Coaching Changes Might Not Mean Much For The Houston Texans

For the first time franchise history, it is starting to look like the Texans offensive roster is on solid foundations. Unfortunately, the team front office has done little in the past few years to strengthen a troubled defense.

Despite paying big money to high-powered, first round picks such as Mario Williams and Amobi Okoye, the Texans were 23^rd against the run in 2008. General manager Rick Smith is hoping to turn the team’s lackluster defense around.

The Texans drafted five defensive players this past April including another first round pick, USC linebacker Brian Cushing. Smith also signed another five defensive players out of free agency. The biggest changes to team personnel, however, will be in the coach’s box.

The Texans have brought in three new defensive coaches for the 2009 season. Defensive backs coach David Gibbs brings nearly 18 years of coaching experience to an inexperienced secondary. Gibbs has a strong track record of turning around defenses, starting with the Minnesota Golden Gophers in late nineties. His track record is a little questionable in recent years. As the defensive backs coach with the Kansas City Chiefs in 2008, the team was the 28^th pass defense in the league.

More excitement seems to be centered on Bill Kollar, the Texans’ new defensive line coach. Kollar has connections to Smith going back to the young GM’s playing days at Purdue University, where Kollar was defensive line coach. Smith expects the 56-year old coach to have a positive impact on defense saying, “I’ve always known him to be a very aggressive coach.”

In particular, Smith has said, Kollar is the kind of defensive line coach that fits well with new defensive coordinator Frank Bush. After stints in Arizona and Denver, Bush came to Houston in 2007 as an assistant defensive coordinator. Bush was named defensive coordinator in January and is expected to turn around a Texan defense that only had 25 sacks in 2008, almost half of those from defensive end Mario Williams. (To compare, Dallas linebacker DeMarcus Ware had 20 solo sacks last season.)

Under Bush, Texan fans can expect a defense that is much faster and harder hitting.

"We’re going to simplify so our guys can play faster," Bush said to HoustonTexans.com. "The faster that we play, the more times that we get big hits. The more big hits we get, the more times that ball will come out, and that's what we're going to try to do. We want guys to attack and be violent and create turnovers that way."

Despite all the changes on the defensive coaching staff, a switch from the team’s 4-3 scheme seems unlikely. Head coach Gary Kubiak has said as much in recent months. In fact, it seems much of the reason for hiring Bush in the first place is so the team can continue to develop the pass rushing ability of Williams and Okoye.

“All my homework kept coming back to Frank. I just think that we've got something started here,” Kubiak told the HoustonTexans.com. “We don't want to venture away from our 4-3 scheme and what we're doing."

The refusal to consider new schemes has been angering armchair coaches in Houston since Kubiak’s comments were first reported.

“Something started?” wrote one blogger at sports site Fanhouse. “The Texans were near the bottom of the league in both run and pass defense for the last three years. The only thing started is that the defense's house is on fire, and he is asking one of the guys responsible for that arson to put out the flames.”

Oh, well. As former Houston Oiler defensive coordinator Buddy Ryan once said, “If you listen to the fans, you’ll be in the fans sitting with them.”