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Rick Smith Hot Seat Thread


Apollo Stallion

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Somebody has been reading my rants (the always reliable Sean Pendergast)...

http://www.houstonpress.com/news/three-playoff-wins-in-twelve-seasons-the-rick-smith-story-10049032

Up to and including this weekend's games, the Texans are 86-88 since 2007, a winning percentage of .494, good enough for 19th in the NFL. Every team below the Texans since 2007 has changed general managers AT LEAST twice in that timeframe. Eight teams above the Texans have the same general manager that they had when Smith was hired. Five have won Super Bowls (New England, Pittsburgh, Green Bay, New Orleans, Baltimore), two have a GM who actually OWNS the team (Dallas, Cincinnati), and the other is Minnesota, who is 11-3 with a Texans castoff at quarterback this season.

Pretty much restates one of my primary points, but is more generous than me as he excludes 2006 since Rick didn't draft (which as Sean points out you can tell, because it was good).  Finally, members of the Houston media are starting to be bold enough to cast light on where the PRIMARY problem lies. Frankly, I could live with another year of BOB to see where he could take this thing with merely a below average o-line (versus one of the worst ever assembled) as frankly, the HC options are pretty underwhelming and I don't want another year of built in excuses (usual 2 year honeymoon for new coaches).  Smith, however, needs to be accountable for two of the worst FA moves EVER in signing Brock, letting Bouye walk, mismanaging the D. Brown holdout, irresponsible neglect of the o-line, as many collapses as underwhelming playoff runs, any of which would be enough to cut the cord on even a GM with decent results on their resume, better yet a guy who has delivered a bottom 1/3rd of the league legacy despite one of the most advantageous situations in the league between ownership, fanbase, division, etc.

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2 hours ago, Apollo Stallion said:

Finally, members of the Houston media are starting to be bold enough to cast light on where the PRIMARY problem lies

I'd say that time has swiftly turned on the flagship - pretty much every major name on 610 has put the blame on Smith's shoulders (I think the only two who don't blame him on air are Vandemeer and John Harris, who are employed by the team. They're also the only two who actually talk to him on air). I think that's by design, as the rest of the 610 team would go off on Smith for his misses. Pancakes defends him, but Pancakes might as well be on the Texans payroll too. 

The jig is up, everyone knows where the issue is - and pretty much everyone is willing to talk about it now. Hopefully that drives change, but the narrative of this being only a coaching issue is burying the lead. 

If we fire O'Brien, we'll be stuck in a tailspin as we'll hire another coach with the same broken GM, which will once again lead to mediocre seasons.

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8 hours ago, amazingandre said:

Hire Joe Douglas as GM, Reich as HC and Defilippo as OC

 

Douglas had a huge role in the Ravens success through the 2000s and has helped Philly build their team. Fire Smith already and hire a true scout to lead this team. 

Go higher up on the food chain in Baltimore - Eric DeCosta, Assistant GM for the Ravens. He's been Ozzie's heir for nearly a decade, but you've got to think he's growing tired of the "Assistant" tag. Throw ALL of the money at him. You'd have to think Houston is the most attractive GM destination if it opens up, you're guaranteed a job for 10+ years and you don't have to do a single thing right in that timeframe. So, go big!

Make DeCosta the highest paid Executive in sports (higher than Brian Cashman of the Yankees, even), poach a few analytics gurus from Lunhow's and Morey's staff, find a Football Tzar (because Jacksonville's investment in Tom Coughlin is looking like THE reason they've lapped us in less than six months) and assertively rebuild the secondary and OL.

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8 hours ago, EliteTexan80 said:

Go higher up on the food chain in Baltimore - Eric DeCosta, Assistant GM for the Ravens. He's been Ozzie's heir for nearly a decade, but you've got to think he's growing tired of the "Assistant" tag. Throw ALL of the money at him. You'd have to think Houston is the most attractive GM destination if it opens up, you're guaranteed a job for 10+ years and you don't have to do a single thing right in that timeframe. So, go big!

Make DeCosta the highest paid Executive in sports (higher than Brian Cashman of the Yankees, even), poach a few analytics gurus from Lunhow's and Morey's staff, find a Football Tzar (because Jacksonville's investment in Tom Coughlin is looking like THE reason they've lapped us in less than six months) and assertively rebuild the secondary and OL.

Douglas left Baltimore and went to Chicago for year and now is in Philly. He’s the guy I want. Every draft room he’s been in has scooped up talent. 

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8 minutes ago, amazingandre said:

I think this will end up being the move we wanted (but not fired). They will bring in another person to run football operations and when/if he comes back, he will be in a new role. JMO

I'm pretty sure this is the case. Timing of it is horrible, and I don't wish this on anyone - cancer is a horrible thing, nobody deserves it and I wish th Smith family all of the strength in the world to overcome it.

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