Lovie Smith First to Interview for Texans Job

[HtownColt]

@McClain_on_NFL: Story: #Texans interview former #Bears coach Lovie Smith for head coaching position. Smith is first to interview. http://t.co/JtV3rTVvhp

[PrincetonTiger]

How many more to come?

[SkyBane]

This would make no sense if they did it. McNair wants offensive innovation and the development of a new QB. Lovie brings neither of these things while also setting the defense back. The only way Smith gets the job is if they decide to go full rebuild mode, which McNair already said shouldnt be necessary.

I just dont see the fit. Am I missing something?

[HtownColt]

How many more to come?

At the end of the article it lists these people:

Among the other candidates the Texans are interested in are interim coach Wade Phillips, Penn State coach Bill O’Brien and San Diego offensive coordinator Ken Whisenhunt.

[Coltivated]

nightmare scenario sign lovey Smith switches to his 4-3 and they draft Clowney opposite of JJ Watt

[Coltivated]

its the same s*** my pants kind of feeling that Houston had when we drafted andrew luck

[HtownColt]

nightmare scenario sign lovey Smith switches to his 4-3 and they draft Clowney opposite of JJ Watt

Opposite Mercilus, Watt and Antonio Smith would be the inside guys, still scary

[Dustin]

This would make no sense if they did it. McNair wants offensive innovation and the development of a new QB. Lovie brings neither of these things while also setting the defense back. The only way Smith gets the job is if they decide to go full rebuild mode, which McNair already said shouldnt be necessary.

I just dont see the fit. Am I missing something?

 

Yeah, if they wanted a defensive guy anyway, they'd be much better off with a guy like Ray Horton who you wouldn't have to basically re-build you're entire defense for. 

[HtownColt]

Yeah, if they wanted a defensive guy anyway, they'd be much better off with a guy like Ray Horton who you wouldn't have to basically re-build you're entire defense for.

More than half their defense was there when they were a 4-3 team just two years ago, they were initially brought in for a 4-3 team except for a couple players

[SkyBane]

its the same s*** my pants kind of feeling that Houston had when we drafted andrew luck

Not really. Their defense would be okay, but cover 2 is a pretty dated scheme nowadays, plus they would have to retool to fit it. Also, Lovie is inept at cultivating an offense. The Texans would be mediocre at best on that side of the ball for years.

If the Texans had a talented offense, but a struggling defense, this would make sense. But they dont. Whisenhunt has to be their guy. He fits every criteria Bob McNair claimed he wanted.

[Dustin]

More than half their defense was there when they were a 4-3 team just two years ago

 

Not from a Tampa 2 they weren't. 

[HtownColt]

Not from a Tampa 2 they weren't.

Not hard to teach different concepts with obvious versatile defenders, Plus Lovie plays a lot more than just a Tampa 2, that's just his calling card. He already has Daniel Manning there to help him out on installing his defense

[Dustin]

Not hard to teach different concepts with obvious versatile defenders, Plus Lovie plays a lot more than just a Tampa 2, that's just his calling card

 

They don't have many versatile defenders. They have Watt and Cushing and that's about it. They'd have no OLBers, no attacking DTs (Watt and Mercilus would play DE), their safeties are already bad and their corners would be extremely overpaid to play mostly zone. 

 

It's not a good fit, plus, he's already shown to be a mediocre head coach. 

[HtownColt]

They don't have many versatile defenders. They have Watt and Cushing and that's about it. They'd have no OLBers, no attacking DTs (Watt and Mercilus would play DE), their safeties are already bad and their corners would be extremely overpaid to play mostly zone.

It's not a good fit, plus, he's already shown to be a mediocre head coach.

