• Home
  • popular
  • EVENTS
  • submit-new-event
  • CHARITY GUIDE
  • Children
  • Education
  • Health
  • Veterans
  • Social Services
  • Arts + Culture
  • Animals
  • LGBTQ
  • New Charity
  • TRENDING NEWS
  • News
  • City Life
  • Entertainment
  • Sports
  • Home + Design
  • Travel
  • Real Estate
  • Restaurants + Bars
  • Arts
  • Society
  • Innovation
  • Fashion + Beauty
  • subscribe
  • about
  • series
  • Embracing Your Inner Cowboy
  • Green Living
  • Summer Fun
  • Real Estate Confidential
  • RX In the City
  • State of the Arts
  • Fall For Fashion
  • Cai's Odyssey
  • Comforts of Home
  • Good Eats
  • Holiday Gift Guide 2010
  • Holiday Gift Guide 2
  • Good Eats 2
  • HMNS Pirates
  • The Future of Houston
  • We Heart Hou 2
  • Music Inspires
  • True Grit
  • Hoops City
  • Green Living 2011
  • Cruizin for a Cure
  • Summer Fun 2011
  • Just Beat It
  • Real Estate 2011
  • Shelby on the Seine
  • Rx in the City 2011
  • Entrepreneur Video Series
  • Going Wild Zoo
  • State of the Arts 2011
  • Fall for Fashion 2011
  • Elaine Turner 2011
  • Comforts of Home 2011
  • King Tut
  • Chevy Girls
  • Good Eats 2011
  • Ready to Jingle
  • Houston at 175
  • The Love Month
  • Clifford on The Catwalk Htx
  • Let's Go Rodeo 2012
  • King's Harbor
  • FotoFest 2012
  • City Centre
  • Hidden Houston
  • Green Living 2012
  • Summer Fun 2012
  • Bookmark
  • 1987: The year that changed Houston
  • Best of Everything 2012
  • Real Estate 2012
  • Rx in the City 2012
  • Lost Pines Road Trip Houston
  • London Dreams
  • State of the Arts 2012
  • HTX Fall For Fashion 2012
  • HTX Good Eats 2012
  • HTX Contemporary Arts 2012
  • HCC 2012
  • Dine to Donate
  • Tasting Room
  • HTX Comforts of Home 2012
  • Charming Charlie
  • Asia Society
  • HTX Ready to Jingle 2012
  • HTX Mistletoe on the go
  • HTX Sun and Ski
  • HTX Cars in Lifestyle
  • HTX New Beginnings
  • HTX Wonderful Weddings
  • HTX Clifford on the Catwalk 2013
  • Zadok Sparkle into Spring
  • HTX Let's Go Rodeo 2013
  • HCC Passion for Fashion
  • BCAF 2013
  • HTX Best of 2013
  • HTX City Centre 2013
  • HTX Real Estate 2013
  • HTX France 2013
  • Driving in Style
  • HTX Island Time
  • HTX Super Season 2013
  • HTX Music Scene 2013
  • HTX Clifford on the Catwalk 2013 2
  • HTX Baker Institute
  • HTX Comforts of Home 2013
  • Mothers Day Gift Guide 2021 Houston
  • Staying Ahead of the Game
  • Wrangler Houston
  • First-time Homebuyers Guide Houston 2021
  • Visit Frisco Houston
  • promoted
  • eventdetail
  • Greystar Novel River Oaks
  • Thirdhome Go Houston
  • Dogfish Head Houston
  • LovBe Houston
  • Claire St Amant podcast Houston
  • The Listing Firm Houston
  • South Padre Houston
  • NextGen Real Estate Houston
  • Pioneer Houston
  • Collaborative for Children
  • Decorum
  • Bold Rock Cider
  • Nasher Houston
  • Houston Tastemaker Awards 2021
  • CityNorth
  • Urban Office
  • Villa Cotton
  • Luck Springs Houston
  • EightyTwo
  • Rectanglo.com
  • Silver Eagle Karbach
  • Mirador Group
  • Nirmanz
  • Bandera Houston
  • Milan Laser
  • Lafayette Travel
  • Highland Park Village Houston
  • Proximo Spirits
  • Douglas Elliman Harris Benson
  • Original ChopShop
  • Bordeaux Houston
  • Strike Marketing
  • Rice Village Gift Guide 2021
  • Downtown District
  • Broadstone Memorial Park
  • Gift Guide
  • Music Lane
  • Blue Circle Foods
  • Houston Tastemaker Awards 2022
  • True Rest
  • Lone Star Sports
  • Silver Eagle Hard Soda
  • Modelo recipes
  • Modelo Fighting Spirit
  • Athletic Brewing
  • Rodeo Houston
  • Silver Eagle Bud Light Next
  • Waco CVB
  • EnerGenie
  • HLSR Wine Committee
  • All Hands
  • El Paso
  • Avenida Houston
  • Visit Lubbock Houston
  • JW Marriott San Antonio
  • Silver Eagle Tupps
  • Space Center Houston
  • Central Market Houston
  • Boulevard Realty
  • Travel Texas Houston
  • Alliantgroup
  • Golf Live
  • DC Partners
  • Under the Influencer
  • Blossom Hotel
  • San Marcos Houston
  • Photo Essay: Holiday Gift Guide 2009
  • We Heart Hou
  • Walker House
  • HTX Good Eats 2013
  • HTX Ready to Jingle 2013
  • HTX Culture Motive
  • HTX Auto Awards
  • HTX Ski Magic
  • HTX Wonderful Weddings 2014
  • HTX Texas Traveler
  • HTX Cifford on the Catwalk 2014
  • HTX United Way 2014
  • HTX Up to Speed
  • HTX Rodeo 2014
  • HTX City Centre 2014
  • HTX Dos Equis
  • HTX Tastemakers 2014
  • HTX Reliant
  • HTX Houston Symphony
  • HTX Trailblazers
  • HTX_RealEstateConfidential_2014
  • HTX_IW_Marks_FashionSeries
  • HTX_Green_Street
  • Dating 101
  • HTX_Clifford_on_the_Catwalk_2014
  • FIVE CultureMap 5th Birthday Bash
  • HTX Clifford on the Catwalk 2014 TEST
  • HTX Texans
  • Bergner and Johnson
  • HTX Good Eats 2014
  • United Way 2014-15_Single Promoted Articles
  • Holiday Pop Up Shop Houston
  • Where to Eat Houston
  • Copious Row Single Promoted Articles
  • HTX Ready to Jingle 2014
  • htx woodford reserve manhattans
  • Zadok Swiss Watches
  • HTX Wonderful Weddings 2015
  • HTX Charity Challenge 2015
  • United Way Helpline Promoted Article
  • Boulevard Realty
  • Fusion Academy Promoted Article
  • Clifford on the Catwalk Fall 2015
  • United Way Book Power Promoted Article
  • Jameson HTX
  • Primavera 2015
  • Promenade Place
  • Hotel Galvez
  • Tremont House
  • HTX Tastemakers 2015
  • HTX Digital Graffiti/Alys Beach
  • MD Anderson Breast Cancer Promoted Article
  • HTX RealEstateConfidential 2015
  • HTX Vargos on the Lake
  • Omni Hotel HTX
  • Undies for Everyone
  • Reliant Bright Ideas Houston
  • 2015 Houston Stylemaker
  • HTX Renewable You
  • Urban Flats Builder
  • Urban Flats Builder
  • HTX New York Fashion Week spring 2016
  • Kyrie Massage
  • Red Bull Flying Bach
  • Hotze Health and Wellness
  • ReadFest 2015
  • Alzheimer's Promoted Article
  • Formula 1 Giveaway
  • Professional Skin Treatments by NuMe Express

