BigTexas18
Hall of Famer
Hello, and welcome to Coach Spotlight! It's back! for those of you who don't know, coach spotlight is an interview segment with owners that I interview and ask situational questions. It gives you insight to these coaches heads and how they adapt to certain situations! Without further ado let's get started!
Today we are speaking with owner Shawn Woodsmall, aka woodsmall12! Welcome to the Coach Spotlight Woodsmall. I want to first thank you for the time to sit down with me and go over these questions. If you're ready here we go!
You currently sit at 4-4, sitting 3rd in the division. Is this where you saw your team at the halfway point? Can your team improve to end the season above .500? Do you think you'll have a shot at the playoffs this year?
Absolutely not ... we have every intention of yet again competing in the playoffs ... we shelled out a lot of money this off-season to help bolster our offense as well so its a "Win Now" type situation ... our team will continue to improve through player development ... we have a very young team at some key positions and with the experience that guys like JJ Watt, Joseph, Wilfork, etc can provide, we should see continued growth ... players are starting to become more familiar with the playbook and the team has come together extremely well as of late ... this is proven in the fact that we are sitting on a 3 game win streak at the moment - Currently we are in contention for one of two Wild Card slots ... The Titans currently sit atop the division and look to be running away with the crown at this point yet we are playing at such a high level that we plan to secure a Wild Card spot at minimum.
You guys signed Osweiler to a $71M contract to come in and be the franchise QB here. His TD/INT ratio is 8/16 which is doubled. I know you can't be happy with that. What does Brock need to work on to be the leader this team needs?
Brock has started to settle down as of late ... in a short time he has been expected to learn a completely different scheme and playbook along with building rapport with his receiving core ... this is probably the youngest group of receivers in the league so there is that challenge as well, yet we believe this could absolutely be the best group of receivers in the league in the very near future - Coach O'Brien has worked with the likes of Tom Brady in the past and his work has started to come through in Brock as well ... Identifying the defense pre-snap has been quite an undertaking this year and Brock has been known to force the ball into tight windows because he has been able to rely on his arm strength in the past ... These tend to be the talking points we review when we sit down with Oz ... still along way from being where we need him to be but we will take it game by game ... At some point the juice has to be worth the squeeze.
What has been the highlight of your year so far this year? and Why?
The highlights to this point have been watching the growth and development of the young players, watching them get their feet wet and contribute against established professionals - We have a very young group of explosive and talented men - Big play potential is in their DNA as it has been witnessed all through their college careers ... its putting all of that together in a team effort to put W's on the board and give the fans something to be excited about week after week ... we are competing and that is a great thing.
Lamar Miller has been injured with a foot fracture after a huge game. He looks to miss 2 more games. How have Ervin and Blue stepped up in his absence? How will their production be affected when Miller comes back?
So Ervin is a rookie version of Lamar Miller in our staff's eyes ... guy has speed to get through the line and down the field ... Due to Lamar's injury, he is starting to develop faster than normal since we have thrust him into the starting role ... Blue is a different kind of back for us ... short yardage power back that can move the pile ... Ervin has filled in nicely to this point ... we don't expect Miller type production but he has showed us that he can be a threat ... Ervin has pretty much solidified his role as the #2 back moving forward and we plan to continue to develop his Ball Carrying Vision in efforts to hit the holes much more efficiently ... ideally Ervin will be able to spell Miller with very little drop off.
With your offense ranking 7th in the league, will defense be your focus in the upcoming draft? What positions on your team do you feel need the biggest upgrade?
Defense is actually set up pretty well with a couple of guys inching closer to retirement in the next year or so (Wilfork and Joseph) - These positions will be area's of concern but not pressing needs ... overall we have Watt, Cushing, Clowney, Mericilus locked up for multiple years so building around that structure will be paramount
Offense is still young and in need of some road graders in the interior line - This, like most teams, will be a focal point for us if we had to draft today - We are continuing to develop our line which could help eliminate a need or two - Would like to see a playmaker at Tight End but we will take what is presented to us in the draft depending on where we end up in the slotting process.
Anything else you would like to add?
No Comment at this time.
