Whoever had one day in the "How long until the daily links post goes away" pool, you lost. First of all, I have to give a shout out to the commenter who was the first to use Wary Kubillips in the comments of an article yesterday, which is my favorite of the new regime nickname. I couldn't find where I saw it; sorry for the blatant theft. Obviously the Wade Phillips hire was the big Texans news of the day yesterday, but there were a few other happenings that I thought you might want to know about. Follow the jump to check out the links.
First things first: Wade Phillips was hired as your new defensive coordinator. Yesterday he gave interviews to John McClain and Mark Berman, both of which are worth the read. There have already been several writers who have broken down their opinion of Wade with the Texans from an Xs and Os standpoint, but I have to say that I actually dig it from a sappy, he's-got-Texans-roots standpoint. I usually cringe at McClain's attempts at historical references, but I actually enjoyed his anecdote about Wade calling his father Bum excited to tell him he was a Texan. Call me Sally.
As John Wessling noted yesterday on Twitter, he will likely not be working for SR610 for very much longer, after his performance at Bum Phillips' roast in which he referred to Wade as Bum's "fat idiot son." The funniest/most awkward part was when the camera panned to Bum, who obviously did not find any humor in the matter.
John Hallam suggested yesterday that Bob McNair is using the Patriots organization as a blueprint for success. The latest step in that plan in his opinion is a switch to the 3-4. As Diehard Chris pointed out last night on Twitter, the 3-4 is more popular than it probably has ever been, but the Texans will now be the sole team in the AFC South to employ the scheme.
Not to be outdone by the Texans, Titans owner and evil overlord Bud Adams made waves yesterday when he announced that Vince Young would not be returning to the team. Daniel Charles preemptively tried to quiet the inevitable "Bring Vince Home" clamor, but unfortunately that didn't stop Vince's number one fan, Richard Justice. How predictable was that?
On another interesting free agency note, the Raiders signed a punter to the reserve/futures list yesterday after Pro Bowler Shane Lechler blasted the organization for firing Tom Cable. Rick Smith should have the phone number to Lechler's agent programed on speed dial, and it should take the Texans GM no more than two seconds to try and sign the punter who originally hails from East Bernard if Al Davis is stupid enough to release him. He would be a HUGE difference maker on special teams.
Andre Johnson himself is a Pro Bowler yet again, but this year it will be in name only, unfortunately. The Texans wide receiver officially backed out of the NFL's annual all star game due to the same ankle injury that plagued him all year.
Chris also wrote his opinions of Texans players on offense, and who might not be with the team for much longer. Paul Kuharsky also did a wrap-up of the Texans regular season in which he lauds Arian Foster and kills the defense. You've never read that, right?