Wade Phillips is the new DC
 

Reported by ABC.

Shocker!!!!!!

That didn't take long. I'm sure Bum is happy.

I'm still wondering whether the defense becomes a 3-4 or stays a 4-3.

I guess I missed when all those other candidates Bob and Gary told us they would be interviewing came to town. Gotta love the due diligence of this bunch. Of course, with their track record of success on defense, why waste time interviewing more than 1 person? Clearly, they know what they are doing.

Wade is dening that he has been offered the job. He is coming in for an inverview tomorrow.

According to John McClain

Good for Wade and good for us!

Do I need to mention Dom Capers success as a DC verses a HC?

Very good move if/when it happens. I just hate having him be next in command if Kubiak gets fired mid-year next year.

I hear ya, but if Kubiak is fired mid-season next year........does it really matter?

There is a little denial going on right now, IMO, it just doesn't matter. This deal was likely done prior to the final whistle on Sunday.

Side note - McClain's twitter page indcated that Kubiak DID have a conversaton with Marvin Lewis last night, of course, that is a mute point since he resigned to be the HC for the Bungles.....

I wouldn't worry too much about this. It would take a 1-7 start, players quitting on him, his mother disowning him, etc. for Bob to pull the plug..... Bob's MO is patience....

So let me get this straight, in order to show the fans that the team is prepared to act in order to repair the worst defense in recent history (and an offense that simply could not score in the first half) they are going to hire as Defensive Coordinator a 65 year old failure whose preferred scheme does not fit the current roster, at all?

This is nothing more than a cynical PR move to feed some red meat to the Don't Mess With Texas crowd. What utter bullshit. This franchise is a joke.

So True.

A good Ol boy(McNair) hires a good Ol boy(Kubes) that hires another good Ol boy(Wade).....great plan.

When McNair said it was about having the 3rd best offense during my lunch, I almost spit up coke, wtf is he talking about......it's harder to say that he extended him three more years last year and he's not about to give that up!



And if we have all these players' coaches who's gonna jump on their ass when they screw up??

Wake me up when McNair's done with his wet dream...:rolleyes:

here is a nice bio on Wade in case interested

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wade_Phillips

I am hoping these reports are greatly exagerated. Early speculation to sell newspapers. I really don't want Wade to come here. The mindset is to get somebody with DC experience instead of hiring a position coach. With other teams possibly replacing HC positions, then Rob Ryan or Mike Nolan could become available. Running a 3-4 sounds like a wonderful idea to me. Connor Barwin & Mark Anderson are athletic enough to play OLB. We just would need a NT. We've needed a NT since Seth Payne left to clog up the middle & he wasn't a 'typical' Nose. With Pitt & N.E. having Bye weeks, I'd be interviewing some LB coaches, Line Coaches, Secondary coaches; just to hear some ideas. Just sayin.

Man. Not only would any TE on any NFL roster torch an OLB tandem of Barwin and Mark Anderson, Demeco and Cushing are particularly unsuited to be ILBs in a 3-4. And I won't even bother telling you that Mario is a prototypical 4-3 DE and has no real place in a 3-4 because I know you already know that. There is literally no safety on the roster who can cover a Left Tackle and you want Barwin and Anderson at OLB? Wow. Peyton manning would redefine the word 'abuse.'

At least you're not echoing Wade's dad who said that he'd try Amobi at OLB.

Everywhere I turn it's the lunatics running the asylum.

Look, I'd be delighted to have a defense that looks like New England's, a hybrid that shifts (moving quickly I initially typed 'shits' - we already have a defense that does that...) and morphs unpredictably in response to down, distance, offensive personnel, etc. I wouldn't mind moving Mario around and showing different looks and confusing the hell out of QBs all over the league. The problem is relatively speaking Belichick is a Harvard PhD and the goons running the Texans are paste-eating, finger-painting Aggies. Actually, in certain instances this is literally true.

