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.
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