the guys who was considered the top DL coach a few years ago, the man who help to shape Warren Sapp, Rod Marinelli. He might want to go this low, but make him asst HC/DL, he might jump at the chance to work with Mario and Okoye.

Interesting thoughts.

[edo783]

Originally Posted by painekiller

I guess a few of you guys do not read the TT forum, so I will send you to the Z report on Chron.com.

Lance makes his prediction on the 3 jobs available. It makes sense.

For the DC, he is looking at Frank Bush, this has always been Kubiaks 1st choice. Not a reach here.

For the DB/CB David Gibbs of the KC Chiefs, formally of the Broncos. He is son of Alex. David has a solid track record and it would please Alex, which means he might stay longer.

Last but not least, DL the guys who was considered the top DL coach a few years ago, the man who help to shape Warren Sapp, Rod Marinelli. He might want to go this low, but make him asst HC/DL, he might jump at the chance to work with Mario and Okoye.

Interesting thoughts.

I saw that also. Makes some sense to me. The only thing that bothers me is the Bush pick. I'm just not sure what to make of him right now. Was he a non factor under Smith or was he the reason they played some games much more aggressively? If he was just a cog in the Smith wheel and didn't do much, I don't think we should want him. If on the other hand, there was some sort of trial period where he planed the defensive calls for the last 4-5 games, well then he is probably OK. I'm just not sure what sort of DC he is/would be. IMO, we have an opportunity to become a pretty big factor in the league if we can become say a top 10-15 defense. The offense is already pretty darn good and we will tweak that a bit in the offseason, but we just can't afford to screwup this opportunity to get the defense right.

[texan]

Originally Posted by Roy P

Why not take a look at bringing in Jerry Gray to run the defensive side of the ball?

Jerry Gray would be my first choice.

[painekiller]

Remember all the big names we had listed when Kubiak was hired and he wanted Frank Bush and Richard Smith? Not Jim Bates, not Jerry Gray.

No matter what we want it's who Kubiak wants that matters.

[Maninthebox]

All I can say is Hallelujah on the Smith firing! I know the offensive turnovers and redzone collapses didn't help the defense or help us win games. BUT, giving up over 30 points six times and averaging 28 ppg or whatever, that's ridiculous!

As for Bush, I find it hard to believe that as bad as this defense was, we had the answer under our nose the whole time. If Smith was struggling and Bush was the answer, why not let him call a game or two. Why wouldn't Bush try and help Smith? If he did try, then he wasn't successful and he doesn't deserve the job.

[NBT]

I banged the drum long and hard on this board for Richard Smith's dismissal, so I can't crawfish now, but it did seem that he was just doing what Kubes told him to. Oh well, on to a new DC.

I agree that Frank Bush is here, and he was the choice even before Richard Smith. I would sure like to see Greg Williams get a shot at our perenially underperforming defense, though. If Marinelli would come all the way down to being a defensive line coach again, I would love to see him do that for the Texans, but I think that is farfetched.

[Keith]

Originally Posted by Roy P

Why not take a look at bringing in Jerry Gray to run the defensive side of the ball?

Heck yeah. I've brought up Gray's name here before, like here.

Originally Posted by painekiller

Remember all the big names we had listed when Kubiak was hired and he wanted Frank Bush and Richard Smith? Not Jim Bates, not Jerry Gray.

No matter what we want it's who Kubiak wants that matters.

Well, he maybe didn't want Gray because he interviewed against him for the HC position. Awkward! So I don't think Gray was a serious DC candidate back then, but if Kubiak is serious about giving someone other than Frank Bush a shot, then Gray ought to be heard from again.

But as you say, Kubiak is probably more interested in hiring the familiar.

Speaking of...

Originally Posted by painekiller

For the DB/CB David Gibbs of the KC Chiefs, formally of the Broncos. He is son of Alex. David has a solid track record and it would please Alex, which means he might stay longer.

Wow, how did I not think of this? Seems like an ideal hire for Kubiak. Would need to find a way to get the Chiefs to allow him to interview here, a la with something more than a lateral move, assuming Gibbs the Younger is still employed by KC in 2009 (situation with asst. coaches in KC is somewhat up in the air I think). Anyway, just asking him to be our DB coach if he is retained by KC would require their permission if I understand the rules correctly here.

[HPF Bob]

It wouldn't shock me at all to see Ray Rhodes move up to DC. He has both DC and HC experience and he's already under contract. Jerry Gray wouldn't hurt my feelings in the least but I'm sure it will cost less to promote your experienced assistants who are already here and hire assistants to replace them rather than go out and sign a new DC.

[kravix]

While I wouldnt mind seeing Rhodes step in as DC, i seriously doubt that it would happen. He came out of retirement to be an assitant, and like Gibbs, stated that he didnt want all the responsibilities of coordinator. I think he is happy where he is.

[edo783]

I doubt very much that Rhodes would take the DC job. He has some serious health issues that prevent him from putting in the hours and taking the stress that comes with a DC position.