Daniel Manning already played for Lovie with the Bears, Brooks Reed has played 4-3 OLB before, Cushing has played in a 4-3 next to Demeco Ryans, Antonio Smith thrives when he slides inside to DT in the nickel packages, Mercilus played DE in College if I'm not mistaken. Watt plays DT and they draft Clowney to play the other DE. They have the players. And their corners need to play a little more zone as much as they get beat

[Coltivated]

Or Anthony barr at rush olb in there 3-4

[Superman]

They don't have many versatile defenders. They have Watt and Cushing and that's about it. They'd have no OLBers, no attacking DTs (Watt and Mercilus would play DE), their safeties are already bad and their corners would be extremely overpaid to play mostly zone. 

 

It's not a good fit, plus, he's already shown to be a mediocre head coach. 

 

Watt wouldn't play end. Maybe on running downs, maybe.

 

I would personally love to see the Texans hire Lovie Smith, as I don't think he's a good head coach.

[Dustin]

Daniel Manning already played for Lovie with the Bears, Brooks Reed has played 4-3 OLB before, Cushing has played in a 4-3 next to Demeco Ryans, Antonio Smith thrives when he slides inside to DT in the nickel packages, Mercilus played DE in College if I'm not mistaken. Watt plays DT and they draft Clowney to play the other DE. They have the players. And their corners need to play a little more zone as much as they get beat

Manning and Mercilus are bad. Cushing is coming off of his 2nd season ending surgery. Antonio Smith is a free agent. Watt would play DE in a 43 as he does when the Texans currently go with a 4 man front and like he did at Wisconson.

 

 They still have holes all over their defense and basically no cap space to reload this off-season.

[PrincetonTiger]

Not hard to teach different concepts with obvious versatile defenders, Plus Lovie plays a lot more than just a Tampa 2, that's just his calling card. He already has Daniel Manning there to help him out on installing his defense

It is also about the difference of personel.

[Dustin]

Watt wouldn't play end. Maybe on running downs, maybe.

 

I would personally love to see the Texans hire Lovie Smith, as I don't think he's a good head coach.

 

Watt plays DE when the Texans go to a 4 man front.

[SkyBane]

Daniel Manning already played for Lovie with the Bears, Brooks Reed has played 4-3 OLB before, Cushing has played in a 4-3 next to Demeco Ryans, Antonio Smith thrives when he slides inside to DT in the nickel packages, Mercilus played DE in College if I'm not mistaken. Watt plays DT and they draft Clowney to play the other DE. They have the players. And their corners need to play a little more zone as much as they get beat

For the sake of argument, say the above works (I dont agree it does, but that's not the point at the moment). Bob McNair (the owner) thinks the defense works as is and the problems are offensive in nature. He has said a QB and a head coach should get them back to winning. We assume they will draft a guy, or trade for Cousins, giving them a young QB to develop.

Lovie Smith has a history of poor offensive decision making, and squandering QB talent. How does hiring him accomplish ANY of Bob McNair's claimed agenda? If anything, it sets it back. This is a terrible fit, even discounting the change to defensive scheme.

[Superman]

Watt plays DE when the Texans go to a 4 man front.

 

That's overly simplistic. I can't imagine that, in Smith's system, they'd play Watt at end on passing downs. He could do it; he can do anything. But he'd be the perfect fit at three-tech in that defensive front.

[amfootball]

I like Lovie. He is definitely one of the hot coaches out there to be had this off-season. I am anxious to see if the Giants HC job opens up and who goes there.

[HtownColt]

Manning and Mercilus are bad. Cushing is coming off of his 2nd season ending surgery. Antonio Smith is a free agent. Watt would play DE in a 43 as he does when the Texans currently go with a 4 man front and like he did at Wisconson.

They still have holes all over their defense and basically no cap space to reload this off-season.

Oh I don't know about their contract situations. And Watt plays inside when they go 4-3(where he got most of his sacks), Mercilus and Reed play the ends. As for calling Manning and Mercilus just bad that's debatable, I don't care for either player but they are there, and Manning could be like Redding is to us as far as helping implement his defense.

