Shanahan as good as gone

Shanahan as good as gone
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There's been speculation for a while that when Mike Shanahan decided to re-enter the NFL head coaching ranks that his son Kyle would leave the Texans to join him as offensive coordinator.
Speculation came close to fact today during 's weekly press conference with Houston media.
When asked about the possibility of losingShanahan, Kubiak said "we'll have to adjust with another one. That's part of the business and like I said, with Kyle, nothing's official yet, but obviously it looks like Mike's coming right back into the business here real quick and I know it's something he's always wanted,Da'Quan Bowers Jerseys, to have his son work for him ... so I'll have to start looking in another direction..."
You can read the at houstontexans.com and watch the video of Kubiak's comments below from . The quotes found here are all pulled from the transcription.
While the loss of Shanahan is tempered somewhat by the fact that the Texans offense is Kubiak's offense and the basic system will be retained, there will definitely be an impact from the sense of continuity and what it means for the quarterbacks.
Eric Winston seemed concerned about the change which would result in the fourth offensive coordinator in five seasons for the Texans.
"No matter if it's the same offense, [a new coordinator is]still going to want to do their own things," said Winston,Mason Foster Jersey." They're still going to want to run a certain way; they're going to still want to have their own little passing routes. You can call it what you want to call it, but they're going to go in their direction. I know when Mike Sherman was here, we were doing a lot more man scheme. Shanahanis straight out of the Denver scheme and we were zoning people up, and I liked that a lot. That's something that I'm really interested in. I hope they get a guy that comes in and is willing to at least take a look at what we've been doing here and not really deviate from what we've done because it's hard to say it hasn't worked."
I don't think Kubiak would make a wholesale change to the scheme at this point and I would expect the new coordinator to be more ofa zone guy vs. a man guy. I thinkthe new coordinator will have to fit in with what Kubiak wants to implement instead of bringing in a system of his own as Sherman did in 2006. Kubiakseems more comfortable in the current system and knows what he wants more than simply needing help which was the case in '06.
Matt Schaub was less revealing in his comments, offering only words of encouragement for Shanahan. "It's a great opportunity for him," said Schaub. "He's been a big part of what we've been able to do around here but whenever you're doing good things in this league and in this business, things are going to change. Guys are going to shuffle around, coaches are going to change, and I'm just happy that he's getting an opportunity to move on. He's going to be a heck of a coach for a number of years."
That's nice of Matt to say but I worry about things like day to day relationships between the quarterbacks and their coordinator. Shanahan and Schaub seemed to have developed a very good working relationship over the past two seasons.
In terms of play calling, Kubiak said "I want somebody with me that I'm comfortable with,Mike Williams Jerseys. Whoever I end up bringing in here, whoever I work with, I want to get them to the same point that I am with Kyle, and that I was with the other guys, where I can say, Hey, go ahead. If I don't like something, I'm going to jump in.' We have to be that close and on the same page. I think that's very, very important becausethat's the guy I deal with every day putting in game plans, calling the game and making adjustments during the game. That is important to me. It's very important to me."
So the million dollar question is who fits that category?
I'll throw out a name just for the heck of it.Without the benefit of insider information, contract information or knowledge of previous workingrelationships with Kubiak and Rick Smith, how about Rick Dennison?
Dennison replaced Kubiak as offensive coordinator in Denver in 2006, and is still with the Broncos but was demoted to offensive line coach under the new Josh McDaniels regime. This would be a perfect opportunity for Dennison to jump off that mutinous sinking ship in Denver and get a promotion at the same time.
I can hear the howling already. Not another Denver guy ...
Get ready. It's going to be someone that Kubiak knows, trusts, and willwork within Kubiak's system with minimal disruption. In other words, if not a current Denver guy, quite possibly an ex-Denver guy. But that's not all bad. It's time to get over the griping about the Denver pipeline. If it works, it doesn't matter where they come from.
Related reading: ? (July 18, 2009)