As the Texans fade to their sixth straight losing season and fifth last place finish in their six year existence, head Texans cheerleader John McClain is preaching patience.
A year ago at this time, the Texans looked deader than a doornail and like a team that was not particularly well-coached. The Texans closed the season by upsetting the Colts and beating a bad Browns team to finish with a 6-10 record.
Then, after the usual pre-season cheerleading and despite the fact that the Texans continued to make questionable personnel moves in the off-season, McClain went batty over second-year coach Gary Kubiak after the Texans opened this season with wins over a bad Chiefs team and an even worse Carolina team.
Now, a couple of months later and a year later after the Texans looked deader than a doornail, the Texans again look deader than a doornail and like a team that is not particularly well-coached. The Texans will have to win two of the last four games against tough opponents just to finish one game better than last season’s 6-10 record.
And McClain preaches patience.
Frankly, I’m quite patient with the Texans — I don’t think the team will improve much until Bob McNair is completely comfortable with a management model for the team, gets the right management and coaches in place, and that management quits making bad personnel decisions. However, I’m much less patient with what the Chronicle attempts to pass off as analysis from John McClain.
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What is truly bizarre about that column is that McClain specifically criticizes “fans” for basically being emotional and irrational and overly reactionary.
There are two problems with that:
1) HE is as guilty as most fans of being emotional, irrational, and overly reactionary,
and
2) FANS are supposed to be that way to some extent, making the criticism odd. Columnists, on the other hand, ought to provide a more sober, analytical perspective — something that seems in very short supply on the Chronicle sports pages.
Yeah, that column was baffling. Here’s his list:
“Fans are so angry and confused about whom to blame that they want just about everyone fired so the franchise can rebuild for what would be the third time in seven years.
That’s why fans don’t run franchises.
Here’s something to chew on as you spew venom at Bob McNair, Rick Smith, Gary Kubiak, Richard Smith, Mike Sherman and their players.”
Actually, I don’t think the fanbase wants everyone fired. That last paragraph is disingenuous. The coach that many fans have the least patience with his Richard Smith.
McClain liked that hire because he knew him from his Oiler days, but there is nothing in Smith’s background that makes you think he is the guy to guide the Texans 4-3.
He listed all those folks so he could lump them together and discard it out of hand, but for most fans using logic and not emotion, Richard Smith should have a target on his back and McClain is giving him a free pass.
Especially with the departure of Sherman, which will probably lead to the offense becoming more like Kubiak’s vision of it and with increasing his involvement, Kubiak needs someone as a defensive coordinator with a track record of accomplishment. Somebody that he can give the keys to and not worry about the defense being a boat anchor.
Since Kubiak has come to the Texans, you can see a lot of optimism on the offensive side of the ball and what it might be in the years to come with more players. It’s inconsistent, but you can see enough good stuff to think that once they get more used to it and get more players it could be really good. I think a lot of the turnover issues come from having to depend on a lot of young and inexperienced players in key roles by necessity.
On the defensive side of the ball, statistically and on the field they have been abysmal since Smith’s beginnings. They are horrible against the run and the pass. Anything good that happens on the field on the defensive side of the ball looks to be a product of individual effort (like DeMeco Ryans), and not because the scheme makes them look so good.
Smith’s play calling seems odd at times, looking aggressive when it should be conservative, and vice verse.
I still have no idea what sort of defense the Texans are supposed to be running–you know, whose defense should it be resembling. Smith has never been a solo defensive coordinator before, and his previous team was a 3-4 that was really run by Nick Saban who was in all the defensive meetings with Miami.
So, on the defensive side of the ball we have:
1. A coordinator with little experience doing what he is expected to do.
2. No track record with success on the 4-3.
3. Running a defense that is struggling in just about every statistical category, and gives up huge plays in ways where it looks like they are poorly coached (lots of secondary breakdowns, line overpursuit).
Why should Texans fans expect that he will be able to turn it around?
Smith is likely going to get a free ride in the offseason because:
1. McNair is a stay the course guy and is nice.
2. Smith can use injuries as an excuse to say why the defense has performed so poorly.
Personally, I would whip out the big check book and find the best smart badass 4-3 coach I could entice to come to the Texans. They have some young talent, but they need someone they can trust who has a track record to develop that talent. I have heard that Frank Bush was hired as someone to eventually replace Smith, but I am not sure he is the guy you can just give the keys to and trust everything will get better for the defense.
I’m probably going to write something up on this soonishly.
All fair points, Stephanie. One thing that has impressed me about Kubiak is that he is not afraid to admit errors, cut his losses and move on. As noted in my preview of the Texans before this season, I expected both the offense and the defense to be below-league average this season. However, if I were in Kubiak’s shoes, the lack of development in the defense overall and in the offensive line would be of concern to me. Of course, having four offensive line coaches in six years of the franchise doesn’t help development of the OL.
By the way, when I hear folks criticize Schaub because he is “injury-prone,” I have to chuckle. I wonder how many NFL QB’s could have endured those two hits in a row that Schaub took last Sunday (both the results of the Texans’ tackles getting beat badly on successive plays) and not come out of them with an injury of some kind?
The second hit that Schaub received, he shouldn’t have been hit because they should have called a run in that circumstance (short yardage 3rd down after he was hit in the throwing arm the previous down and obviously TN’s line was feeling it).
Schaub has performed well given the limitations of the personnel available to him (early injuries to just about every playmaker and a dismal early season running game), but those same limitations have allowed defenses to tee off on him some.
They have had some buzzards luck on the offensive line given the injury to Charles Spencer, and this year’s injuries to Steve McKinney and Fred Weary. The guard play has been good, the development of Winston at right tackle has been a surprise, and left tackle has been serviceable. Kubiak does no favors for his line when he gets overly fond of the pass.
Jordan Black was an offseason signing at tackle, and it is good to see that the coaching staff doesn’t automatically start their free agent signings if their play on the field doesn’t warrant it. (I have the 2005 Victor Riley situation in mind under the old regime).
With Sherman exiting, I would like to see someone more experienced than John Benton in charge of the line, but at least he has experience on some level with line play. Under the Capers regime, at one point he had one of his cronies who had never taught the position running it.
I am not someone that typically calls for coaches’ heads, but I haven’t heard any single good reason for keeping Richard Smith at all.
Not only is his defense below average in just about every category, it is in the basement for many of them. Stats can lie, especially given the offense’s propensity for giving up the ball and keeping the defense on the field, but even then, watching the defense is just painful at times, and the defensive play calling inexplicable.
Fans have no confidence in him, there’s little reason to have confidence in him given his past, and I am guessing that with not having much history of success, his yelling act in the locker room has to get old.