It should be noted that Wade Phillips was a former HC in Denver (the one between Reeves and Shanahan) and this was likely around the time Kubiak began coaching with the Broncos, so there is already familiarity between the two.

That said, I still don't like the fact that neither one displays much toughness which is why their teams underachieve, particularly in clutch situations.

OTOH, reports out of SF are that the 49er players were "scared" of Singletary and didn't play well because they were too afraid of his ranting and screaming and became "tight". Singletary's famous coaching introduction where he dropped trou to show his players what he expected of them may not have been his only creative locker room motivator (don't know if he ever ate a worm like his Baylor mentor Grant Teaff did).

Antics aside, give me a coach with Singletary's fire. If players are scared of him, then dangit, they ought to be more motivated, not less. Cry babies.

Wade Phillips a failure? Yes, as head coach.

As a defensive coordinator? He's proven to be really, really good.

Kubiak would have met Wade back in the 70's when Gary was the ball boy and Wade was the DL coach for the Oilers. The next time they crossed paths Gary was a backup QB and Wade was the DC in Denver back in 1989. Gary played in Denver through 1991 when he retired from playing to go into coaching.

They have not been on the same team since.

As for you guys bitching about position coaches, why don't we wait to see who they hire and also wait to see which players they acquire to install the new defense.

Sounds to me like they will be active in free agency, maybe not going after the huge names but going after solid vets that can play now.

Want to make a huge splash to the players? Trade away Mario and Cushing.

One last prediction I have, Pollard is not resigned

I am not 'bitching' about position coaches. I'd like to interview some position coaches for the DC job. The Steelers & Patriots have guys that would meet the requirements of the Rooney Rule and would also bring some ideas to the table. It's nice to get some different opinions on how somebody might best utilize our talent and hearing some philosophical points. I would want to talk to Rob Ryan and Mike Nolan as soon as those situations settle, the new coaches may or may not retain their services. Winston Moss, Darren Perry, Pepper Johnson, John Mitchell, Keith Butler, along with Ryan & Nolan are all guys I'd like to pick their brain.

Free Agency should be used to fortify weak areas on the roster. So, a S, CB, NT should be on the list.

Maybe moving a Cushing, Williams, Pollard, Okoye, Antonio Smith wouldn't be a bad idea if there could be some return. Cushing plays like a mortal without his Performance Enhancers. Okoye has essentially been a bust that we have continued to wait to develop. I'm not sure A. Smith would be a good 3/4 DE or not. There really wasn't much 'good' happening this season defensively, so I'm very open to blowing the whole damn thing up. Fire Bill Kollar too while we're at it.

exactly, my problem is that they don't interview a number of candidates and listen to all the opintion and insight. F-, i hate this sh-t. i need a drink

Just as a point of order, the Rooney Rule only applies to head coaches, not the assistants. Since we've already determined who the head coach is, the Rooney Rule isn't applicable.

If we can run a 34/43 hibrid, then I am all for it. Watch a New England game and they are almost never lined up in a straight 3-4. Especially on 3rd down. You can run a 3-4 but still line up Mario wide on passing downs. You can do pretty much anything you want with either defense and even more with a combination of the two. When cleveland stymied NE this year, they did it with 1 down lineman and an amoeba of other guys standing up near the LOS and then randomly rushing or dropping.

But a DC needs to get creative to do this. I have no idea whether Wade is capable of this or not. His cowboys (when they tried) ran a great but very traditional 3-4. Of course, they had a decade of assembling 3-4 personnell and Demarcus Ware on the field. There is little reason to morph out of the 3-4 when that's the case. I have heard on here that Wade has coached a 4-3 defense in the past. So maybe he can be that guy.

But if he is coming to run a 4-3 with our personnell I take a huge pass. Someone needs to get creative to win with this group. So why hire a guy and ask him to do what he's 2nd best at.

