Official Search for a New Defensive Coordinator Thread - Bush Hired!

[Joshua]

Originally Posted by gunn

In all likelyhood they have no interest in running a Tampa 2 system.... If that is the case, why would you even consider a coach that would bring in and instill that type of defense.

Because he is being hired as the D line coach, not the D coordinator so he wouldn't be the one deciding what defense to run. Since he is considered by many to be the best D line coach in football and we have 2 underperforming 1st rounders on our D line, tell me why we shouldn't at least be considering him for our vacancy at D line coach.

And maybe I'm going about it wrong by bringing up specific candidates. Forget Marinelli (or Gray or Williams) or any other specific candidate. I want someone to tell me why it is beneficial for the Texans to have their coach taking a week off while other teams are interviewing candidates before he even sits down to determine who his candidates are. It's that simple. If you can't tell me why it's good, rather than why it may not ultimately hurt us, I just don't think that's good enough.

[Joshua]

Originally Posted by Roy P

If that's the case, then I'll be more than happy. Just because nobody has seen a potential coach at the airport, that doesn't mean that Rick Smith and Kubiak haven't made any phone calls to let potential candidates know that they are interested in their services.

I don't disagree with this and I hope you're right, but in my opinion, serious candidates are generally brought in. Also, if Painekiller's information is correct, Kubiak wasn't even going to assemble a list of potential candidates until after his vacation. Hard to call people when you're coach is on vacation and hasn't provided a list of possibilities yet.

[gunn]

Originally Posted by Joshua

Because he is being hired as the D line coach, not the D coordinator so he wouldn't be the one deciding what defense to run. Since he is considered by many to be the best D line coach in football and we have 2 underperforming 1st rounders on our D line, tell me why we shouldn't at least be considering him for our vacancy at D line coach.

I thought you were referring to bringing him in as a defensive cooridinator. In any case... who knows why they didn't bring him in for an interview. Maybe they didn't want the stench of an 0-16 coach on this staff.

[papabear]

Originally Posted by Joshua

Kubiak had to know by midseason that a change was likely. If so, why is he waiting until after a week's vacation to start compiling a list of replacements?

I think this a case of reading to much into a soundbite. I'm sure Kubiak has had a list for a while, and I would bet that there has been at least some contact made...even if only through back channels. The Texans could have easily contacted 10 different guys and not brought them into town for interviews. I'm sure McNair has access to private jets. The chronicle is not known for it's tough investigative style...they just repeat what the PR guy tells them. My point is just because we haven't heard anything doesn't mean anything.

Just because another team hires someone who's name might have appeared in the blog-o-sphere as a potential candidate doesn't mean that the Texans were ever interested....or that the coach told the team that he wasn't interested. I'm sure that if we hired someone today, there would be a contigentcy fans complaining that we didn't take our time and that we should have waited to interview candidates from teams in the playoffs. All we can do is wait and see...

[Joshua]

Originally Posted by gunn

I thought you were referring to bringing him in as a defensive cooridinator. In any case... who knows why they didn't bring him in for an interview. Maybe they didn't want the stench of an 0-16 coach on this staff.

Not trying to pick on you, Gunn, but, if Painekiller's info. is correct, we know why we didn't bring him in yet. Because Kubiak took a vacation and is just now deciding on who he wants to interview. In short, Marinelli may be off the market before Kubes even decided if he should interview him. As for the "stench" comment, nothing but speculation and if it were true, would be an indictment of this coaching staff. Also, anyone can make up a speculative reason for why any 1 particular candidate hasn't been interviewed and it gets us nowhere. I go back to my original question - Tell me why it is to the Texans' advantage to have their head coach take a week off before even beginning the process of deciding who to interview when other teams are moving on candidates.

This is probably being blown out of proportion, but the bottom line is that 2 of the generally considered best available defensive coaches (Marinelli and Nolan) are probably going to be off the market before the Texans decide who they want to interview. I don't see how any of you can think this is a good thing.

[Keith]

Joshua - valid question, but something else to consider... it would be in Nolan's and Marinelli's best interests (or anyone else's that might consider working for Kubiak) to at least call the Texans before accepting an offer from another team. If nothing else, the Texans could be used as leverage for those guys to negotiate a better salary.

And along the lines of what papabear said, unless someone tips off Mark Berman to head to the baggage claim at IAH, there is no telling what's happening 'behind the scenes' since we seem to have an otherwise passive sports news media in Houston. Also, if Gray or anyone else was interested in coming here, I imagine like a lot of job seekers his resume would already be on Kubiak's desk, vacation or not.