[Roy P]

It really befuddles me to think that Kubiak would look within to fill the DC vacancy. The decision to fire Smith was not a last minute thing, Kubiak said he looked at the body of work and didn't see the progress required to bring Richard back. Now, if Kubiak saw this was coming, based upon the last couple of years (not the last couple of games) then it would have been prudent to give the duties to Bush in order to determine if there would be the NEED to bring in somebody from the outside or not during the offseason.

While I have thrown out some professional options, let me add some college spice to the situation. Here are three names worth considering for the vacancy.

Mark Banker – Oregon State, San Diego Chargers
Mike Archer – NC State, Pittsburgh Steelers
Vic Koenning – Kansas State University, Clemson, Memphis

These are three current defensive coordinators at the college level. Archer and Banker both have some professional experience. NC State was 16th in total defense, Oregon State was 11th in total defense, and Kansas State led the Nation in total defense. Here are their bio pages...

http://www.gopack.com/ViewArticle.db...&Q_SEASON=2008

http://www.osubeavers.com/sports/m-f...er_mark00.html

http://www.kstatesports.com/ViewArti...&Q_SEASON=2009

[painekiller]

Because there is not a better place to put this, on the other board, TT.com, one of the regular poster, Dan B., had a interesting encounter with Frank Bush

I then asked him what was the biggest change in our defense over the second half, and whether there were any changes he made in the last 8 games with our defensive scheme. In fact I asked him point blank if he was calling the plays.

He attributed the difference at the end of the season largely to Dunta, although he went out of his way to compliment our LB corps, and while he didn't say he called the plays, he did say that "Coach and I" (I assume Kubiak) banned certain plays by Smith, but let him call his own game otherwise. Maybe it's just me, but telling a coach that some of their basic plays are off limits is pretty damn close to removing play calling duties. I can see the conversation now -- "Sure you can call any play you want. Except that one. Or that one. Maybe this play would work?"

A very interesting little post, and you guys should all read the entire thing.

On all the boards I have watched a large group of poster screaming about how Kubiak was not dealing with Smith and the Defense, and how was he going to promote a person that was part of the problem. How? Why?

1) Kubiak is media smart, and he uses the media to build his guys and the program. He never airs his dirty laundry. He does that behind closed doors, as any good manager should.

2) How could he consider Bush? Think about how Bush finally arrived here? He came in not with the title of Co-DC, that was Smith's job, and Kubiak was not going to slap the man (Smith) in public with a Co-DC title. He came here and wanted to fit in, the defensive playbook had been basically designed and in place. Bush was not going to come in and wholesale change what Smith (his good friend) had already done.

We do not know the behind closed door workings, and should expect Kubiak, and McNair to be much better to assess the team.

I agree after last year, more control over Smith should have been done. But we are not sure about what micro managing Kubiak was doing on the defense, or lack of time for defensive matter due to micro managing of the offense.

Maybe Kubiak has grown enough as a HC to see the errors of his past and this time we get better results. If not I do not see McNair making the same CC for to long mistake.

[Roy P]

I understand the purpose of the Zone-Blitz. However, the benefit of "surprise" is outweighed by the risk of having Jesse Nading covering Devin Hester in the End Zone. I'm wondering if Kubiak informed Smith that that play was off limits.

Bush is the "Senior Defensive Assistant" so I guess he'll be heavily involved with any new defensive coordinator. Perhaps he will be the X.O. and make sure the trains run on time while the D.C. can think big strategy stuff.

[Bigtinylittle]

I read that post yesterday and my impression was that although it was a fascinating read, it didn't reveal as much as the poster thought it did. It just reinforced my belief that it is REALLY hard to know what is going on inside an organization like the Texans.

First, it didn't say what calls Kubiak disallowed, or even what percentage of the calls. Or what types of calls. A lot of fans have wondered whether Kubiak was unhappy with the lack of agressiveness of the defense and therefore during the season forced Smith to be more agressive, but what Bush said seems to reveal the exact opposite: that the midseason increase in blitzing was something brought about by new personnel on the field who allowed them to blitz more.

The truth is, this organization is VERY tight lipped. Nothing wrong with that, actually. Their job is to win, not to inform. I myself hold out the possibility that Kubiak may not even have been the one who decided to pull the plug on Smith. It may have been the owner. After all, the announcement came the day after Kubiak had a long meeting with him.

[NBT]

If Bush was the X.O., then he basically handled the men, while Smith supposedly made the gameplan, to extend RP's analogy. Why didn't Kubiak give Bush more of a chance to "make the defense" to see how well he would perform? No, I still would like to see some new blood brought in to give us a fresh viewpoint on things.

[barrett]

are we seriously supposed to believe that Frank Bush discusses the inner workings of the Texans coaching staff with a waiter. Especially the part where Frank Bush talks with his waiter about how Kubiak is learning to stop micro-managing. I am sure Frank Bush is real eager to talk to the Chili's guy (or wherever they were) about shortcomings of his boss.

Total BS.