If he is coming to run a straight 3-4 I'll take another huge pass. We aren't suited for it as an every down defense. It decreases the value of Mario and Demeco in a big way. I actually think Cushing may flourish as a standing rush OLB, and smith will fit well, but the rest of the front 7 is ill used in that situation.

I hope our guys are thinking these same things, but I fear Bob McNair is completely misreading his fan base and thinking he can sell good old days and Texas pride in a Wade Phillips package.

This is what everyone says, isn't it? It's not true. At least it's not borne out by the facts.

The last time he could be said to have had a very, very good defense as a DC was in Atlanta in 2002. The Falcons' defense the following year was a disaster. His three years in San Diego produced middle of the pack to slightly better defenses. They won games in shootouts with a high flying offense. They beat Cincy his last year 49-41 if I recall correctly. But the most certainly did not have a dominating, Ravens or Steelers style defense. That is what I want, and we are not going to have it. Ever.

And barrett, yes, that is precisely what I am saying. To make the most of the "talent" the team has on defense requires creativity. Beginning with red, white and blue uniforms I have not seen one ounce of creativity out of this franchise. Ever.

Bob McNair loves to oogle the New England Patriots and Pittsburgh Steelers franchise hoping to model the Texans after them. He has been attempting to mimick the stability of those organizations for a decade now. I respect that effort. However, those organizations didn’t just decide to be stable and then succeed with the people and philosophy that happened to be in place at the time. It took years and years of searching for the right combination of coaches, scouts, and front office personnel before everything fell in place for them. For Pittsburgh, their dark years were primarily in the 1950s and 1960s. Since Chuck Knoll arrived, they have had a steady and remarkable run. But, plenty of growing pains and lessons were learned by the Rooneys up to that point. Bob Kraft purchased the New England patriots in 1994. While they had some early success, it took seven years and some good fortune (Bledsoe injury, insane officiating, and an odd family squabble between Parcells and Belichek) before they found their footing. If Kraft would have decided simply to be a stable organization during Pete Carroll’s tenure, would they be the exemplary franchise they are now? Smart money would say “no”. Now, having said that, it is interesting to note that Pete Carroll never had a losing season in his three years in New England. Then, when he was replaced with Belichek after his poorest season (8-8), Belichek led the Pats to a 5-11 year. Then the tide turned.

I am not suggesting that, if McNair wants similar success, he should fire Kubiak. I’m generally glad that he didn’t. What does bother me is a growing concern that Bob McNair is so focused on emulating the winning organizations that he is missing the larger picture. The NFL is not a paint-by-numbers endeavor. As I am sure Bob McNair understands most of the time, any organization with hundreds of variables (people) is a complex orchestration. Yet, what I fear is happening is that McNair is working from a two dimensional checklist of a few simplistic observations he has made regarding the Patriots and the Steelers:

1. Organizational stability (check)

2. Seldom paying premium for FAs (check)

3. As an owner, don’t get too involved (check)

and now, this new one:

4. 3-4 defense (check?)

I certainly hope his thinking is not this simplistic. However, with the Wade Phillips hiring imminent even though he has not even interviewed yet, one has to wonder. After all, not only has Wade not interviewed, but I don’t think a single candidate has interviewed (saying hello to Marvin Lewis on the telephone does not qualify). I know that McNair also likes Wade because he has been a successful DC and has had 30 years of experience. Still, though, those are simply labels (like a 3-4 defense is) and don’t speak to the how/why Wade is the best choice to run the Texans’ defense in 2011 under Gary Kubiak and with this scouting department bringing him talent and with Rick Smith running football operations (sort of). Perhaps Wade is the best choice. However, how could McNair/Kubiak/Smith possibly have any idea of that if they haven’t been through an exhaustive process, including interviewing other candidates… or, just sitting down and speaking to Wade for 30 minutes. All that being said, I’m still excited about the Wade hire. Perhaps my expectations have simply been muted the past decade watching the way this organization attempts to run itself.

