Gary Kubiak was fired last Friday after the Houston Texans lost to the lowly Jacksonville Jaguars. It was their 11th loss in a row. Bob McNair had no choice but to pull the plug on Kubiak’s seven-plus year tenure with the team.
This season has been an unmitigated disaster for this franchise. The team came in looking like a Super Bowl contender, only to be reduced to the worst team in football. Most of the players look like they have checked out and just want this season to end.
It was obvious that Kubiak lost the team. He also botched the QB situation by putting his faith in Matt Schaub. Schaub is a decent QB in the West-Coast offense that Kubiak has ran in the past. However, his mistakes continued to pile up and he isn’t talented enough to overcome them. Kubiak’s offense looked antiquated and ineffective in an increasingly vertical-happy NFL.
Case Keenum has shown some promise, but there is no doubt that the Texans will select a QB in the 2014 draft. They also could try to get one free agency. This is a talent-rich team that could very well become the new Kansas City Chiefs with the right coach.
McNair has said that wants a coach with NFL experience. He mentioned former Chicago Bears coach Lovie Smith as a potential candidate. David Shaw of Stanford has also been brought up. Jon Gruden is always included on these lists.
Here is an idea out of left field involving a coach who may very well end up looking for work soon. It is someone who has had success running a NFL offense. He got his big break in Houston. That person is the former offensive coordinator for the team, Kyle Shanahan.
It may seem like a weird choice, but Shanahan was good as a coordinator when he was in Houston. Some would argue that he hasn’t been very good in Washington. He has done as well as you could have with Robert Griffin III. He has adapted the offense so that Griffin would be as comfortable as possible.
The Redskins offense was excellent last year. It proves that with a good QB, Shanahan’s offense can flourish. It has floundered this year, but I think that Griffin deserves a lot of the blame for holding on to the ball too long and not making the proper reads. It is almost a given that Shanahan will be gone after the season.
McNair may want someone like Smith or Gruden. They have had success in the league and are very experienced. I think that with six seasons of experience under his belt, Shanahan is ready to take the next step to head coach. As long as he hires good coordinators on both sides of the ball, it could work. Sometimes you need to make a bold move in order to get to the next level. Houston is ready to go to the next level and Shanahan could get them over the hump.
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