    Keenum & Lin Parallels

    Case Keenum elevated as Jeremy Lin wrongly deflated: McHale fails Coaching 101; Kubiak stands strong

    Chris Baldwin
    Oct 28, 2013 | 7:58 pm

    Gary Kubiak walks into the interview room and matter-of-factly tells the world he's making the obvious, right call. The fact that so many people seem surprised by it in this town shows how warped Houston sports are threatening to become.

    Yes, Case Keenum remains the Houston Texans starting quarterback for the Sunday Night Football NBC showcase against the Indianapolis Colts. No, it doesn't matter that incumbent Matt Schaub is healthy. Next question?

    There is no needless drama with Kubiak, no putting his personal feelings above the team. He simply makes the correct call and ensures the Texans have the best absolute chance to win. Somehow, this 52-year-old football lifer makes it all seem almost tidy — though this situation couldn't be any more messy.

    "I know it’s very difficult on him," Kubiak says of Schaub, allowing a brief window into the pain that can come with doing the right thing. "It’s very difficult on me too, to be honest with you."

    No one should forget the Texans wouldn't have this Keenum hope if it wasn't for Kubiak.

    Kubiak quickly catches himself when hit with a follow-up question wondering if this quarterback decision is the single toughest decision he's ever faced as a coach, though. The football nerd shoots that one down, noting he's made a lot of difficult decisions.

    It's all a lesson in how to deliver a decisive, difficult call — and it provides another example of how underrated Gary Kubiak still is as a head coach. Contrast how Kubiak handles Keenum to how Houston Rockets coach Kevin McHale is treating Jeremy Lin. Like Keenum, Jeremy Lin clearly deserves to start for his team. Unlike Schaub, Lin's done nothing to lose a role he played well last season.