If Bob McNair really wants his football team modeled after the Patriots and Steelers, this is what is sorely missing from his checklist: job clarity for every single member of the organization and football team. Who’s in charge of decisions around there? Heck, if you listened to Kube’s presser on Monday, it is clear that he’s not even sure. When asked about the defensive coaching search, his response was “Bob has his list. Rick has his list, and I’ll start working on mine”. When he was pressed by Barry Warner regarding who will actually make the final decison, he hemmed and hawed for awhile before laboring to say that “Bob assured me that I will always be comfortable with the coaches on my staff”. Okay, I’m not sure what that means. According to Jerome Solomon, during the last DC search, Rick Smith urged Kubiak to interview multiple people for the job but Kubiak declined. It is also widely believed that Kubiak makes all the calls regarding player personnel on offense but leaves all those decisions regarding the defense to Rick Smith…. that’s odd as well. As alarming as it may be that fans do not know/understand the hierarchy of the organization, what is truly disconcerting is that I don’t think even the Texans know… not just the players but the coaches and even the three top guys (McNair, Smith, Kubiak). This confusion and lack of role definition translates on the field as well and it is this issue, more than any other, that separate the Texans from teams like New England and Pittsburgh.

I don’t have the heart to revive all the old stories of the defensive players under Rick Smith and Frank Bush. If it wasn’t so sad, though, it would be comical to listen to them answer questions about what the defensive philosophy is and what their role is. I remember an interview with Demeco in 2008. Demeco was asked about Richard Smith’s defensive philosophy and Demeco was left grasping at air. Really, really not good considering Demeco is the QB of the defense, a team leader, and a very bright football player. This is the problem. Those guys on defense, particularly, are out there with 11 different ideas of what the defense is about. More than that, they probably have 4 competing thoughts regarding their individual role on that defense. And, I would not be surprised if the DC, the head coach, and the position coach are all contributing to the confusion by feeding them incongruous information. I don’t think this sort of confusion and identity crisis is the intended product of stability.

Meanwhile, examine the Patriots. I’m willing to bet that you could walk up to any of the 53 players on the Pats roster, ask them the team philosophy and their specific role on the team, and you would immediately receive a confident and detailed answer. Breaking that down even further, I would bet each player has a crystal clear understanding of his role for a particular game (and that the role may change week to week). However, ask a Texan defensive player that and you won’t get more than “make plays”. Why? is it because the Texans are more protective of information? no. Simply put, I don’t think the player would know with confidence anything more than that. I believe that, until this changes, the organization is going to be floundering in mediocrity.

All is not lost, though. I think McNair is an intelligent and committed man that is learning from his failures. I also have a lot of faith in Gary Kubiak’s ability to change and grow as a football coach. Finally, I think that Wade Phillips will bring more definition and order to the Texans’ defense. I’m encouraged that the Texans only retained one defensive assistant coach, Bill Kollar (who has worked with Wade in the past). If Wade is able to assemble a staff of his guys, then that will be another step into developing continuity. The defense can build an identity, and the coaches will be better able to define the job/role of each player on the defense.

Texans Bull Blog

Ah...well, I'd still like to talk to these guys. I wasn't seeking them out because they were Black, I wanted to interview them because they have been successful with the type of defense I'd like to run. They just so happened to be minorities, so I thought I was getting two birds with one stone. Keith Butler is Whiter than I am, by the way.

As for the Hybrid 3/4 4/3, I think it can be done and should be done. Peyton Manning had his worst games against 3/4 teams (Cowboys, Chargers, Patriots, Steelers). It is more difficult to determine who is and isn't rushing the passer. I'd rather have Mark Anderson on the field blitzing instead of Zach Diles attempting to cover Dallas Clark.

Harsh words... I wish I agreed with less of them.

