FanHouse JonHoke

After blowing a chance at the postseason -- apparently one in which they could have dominated, considering the Cardinals and Eagles are in the NFC Championship game -- by not being able to cover Andre Johnson, the Bears went on a firing spree. Three defensive positional coaches were canned.

Today, they have completed their stable by hiring Jon Hoke as their defensive backs coach. Remember, Rod Marinelli now has the line, and today the Bears announced defensive coordinator, Bob Babich, will also take on the duty of being the linebackers coach.

FanHouse readers who pay attention to such things may note that I have never been a big fan of Texans defensive coordinator Richard Smith. (massive understatement)

In a move that was long over due, Smith was fired today, along with defensive backs Coach, Jon Hoke and defensive line coach, Jethro Franklin.

According to Football Outsiders stats, the Texans defense under Smith's tenure was ranked as follows:

2006: 31st
2007: 30th
2008: 29th

So instead of waiting a few more decades to build a dominant defense, head coach Gary Kubiak finally pulled the plug.

First I want to say thank you to the Houston Texans website staff for being blog-friendly and fixing their embeds so they don't autoplay. The above HoustonTexans.com video is of Texans secondary coach, Jon Hoke talking about the secondary players in this year's draft, and what the Texans are looking for when scouting free agents and potential draft picks. If you just want to read the interview, check out this link.

Reports say that the Texans are looking in free agency at Dallas CB Jacques Reeves and Dolphins Rex Hadnot as a center/guard. I don't believe taking Reeves would preclude getting a cornerback in the draft because the Texans need tons of secondary help.