Color me impressed.  Ray Rhodes has head coaching experience from his stints in Philadelphia and Green Bay, and he's more recently been one of the league's best regarded defensive minds in Seattle.  Despite that impressive resume, he's on the verge of joining the Texans' staff as an assistant coach, presumably with the directive to focus on the secondary.  Whether there'll be a "head" sandwiched between "assistant" and "coach" remains to be seen, but the fact is that this doesn't appear on its face to be an out-and-out promotion for Rhodes.  

To me, that's a testament to the esteem in which Gary Kubiak is held in the NFL.  Former head coaches think enough of him (and Bob McNair, as well as the franchise) that they're willing to sublimate their egos to come to town; that's not an easy pill to swallow in the coaching business.  Yet when a guy like Mike Sherman has glowing things to say about Kubes, it only reinforces that belief.  

It cuts both ways, too; it's really cool to see that Kubes' ego is such that he has no problem bringing in guys who could be seen as competitors, all in the name of simply getting the best football minds he can for the franchise.  Not every coach is secure enough in what he's about and what he can do to do that.  As pumped as I am that Ray Rhodes' addition to the staff seems imminent and the effect that should have on the Houston secondary, I'm even more excited that our head coach has the confidence in himself and the organization's plan that there is no hesitation in aggressively improving his staff.

Update [2008-1-30 15:56:9 by Tim]:: It's official. This coaching staff is a freaking juggernaut.