There is no organized power structure in New England other than Bill Bellachik has the power. They have no clearly defined roles. This year they didn't even bother to name offensive or defensive coordinators. They have rarely had a GM and usually just have a personnell man that works with Bellachik in an undefined relationship and balance of power. And they have had more turnover in the front office and coaching ranks than any NFL team.

They win based on the three constants in all of those things...Bill Bellachik, Tom Brady, and their Offensive Line. Everything/Everybody else is a movable/expendable part. Well defined roles has little to do with it.

Maybe we are about to argue semantics, but the fact that you are so confident of how they operate/why they are successful drives home my point.

Bill is in charge of all. Tom Brady is clearly the single leader of the team...etc...

More than schematics (and I've heard this from a number of respected football people), Bill's gift is his ability to communicate specific, defined roles to each player for a given game plan. One week, player X will be given a certain set of duties and will clearly understand and perform them on the field, and the following week, he will have a different set of responsibilities but still have comprehension of those and a willingness to fulfill them.

Bill has unique talents to be able to get the most out of his players. His attention to detail is remarkable. He also has the ability to utilize a player's strengths. Defining roles and communicating expectations to players is one of the reasons they respect him so much.

Who could/would cut Randy Moss and expect the team to get better? Who takes Deion Branch and makes him look like a Pro-Bowler? Places WR Troy Brown at CB and passes TD passes to LB Mike Vrabel? Takes a cast-off short white guy and uses him as a weapon (Woodhead, Edleman, Welker). Plays defense with a bunch of rookies and simply has his offense score more points than they allow.

Many have attempted to grab some of the magic by taking coaches associated with him. Crennel, Weiss, McDaniels, Mangini, et. al only to find out that they may have been around greatness, but it didn't rub off.

Now, I wonder what happened between Cleveland and New England. Brady is great, but he won with Cassell too. If we could find the next coach like him, then stability would follow. However, Hall-of-Fame coaches don't just grow on trees.

Having a genius be a genius is not a great organizational power structure unless you have a genius. Saying the biggest difference between us and the patriots is well defined roles is false. Bill Bellachik is the difference. We could put Kubiak firmly in charge with the identical role to Bellachik and give everyone else hazy and ever shifting roles like the patriots do. We could do all of this exactly like them and fail. The reason is that what they do only works because he is Bill Bellachik. If you try to act like him without being him you destroy franchises (see Mcdaniels, Josh).

Now if you are saying that New England is good because Bill Bellachik is in charge and we are bad because Gary Kubiak is in charge, you could have saved about 2000 words in doing so. If you really think they are good and we are bad because of the defining of roles, then you are way overcomplicating things.

That is a GREAT question, and aside from Brady, I have never been able to put my finger on it......The guy just has some karma, deal with the devil, or something..... Sometimes, I think he makes moves just show people how damn smart/good he is. REALLY pisses me off.......

Back to Wade, he has some successful experience, been around the block a time or twelve, so I guess he is a good option, but it sure seems like he is the only option. Aside from a "reported" (IE - Texans brass to McClain - Psst - tell everyone I called Marvin) check in with Lewis, it seems like this is/will be a done deal for an search even gets going.

I think that is what pisses me off about the whole situation with this Wade Phillips scenario. Bum gets invited to practice on Wed to endorse Kubes and then we seem to have a new DC before an interview ever takes place. The PR move makes it seem so trite. Getting Wade after a few guys have had a shot at an interview would just make me feel better. Remember when they intervied Scott Linehan and Cam Cameron for the HC job before deciding upon Kubiak? Sort of reminds me of the situation when we brought in Dan Reeves to consult on how much better off we would be if we kept David Carr around and Casserly.

I'd be much happier if I were able to believe that the fix isn't already in.