Even though I can only find last years numbers on Watt lining up in the nickel(November of 2012), from what I watch every week it's pretty much the same.

http://m.espn.go.com/general/blogs/blogpost?blogname=afcsouth&id=43422&src=desktop

"While we talk about the Texans as a 3-4, we need to remember it winds up with a four-man front in most nickel situations. So Watt is technically inside quite a bit, with 34 percent of his snaps coming inside. "

[SkyBane]

I like Lovie. He is definitely one of the hot coaches out there to be had this off-season. I am anxious to see if the Giants HC job opens up and who goes there.

Giants need an entire roster overhaul. They let themselves get too old in the trenches. If Coughlin retires, they will probably try to snag a coordinator from someone to try something entirely new.

[amfootball]

Giants need an entire roster overhaul. They let themselves get too old in the trenches. If Coughlin retires, they will probably try to snag a coordinator from someone to try something entirely new.

Seems like the team gave up on him IMO. They def. need a change. 25 picks by Eli maybe as stunning as Peyton's 47 TDs. Not sure what happened to him this season.

[MacDee1975]

The Texans would be better off hiring an offensive minded HC to cultivate and maximize the value in whomever their new QB will be.  I'm thinking Greg Roman, OC, SF.

 

Lovie Smith would probably garner the same results that Kubiak did.

[HtownColt]

For the sake of argument, say the above works (I dont agree it does, but that's not the point at the moment). Bob McNair (the owner) thinks the defense works as is and the problems are offensive in nature. He has said a QB and a head coach should get them back to winning. We assume they will draft a guy, or trade for Cousins, giving them a young QB to develop.

Lovie Smith has a history of poor offensive decision making, and squandering QB talent. How does hiring him accomplish ANY of Bob McNair's claimed agenda? If anything, it sets it back. This is a terrible fit, even discounting the change to defensive scheme.

Same way we hired Pagano and then got Bruce Arians. McNair needs to go out and find a Offensive Coordinator that fits his vision he sees his new offense heading

[Dustin]

Oh I don't know about their contract situations. And Watt plays inside when they go 4-3, Mercilus and Reed play the ends. As for calling Manning and Mercilus just bad that's debatable, I don't care for either player but they are there, and Manning could be like Redding is to us as far as helping implement his defense.

Even though I can only find last years numbers on Watt lining up in the nickel(November of 2012), from what I watch every week it's pretty much the same.

http://m.espn.go.com/general/blogs/blogpost?blogname=afcsouth&id=43422&src=desktop

"While we talk about the Texans as a 3-4, we need to remember it winds up with a four-man front in most nickel situations. So Watt is technically inside quite a bit, with 34 percent of his snaps coming inside. "

 

34%? That's barely a 3rd of the time. They kick him inside on short yardage situations or when the match up dictates it. He moslty plays DE in 4 man fronts. I can't comment on how Lovie would use him, but as Superman alluded to a second ago, he would be a the perfect 3-tech for them so they probably would kick him inside the majority of the time.  

 

They'd still have 1 DT (Watt) and 1 DE (Clowney) on their Dline with an injury prone ILB and a bunch of other players who have little experience in an already outdated defensive scheme.

[SkyBane]

Same way we hired Pagano and then got Bruce Arians. McNair needs to go out and find a Offensive Coordinator that fits his vision he sees his new offense heading

Entirely different situation. The Colts actually had defense as a focus. They wanted to completely rebuild as a more balanced roster.

The Texans want none of that. They are hyperfocused on fixing the offense and leaving as much intact as possible. Lovie Smith accomplishes the opposite of this. He is literally everything they claim to be trying to avoid. It would be a dumb hire for what they claim to want.

[HtownColt]

34%? That's barely a 3rd of the time. They kick him inside on short yardage situations or when the match up dictates it. He moslty plays DE in 4 man fronts. I can't comment on how Lovie would use him, but as Superman alluded to a second ago, he would be a the perfect 3-tech for them so they probably would kick him inside the majority of the time.