    Instead, he's actually raised his game — shooting better, passing surer and playing even more confident this preseason. Even NBA legend Hakeem Olajuwon quickly grasped how well Lin and big money savior Dwight Howard can work together.

    So what does McHale do? He creates a point guard controversy out of thin air and deems Patrick Beverley to be Lin's equal if not better. Now, McHale's orchestrated it so he can start Beverley in the Rockets' season opener Wednesday night against the Charlotte Bobcats and reduce Jeremy Lin to a supporting, secondary player.

    It almost looks like McHale is determined to prove that he and general manager Daryl Morey weren't all wrong when they cut Jeremy Lin on that infamous Christmas eve after all. Whatever his motivation, McHale clearly cannot see any star potential in Jeremy Lin — evidence be damned.

    Gary Kubiak elevates Case Keenum, always having seen the possibilities. Kevin McHale downgrades Jeremy Lin, creating his own doubt.

    Kevin McHale's Fail

    The difference in coaching couldn't be more striking. Which makes the murmurs that Kubiak's job deserves to be in jeopardy due to the Texans' 2-5 start all the more nonsensical. (To be fair, it's at least a 50-50 bet that the Chronicle's ever-waffling columnist Jerome Solomon will turn around and demand Kubiak be signed to a multi-year extension by Thanksgiving). But that doesn't change the overall false thinking behind the immediate reaction on Kubiak's unworthiness as a coach.

    Sure, I'd argue that Kubiak made the switch from Schaub to Keenum two games too late. As I wrote at the time, Schaub needed to be benched after throwing away the Seahawks game. The Texans likely would be in at least a slightly better position coming out of the bye if the trigger had been pulled earlier (with Keenum, the Texans likely beat the Rams). But the bottom line is Gary Kubiak still eventually made the right, difficult call.

    You don't have to play poorly to be downgraded. Not if you're not one of McHale's Chosen Ones.

    No one should forget that the Texans wouldn't have this Case Keenum hope if it wasn't for Gary Kubiak either.

    Kubiak is the one who thought enough of Keenum to shepherd a dismissed, undrafted free agent through a practice squad season. Kubiak is the one who trusted his eyes — rather than falling back on the draft guru dismissals of the former University of Houston NCAA record breaker — and gave Keenum a real training camp shot this summer. And Kubiak is the one who switched up his offense and came up with the Pistol formation twists that gave Keenum a fighting shot to be successful in Kansas City.

    It's not Kubiak's fault that 99 percent of the Houston media refused to believe him when he insisted that Keenum had grown light years and shown legit NFL talent. As much as anyone, Gary Kubiak's been the guy who's been telling people about Case Keenum all along.

    "I went through the exact same thing," Texans all-pro running back (and fellow former undrafted free agent) Arian Foster says. "Me and (Case) had a talk before any of this had happened about dreams, goals, aspirations — all of that stuff."

    Think it's coincidence that a Gary Kubiak-coached team is the one that will have undrafted free agents starting at quarterback and running back on the big Sunday Night Football stage?

    Kubiak coaches belief into players. If you can play, he'll give you a shot. McHale seems determined to take belief away from Jeremy Lin. You don't have to play poorly to be downgraded. Not if you're not one of McHale's Chosen Ones. Funny, how Omri Casspi having arguably a better preseason than Beverley has never put Chandler Parsons' starting job in jeopardy.

    Sure, the Rockets are the hot team of the moment in Houston, getting held up as the starry group that will bring a championship back to town. Never mind that the franchise hasn't made it out of the first round since 2009. The Texans are the tired, dead-end team, deemed certain to disappoint.

    Maybe, that is the correct narrative.

    Just don't be so sure. Not with Kubiak adding extra belief and McHale bringing in extra doubt.

    “I imagine I’ll have a few more goose bumps than I did (starting in Kansas City)," Keenum says of the approaching Sunday night stage. "Obviously, it was a very cool atmosphere last week. But, to play in Houston, to play in Reliant, I know this atmosphere.

    "I know what it’s like and I know Sunday night it’s going to be very special."

    Never underestimate the power of coaching in professional sports. This year figures to provide a fascinating case study across two different sports in Houston. Undrafted, disregarded free agent Case Keenum is getting every chance to play to his true potential and rescue the Texans. Undrafted, disregarded free agent Jeremy Lin is getting downgraded even after already more than proving he belongs — he's being prevented from leading.

    Will you really be surprised if both the Texans and the Rockets end up following the lead set by their coaches in the end?

    Case Keenum is in command of the Texans huddle.

