Observations: Fire Kubiak!

Saturday, November 26, 2011

Fire Kubiak!

Whatever happened to the all those people who were screaming "Fire Kubiak"? I haven't heard much from them lately.

For the past few years, it seems that every discussion I've had with Houston Texans fans has included at least one fan of the opinion that the Texans would never be winners as long as Kubiak was the coach.

Gary Kubiak is Too Soft!

I could be wrong, but it seems to me that for many people the problem was Gary Kubiak didn't scream enough! We need somebody like Bill Cowher -- or, Mike Ditka, or Vince Lombardi, or .... That's what I kept hearing.

In my experience, for every Vince Lombardi, there was a Tom Landry. For every Mike Ditka, there was a
Bud Grant. For every Bill Cowher, there was a Tony Dungy. What about Weeb Ewbank? Hank Stram? Dick Vermeil? When you think of great coaches in pro football history, don't you include Bill Walsh? Don't you include Bill Belichick? In my view, not a screamer in the lot.

My take is that many Houston Texans fans would have been ecstatic if, say, Mike Singletary had replaced Kubiak replaced Kubiak a few years back. How'd that work out for San Francisco? Clearly being a good head coach is about more than having a macho personality.

What Makes a Good Coach/Leader?

If Kubiak was "too soft," wouldn't it have been most evident in the Texans' offense -- the area he most affects? The offense has consistently improved, and is now among the very best in the NFL (well, it was before we lost our first and second string QBs anyway).

Good leaders get the maximum performance out of their organizations. It's about challenging, and supporting, and demanding, and caring, and nurturing, and.... Kubiak does that as well as any coach in the league today. Matt Leinart certainly thinks so. He says "They’re so demanding of us here, but in a way that they get the best out of you and that’s something that I love. It’s competitive and they push you to be great." Leadership is about more than screaming; leadership was not the issue.

Many fans are misled by Kubiak's press conferences. Do you really believe you can evaluate a head coach based upon his press conferences (probably universally their least favorite part of the job)? Success in these venues doesn't demonstrate the skills needed to be a great head coach. It's kinda like evaluating Presidential candidates based upon their TV presence & debating skills -- but that's another post....

Winning is About More Than "Leadership"

I think what people were really upset about was not winning. And, winning is about more than leadership style. It's also about, for example, building an organization. Being a consistent winner takes a good organization. Frankly, I think the Texans have done a stellar job there as well -- though clearly they've not been perfect! (see, e.g. this post) Building a winning organization is about developing and implementing a winning strategy. More on that in a future post.

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Houston Texans 2012: A Few Words of Caution

The Houston Texans' Strategy is Paying Off
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Houston Texans Right to let Vonta Leach Go
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