[Joshua]

Originally Posted by Keith

Joshua - valid question, but something else to consider... it would be in Nolan's and Marinelli's best interests (or anyone else's that might consider working for Kubiak) to at least call the Texans before accepting an offer from another team. If nothing else, the Texans could be used as leverage for those guys to negotiate a better salary.

And along the lines of what papabear said, unless someone tips off Mark Berman to head to the baggage claim at IAH, there is no telling what's happening 'behind the scenes' since we seem to have an otherwise passive sports news media in Houston. Also, if Gray or anyone else was interested in coming here, I imagine like a lot of job seekers his resume would already be on Kubiak's desk, vacation or not.

Good points and I'm not actually as fired up about this as I'm coming across in my postings. However, I do think it's weird that we haven't heard a single name trickle out (other than Bush), much less confirmation of any contact/permission to talk to/interviews with any candidates. Add to this the fact that Kubes said he would take a week off and then decide who to interview and I'm not thrilled with what I'm hearing about our D coordinator search.

Maybe it's just the pessimist in me that the Texans have turned me into, but this isn't the first time that the Texans have moved in ways that made me scratch my head. The first couple times I thought, "They're professionals, I'm sure there's some reason for it that I just don't know or understand." Come to find out, there wasn't and their moves were, in fact, just as baffling as I originally suspected. Thus, when they behave in ways that make no sense to me, I'm less inclined now to wholesale speculate just to try and craft some answer which gives them the benefit of the doubt.

[papabear]

I'm not saying that your not right Joshua, only that all we're getting is one sound bite of Kubiak saying that he's going to take the week off....there's plenty of people who's idea of a week off is not being in the office for normal hours, and spending the whole time on the phone or computer calling/emailing about work. I am most definitely not one of those people, but Kubiak could be...and since he's an NFL coache he probably is.

[Joshua]

Originally Posted by papabear

I'm not saying that your not right Joshua, only that all we're getting is one sound bite of Kubiak saying that he's going to take the week off....there's plenty of people who's idea of a week off is not being in the office for normal hours, and spending the whole time on the phone or computer calling/emailing about work. I am most definitely not one of those people, but Kubiak could be...and since he's an NFL coache he probably is.

I suspect you're right. I guess my complaint can be boiled down to this. I haven't seen any concrete information of anything the Texans are doing to fill the D coordinator position. I was hoping the team would take an aggressive and proactive approach to filling the position, as well as pursuing a number of candidates and getting outside Kube's comfort zone of guys he's previously worked with to ensure the best fit. I have seen nothing to indicate they are doing this and what little info. I've found suggests they are not. This is disappointing to me.

[Roy P]

Originally Posted by papabear

I think this a case of reading to much into a soundbite.

I'm sure that if we hired someone today, there would be a contigentcy fans complaining that we didn't take our time and that we should have waited to interview candidates from teams in the playoffs...

Very true.

I kind of took Kubiak's soundbite to mean, don't bother me for another couple of weeks until I'm ready to tell you what I've decided.

Interviews and lists of candidates are distracting. If early word gets out as to who might be the top choice and that falls through, then the guy you end up with feels like he was not REALLY the one you wanted.

This is analogous to not telling the girl you took to the prom that the first 3 you asked turned you down.

Kubiak may be wanting to take a good hard look at what he has on defense and how he might want to see it used in the future. Perhaps we ought to be thankful that he's doing his homework before jumping into interviews. He may figure that a Tampa-2 or a 3-4 Defensive Coordinator might be a step in the wrong direction.

He might not to want to mix and match parts either. While Marinelli is being hired as a DLine coach, it's for Chicago, and they run the Tampa-2. If, Kubiak wanted to run a more attacking defense like the Eagles or Giants, then Marinelli's coaching would be the wrong techniques. Imagine bringing in Alex Gibbs to be the OL coach and tell him you wanted to run a mauling man blocking scheme. That would be a waste and not putting your coaches and players in a position to succeed. Also, he may be willing to allow the new Defensive Coordinator to pick his own asssistant coaches (at least replace the fired ones).

[Roy P]

Originally Posted by Roy P

Also, he may be willing to allow the new Defensive Coordinator to pick his own asssistant coaches (at least replace the fired ones).

I was doing some investigating on who we might consider. The Eagles' Jim Johnson is my guru, so I'm hoping for Sean McDermott. He might be able to bring along Otis Smith to be the Secondary coach. Perhaps Mike Caldwell could come along too. Their Special Teams Coordinator, Rory Segrest worked with Pete Jenkins at Auburn as a DL coach.