    Case Keenum Texans Cowboys
      
    Photo by Michelle Watson CultureMapSnap
    Case Keenum is in command of the Texans huddle.
    unspecified
    series/htx-super-season-2013
    news/sports

    O'Brien Talks Tough

    Tough new sheriff: Bill O'Brien sounds like the anti Kubiak, vows to be hard on Texans players

    Chris Baldwin
    Jan 3, 2014 | 1:43 pm
    Tough new sheriff: Bill O'Brien sounds like the anti Kubiak, vows to be hard on Texans players
    Photo by Rob Carr Getty Images
    Bill O'Brien admits he missed the NFL.

    Bill O'Brien certainly hasn't walked timidly into his new job as the head coach/franchise savior of the Houston Texans.

    With large posters of J.J. Watt and Andre Johnson flanking him on either side of an elaborate press conference stage, O'Brien didn't pay homage as much as he demanded a new standard.

    "To me it's about accountability," O'Brien said. "It's about demanding. It's about putting together a fast, physical football team."

    In other words, Mr. Nice Guy went out the window with former Texans coach Gary Kubiak. O'Brien mentioned "accountability" and "demanding" several times in his introductory press conference Friday afternoon at Reliant Stadium. And you can bet the chorus sounded like sweet music to Texans owner Bob McNair.

    CultureMap was the first news outlet anywhere to report that O'Brien was the Texans' top choice to be the team's new coach way back on Dec. 18. This was a McNair driven pick from the beginning and it is the 44-year-old O'Brien's toughness that drew the owner to the former Penn State coach and Bill Belichick assistant.

    "To me it's about accountability. It's about demanding."

    And McNair himself certainly talked tough on introduction day.

    "I'm ready to kick 2013 the hell out the door," McNair said. "Not acceptable. Not what we're going to do in the future."

    McNair went on to talk about O'Brien having shown he's willing to make the hard decisions — something he clearly felt was lacking as the Texans spiraled from Super Bowl schemers into a 2-14 death march in 2013.

    "Some coaches who have been players still think of themselves as players rather than the head of an organization," McNair said. "And have trouble making difficult decisions."

    Kubiak, of course, played quarterback for the Denver Broncos. As for an inability to make tough calls? Just look at how long Kubiak stuck with a flat-lined Matt Schaub and how he kept trying to go back to Schaub even after the Case Keenum call was made.

    O'Brien noted that "there are a lot of good football players on this team." He also declined to take any pressure off himself and describe this makeover of a team with the worst record in the NFL as a rebuilding job.

    "There are a lot of pieces in place here," he said. "It's all about hard work . . . Quick turnaround, rebuilding are labels. I'm not into all that."

    Tom Brady Tough?

    All in all, it's an impressive opening performance for a first-time NFL head coach. O'Brien knows how to command the stage. Texans general manager Rick Smith talked about the new coach's "charisma."

    O'Brien even makes sure to work in the obligatory Texas joke about the cowboy life.

    "Right after this, I'm going to go out and buy my first pair of cowboy boots," he said.

    It's already becoming clear there will be one cowboy in charge of these Texans. One who happens to be a hard-nosed Northeast guy who's probably still most famous for getting into a sideline screaming match with New England Patriots golden boy quarterback Tom Brady.

    "I'm ready to kick 2013 the hell out the door."

    O'Brien downplayed the incident, but it's clearly helped burnish his taskmaster image.

    "You know it's a competitive sports," O'Brien said. "Tom Brady's a great friend. These things happen. The thing that people don't understand is that 30 seconds after it was over, we were sitting together and going over pictures (of game action)."

    The Texans players are clearly intrigued by O'Brien. Veteran center Chris Myers sat amongst the press at the stadium and listened to the new head man.

    There will be a lot more change coming to the stadium. Smith hinted at as much when he noted how the Texans needed a coach who can guide young players.

    It's hard to imagine O'Brien tip toeing around that change. He plans to meet with all the remaining Texans coaches Saturday (as with any head coaching change, it's unlikely many of the current assistants will be kept by O'Brien). He'll tackle the quarterback question later, though it's clear Keenum is still in the picture.

    Almost every new NFL head coach sounds good on introduction day. Especially when the team brings out a marching band for the occasion. But O'Brien sounds tough and no nonsense.

    Just what Bob McNair wanted. This is his call. His makeover. His tough guy.

    Bill O'Brien will not call the Houston Texans a rebuilding team.

    Bill O'Brien presser
      
    Photo by Scott Halleran Getty Images
    Bill O'Brien will not call the Houston Texans a rebuilding team.
    unspecified
    series/htx-super-season-2013
    news/sports
    CULTUREMAP EMAILS ARE AWESOME
    Get Houston intel delivered daily.
    Loading...