They'd still have 1 DT (Watt) and 1 DE (Clowney) on their Dline with an injury prone ILB and a bunch of other players who have little experience in an already outdated defensive scheme.

34% of his total snaps, you're not in nickel that much of you're total defensive snaps for it to be that high. They are pretty much in nickel 34% of total defensive snaps, so if it's just his nickel percentage it would be like 90% if we were only factoring in nickel/dime snaps. The link shows the snap breakdown and how much he plays inside of his total snaps.

I'd resign Antonio Smith if I was them anyway

[HtownColt]

Entirely different situation. The Colts actually had defense as a focus. They wanted to completely rebuild as a more balanced roster.

The Texans want none of that. They are hyperfocused on fixing the offense and leaving as much intact as possible. Lovie Smith accomplishes the opposite of this. He is literally everything they claim to be trying to avoid. It would be a dumb hire for what they claim to want.

Obviously the owner isn't thinking that way if the owner has Lovie Smith as his top priority

[Dustin]

34% of his total snaps, you're not in nickel that much of you're total defensive snaps for it to be that high. They are pretty much in nickel 34% of total defensive snaps, so if it's just his nickel percentage it would be like 90% if we were only factoring in nickel/dime snaps

 

I... don't think that is correct. The way it reads it reads to me is that Watt plays on the inside 34% of the time when they go to nickle/dime. 

[SkyBane]

Obviously the owner isn't thinking that way if the owner has Lovie Smith as his top priority

First interview doesnt mean top priority. Its insulting to say, but I view this as just fulfilling the Rooney rule.

[HtownColt]

I... don't think that is correct. The way it reads it reads to me is that Watt plays on the inside 34% of the time when they go to nickle/dime.

The chart says snaps by position 2012, and it has him at DT for a huge bulk of his total snaps and most of his sacks come from when he is lined up at 3-tech

Edited

[HtownColt]

First interview doesnt mean top priority. Its insulting to say, but I view this as just fulfilling the Rooney rule.

When he first fired Kubiak Lovie Smith was the first name his said

[SkyBane]

When he first fired Kubiak Lovie Smith was the first name his said

I just took it as an example of someone with NFL experience at HC. If he is seriously considered after the interview, the Texans have no clue what they are doing.

[HtownColt]

I just took it as an example of someone with NFL experience at HC. If he is seriously considered after the interview, the Texans have no clue what they are doing.

How do you know? It's nothing wrong with getting a defensive minded HC as long as you get the OC you want as well. You don't have to be the HC to change an offense around, a good OC can do that

[Dustin]

The chart says snaps by position 2012, and it has him at DT like 50% of the time of his total snaps and most of his sacks come from when he is lined up at 3-tech

 

Oh lol you linked me to the mobile version when I was on a desktop and the chart didn't show up. 

 

That chart is kind of weird. What does he consider Left DE? Is he counting him lined up at left DE in a base 34 and him at left 43 DE in nickle as one?

 

Is he counting left DT only when they are lined up in a 4 man front and he kicks in?  Or does he also count him as a DT when he's lined up at the end of 3 man line like how we do with RJF.

 

I don't even know how to read that chart.

[HtownColt]

Oh lol you linked me to the mobile version when I was on a desktop and the chart didn't show up.

That chart is kind of weird. What does he consider Left DE? Is he counting him lined up at left DE in a base 34 and him at left 43 DE in nickle as one?

Is he counting left DT only when they are lined up in a 4 man front and he kicks in? Or does he also count him as a DT when he's lined up at the end of 3 man line like how we do with RJF.

I don't even know how to read that chart.

The way I looked at was DE meant lined up over the tackle and DT was over the guard. Whether it was 3-4 or 4-3 I think he just compiled them together

[SkyBane]

How do you know? It's nothing wrong with getting a defensive minded HC as long as you get the OC you want as well. You don't have to be the HC to change an offense around, a good OC can do that

Because Lovie wants input on his coordinators and he always makes terrible decisions on who is running the offense. Lovie would be a disaster in Houston.