I want to thank you Shawn for doing this! I know people will enjoy getting into the mind of the Texans. Definitely looks like you believe in your team and have a plan to make the playoffs and continue to build this franchise. The people in Houston are lucky you stepped in! We will leave you with the Texans hype video! Enjoy!
Today we are speaking with owner Shawn Woodsmall, aka woodsmall12! Welcome to the Coach Spotlight Woodsmall. I want to first thank you for the time to sit down with me and go over these questions. If you're ready here we go!
You currently sit at 4-4, sitting 3rd in the division. Is this where you saw your team at the halfway point? Can your team improve to end the season above .500? Do you think you'll have a shot at the playoffs this year?
Absolutely not ... we have every intention of yet again competing in the playoffs ... we shelled out a lot of money this off-season to help bolster our offense as well so its a "Win Now" type situation ... our team will continue to improve through player development ... we have a very young team at some key positions and with the experience that guys like JJ Watt, Joseph, Wilfork, etc can provide, we should see continued growth ... players are starting to become more familiar with the playbook and the team has come together extremely well as of late ... this is proven in the fact that we are sitting on a 3 game win streak at the moment - Currently we are in contention for one of two Wild Card slots ... The Titans currently sit atop the division and look to be running away with the crown at this point yet we are playing at such a high level that we plan to secure a Wild Card spot at minimum.
You guys signed Osweiler to a $71M contract to come in and be the franchise QB here. His TD/INT ratio is 8/16 which is doubled. I know you can't be happy with that. What does Brock need to work on to be the leader this team needs?
Brock has started to settle down as of late ... in a short time he has been expected to learn a completely different scheme and playbook along with building rapport with his receiving core ... this is probably the youngest group of receivers in the league so there is that challenge as well, yet we believe this could absolutely be the best group of receivers in the league in the very near future - Coach O'Brien has worked with the likes of Tom Brady in the past and his work has started to come through in Brock as well ... Identifying the defense pre-snap has been quite an undertaking this year and Brock has been known to force the ball into tight windows because he has been able to rely on his arm strength in the past ... These tend to be the talking points we review when we sit down with Oz ... still along way from being where we need him to be but we will take it game by game ... At some point the juice has to be worth the squeeze.
What has been the highlight of your year so far this year? and Why?
The highlights to this point have been watching the growth and development of the young players, watching them get their feet wet and contribute against established professionals - We have a very young group of explosive and talented men - Big play potential is in their DNA as it has been witnessed all through their college careers ... its putting all of that together in a team effort to put W's on the board and give the fans something to be excited about week after week ... we are competing and that is a great thing.
Lamar Miller has been injured with a foot fracture after a huge game. He looks to miss 2 more games. How have Ervin and Blue stepped up in his absence? How will their production be affected when Miller comes back?
So Ervin is a rookie version of Lamar Miller in our staff's eyes ... guy has speed to get through the line and down the field ... Due to Lamar's injury, he is starting to develop faster than normal since we have thrust him into the starting role ... Blue is a different kind of back for us ... short yardage power back that can move the pile ... Ervin has filled in nicely to this point ... we don't expect Miller type production but he has showed us that he can be a threat ... Ervin has pretty much solidified his role as the #2 back moving forward and we plan to continue to develop his Ball Carrying Vision in efforts to hit the holes much more efficiently ... ideally Ervin will be able to spell Miller with very little drop off.
With your offense ranking 7th in the league, will defense be your focus in the upcoming draft? What positions on your team do you feel need the biggest upgrade?
Defense is actually set up pretty well with a couple of guys inching closer to retirement in the next year or so (Wilfork and Joseph) - These positions will be area's of concern but not pressing needs ... overall we have Watt, Cushing, Clowney, Mericilus locked up for multiple years so building around that structure will be paramount
Offense is still young and in need of some road graders in the interior line - This, like most teams, will be a focal point for us if we had to draft today - We are continuing to develop our line which could help eliminate a need or two - Would like to see a playmaker at Tight End but we will take what is presented to us in the draft depending on where we end up in the slotting process.
Anything else you would like to add?
No Comment at this time.
I want to thank you Shawn for doing this! I know people will enjoy getting into the mind of the Texans. Definitely looks like you believe in your team and have a plan to make the playoffs and continue to build this franchise. The people in Houston are lucky you stepped in! We will leave you with the Texans hype video! Enjoy!