I agree about FA, this will likely be their most active offseason in FA by far.
But I think McNair might actually spend some big bucks on a high-profile defensive name because he needs to placate a lot of pissed-off fans unhappy about his retention of Kubiak for atleast another season. If there's a big-time corner or edge-rusher in FA this year, look for Big Bob to dig deep into his jeans.
And if they do go 3-4 both Mario & Cushing, though certainly capable of playing in the 3-4, are both best suited for the 4-3 IMO. I do wonder how marketable Cushing might be because of his now establshed inclination to "over train", and dunno how much uncertainty there might be about Marios full recover from his sports hernia ?
But to your list of vets that might be released, I say add both OD & Jacobey to Pollards name.

It looks like it's officially Wade. I agree that he's not a bad hire, but the process left me very unimpressed. It didn't exactly appear to be a painstaking search in which every possible option was investigated.

I've been wondering about the Marvin Lewis thing -- did his contract expire immediately at the end of Bengals' season? Because if it expires later, like at the end of the NFL League Year (February 28), the Texans committed tampering unless they had the Bengals' permission to talk to him.

On Belichick, I think he was better in Cleveland than he gets credit for -- he took over a team that was 3-13 and went 6-10, 7-9, 7-9, 11-5, then collapsed to 5-11 (losing 7 of their last 8) amid the circus that became of their 1995 season when Art Modell announced the move to Baltimore. Making unpopular moves like getting rid of hometown icon Bernie Kosar and being generally horrible with the media didn't help his reputation. I also think in the five years between head coaching jobs he must've taken an honest look at his time with the Browns and learned from his mistakes.

Coach Gary Kubiak said he's excited to switch to a 3-4 defense under new defensive coordinator Wade Phillips.

Kubiak hired Phillips on Wednesday to replace Frank Bush, who was one of four defensive coaches fired on Monday.

"Wade feels confident about running a 3-4, and I'm excited about that," Kubiak said. "Wade said he feels good about the talent we have and how he'll use the players. He said (defensive end) Mario (Williams) has to be one of our most successful players and that it's up to him to put Mario in position to do that.

"Wade talked about some things he did with Bruce Smith in Buffalo compared to what he'll do with Mario, and I like what I hear."
http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/...t/7367380.html
**
They are definitely going 3-4 under Phillips. Fantastic !

This is from the chron.com
I like the fact that he thinks he can help Mario become a bigger force, and I agree, if Mario will buy into Wade's defense.

I've let some of you convince me of things I disagreed with over the years and now it's time to get tunnel vision.

We're gonna be just fine. We only need 3 to 10 players to fit the new 3-4 scheme...again. And yes, we should move Mario to ILB and force him to get involved in the run defense.


Seriously, somebody needs to give Mario about 5 seasons of film from the Buffalo Bills so he can watch and absorb Bruce Smith get after the QB from the 3-4 as an end.

Not to be a Kubiak apologist... but if I could recraft the quote: ...prior to becoming the widely considered best coach in the NFL. Not saying this will happen with Mr. K, but the truth is that nobody knows.

If everyone could have that defense, everyone would have it.

Wade Phillips was a Top 2 defensive coordinator available. The other available (interestingly enoguh the coach of the Ravens defense in 2000) re-upped.

We don't need a dominating defense. We need a defense that will not put pressure on our offense to score seven points EVERY trip down. We need a defense that won't allow chunks of yardage every single time they're on the field.

I don't know, man. I'm just not sure what people are expecting. Given the circumstances, Wade Phillips is a great hire.

Interesting article on the 3-4 defense from the NY times

Read the whole article to understand the concepts and the ultimate defense like New England runs.

Thanks...that was awesome.

Doing a little dot-connecting, I am wondering about the LB and Secondary Coaches that Wade may want. Greg Manusky the D.C. of SF has LB experience in a 3-4, Reggie Herring is the LB coach in Dallas, and Cris Dishman is the Asst. Secondary Coach in S.D. Then, there is Todd Bowles of Miami, but I'm not sure if he'll be available...he may get a H.C. gig someplace or a D.C. job.