IN HOUSTON, WHERE FOOTBALL AND FAITH share top billing on weekends, and where the hometown Texans finished at the very bottom of the NFL in 2005 with a 2–14 record, Gary Kubiak’s appointment in January as the new Texans head coach could almost have been described as divine intervention. The reason was simple: Kubiak is one of their own.
Growing up in the Heights section of Houston, Kubiak roamed the sidelines as a Houston Oilers ball boy, put up gaudy all-state numbers as quarterback at St. Pius High School, went on to a decorated collegiate career at nearby Texas A&M, married his high school sweetheart (a cheerleader, of course), and played as a backup to John Elway with the Denver Broncos for nine seasons. He then joined the coaching ranks, where he went on to win three Super Bowl rings as a quarterback coach and offensive coordinator with the San Francisco 49ers and then the Broncos. So his ending up in Houston had all the makings of a fairy tale.
“It was all pretty cool coming home and all, but that wore thin pretty quick, and then I knew I had a job to do,” says Kubiak, who, keeping with the true-Texan pedigree, enjoys hunting, fishing, and raising cattle, activities that have taken a backseat to getting the Texans back on track.
That get-to-it attitude served the new coach well as he faced controversy with one of his first major decisions. Kubiak selected Mario Williams, a 6'6", 290-pound defensive end, with the first pick in the 2006 NFL draft, passing over both national spotlight star Reggie Bush and Texas favorite Vince Young. The Bush-versus-Young talk had Houston in a frenzy leading up to the draft, so Kubiak’s decision turned him from golden boy to whipping boy instantly, with some fans threatening to cancel their season tickets.
“I had messages 
on my phone that I wouldn’t let many people hear,” he now chuckles. But after the initial knee-jerk reaction wore off, fans began to recognize the weight of their new coach’s decision. Instead of taking the easy way out, Kubiak went with his gut, affirming that he would not bow to outside pressure in his quest to make a winner out of the Texans in their fifth year in the league. His decision, as one fan site later proclaimed, was “undeniably Texan.”
Of course, Kubiak’s early moves and his local-boy-made-good status have stamped Texas-sized expectations on his first season, which begins this month. This ultimate competitor, whose high school coach says he would get riled up over a game of checkers, wouldn’t have it any other way.
In addition to adding Williams and a core of promising defensive players, Kubiak spent the off-season introducing a new system and retooling the squad. A trade with the Buffalo Bills brought wide receiver Eric Moulds to town, giving franchise QB David Carr another target alongside Pro Bowler Andre Johnson. The coach balks at quantifying how many wins it will take for him to consider this first season a success, but he says the first goal is to have a winning season, with the loftier dream of reaching the Super Bowl not far behind.
“Sure there’s a lot of pressure,” he says. “But heck, I like that. It sure hurts when you make the wrong decision, but it feels so damn good when you win.” — Ryan Brandt