McD - http://www.philadelphiaeagles.com/te...sp?coach_id=10
Otis Smith - http://www.philadelphiaeagles.com/te...sp?coach_id=22
Caldwell - http://www.philadelphiaeagles.com/te...sp?coach_id=25
Segrest - http://www.philadelphiaeagles.com/te...asp?coach_id=4

Another option for the DLine coach... I might have to pilfer from the Panthers.

Sam Mills III is the Defensive Quality Control coach and works with DL coach Sal Sunseri. The Defensive Coordinator, Mike Trgovac, was the DL coach in Philly in 1998, when McDermott started with the Eagles.

http://www.panthers.com/Team/CoachBio.aspx?id=1936

http://www.panthers.com/Team/CoachBio.aspx?id=2130

[painekiller]

You know Kubiak taking a week off when he has not had a day off since early July does not bother me.

His sons are home from school this week and he can spend time with them this week. I do not have a problem with that. Kubiak has a pretty big rolodex as any NFL coach who has done this for as long as he has many "friend" I am sure he is catching up with this week. Just because we have not heard a thing does not mean a thing.

Relax.

As for Marinelli, I thought he would end up in Chicago or Indy, so him being reportedly offered a position with one them is a non story.

[NBT]

McDermott would be a prize catch, IMO. But since he has been with the Eagles for 10 years, it might be hard to pry him away.

[da Bull]

I'm sure Rick Smith has been on the phone whether Kubiak has or not. Also, most of the names with the exception of Marinelli have been somewhat rumored to be consideration for head coaching positions. As for McDermott, when Philly falls he may be the hottest name out there including head coaching rumors.

[Joshua]

I agree that McDermott appears to be a good candidate and if he ultimately gets the job, I'll be happy with the hire and all of my anxiety will prove to be unfounded. With any luck, this is what will transpire.

However, I really feel like the potential list of candidates is growing increasingly smaller. Looks like Nolan and Marinelli are gone. If either Williams or Gray were on the top of the Texans' list, I suspect we would have heard about it by now (I just don't recall coaching searches to have the level of secrecy as, say, draft boards). To me, it is looking more and more like we will go with Bush. Now, he may turn out to be a great D coordinator, but he simply does not have anything in his resume to suggest he will be (at least some of the other guys have proven themselves previously). If Bush gets the job, I think we're basically relying on Kubiak's belief that he will develop into a great coordinator, but there's not much else to suggest that. I like Kubes and he has done wonders with the offense, but the bottom line is during his tenure the Texans defense has been not only bad, but historically bad (Stephanie Stradley's blog on chron.com has some posts showing how the Texans' defense over the last 3 years has been one of the worst 3 year performances in league history).

Now, I'm hoping for the best and if Bush is the guy, I'll certainly give him a chance to prove himself. However, I can't help but be nervous if a self-admitted offensive coach who has presided over one of the worst defenses around simply elevates one of his buddies who, on paper, doesn't appear as qualified as numerous other candidates. In other words, I have no problem extending Kubiak a little blind loyalty when it comes to offensive decisions. However, defensively, his track record is terrible, no way around it, and thus, I can't blindly accept his choice if the candidate's resume doesn't match.

[cadams]

I think you have hit the nail on the head with this one. I think kubiak wants bush as DC and he is holding off for the big names to be gone so he can say that bush was the most qualified candidate interviewed.*


*hopefully i am way off on this

[papabear]

Originally Posted by cadams

I think you have hit the nail on the head with this one. I think kubiak wants bush as DC and he is holding off for the big names to be gone so he can say that bush was the most qualified candidate interviewed.*


*hopefully i am way off on this

Kubiak knows he's on a short leash. He's well aware that the strong finish saved his job this year, but he knows he needs to make the playoffs if he wants to stick around. I think he's going to get someone he believes will make an impact, and sooner rather than later.

[cadams]

Originally Posted by papabear

Kubiak knows he's on a short leash. He's well aware that the strong finish saved his job this year, but he knows he needs to make the playoffs if he wants to stick around. I think he's going to get someone he believes will make an impact, and sooner rather than later.

I truly hope you are correct

[bckey]

I agree with Joshua on this whole week off thing. The Texans should have already done some interviews with available candidates. This would allow you to move quickly when someone like Sean McDermott becomes available. How many times have you seen a coach or free agent go to a team for an interview and never leave. Alot of times they get signed without ever making it to the other teams on their list. You snooze you lose in the NFL.

[Joshua]

Now we're talking. Marinelli is in town to interview for either the DC or D line position.

http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/sports/6200476.html

Whether he proves to be the guy or not, I'm just glad that there is some indication that the Texans search is moving forward.

On other fronts, the Saints fired their D coordinator yesterday and are interviewing Gregg Williams for the job today.