Shortly before Gary Kubiak was fired as the Texans head coach in 2013, he suffered a “mini-stroke” during halftime of a game against the Colts.
Kubiak missed one game and coached from upstairs for a couple of weeks before returning to the sideline for two games ahead of his firing. His health has been fine over the last two years and Kubiak said Tuesday that he feels he’s changed for the better as a coach after the health scare.
“I don’t think it changed me as a person,” Kubiak said. “I think after going through that and talking to a lot of doctors there in Houston and those types of things, I think it made me change a little bit as a coach and how I go about things. When I look back, I think I’ve always -- and I’ve always told you this and everyone -- that I know exactly why it happened, because I go back and I know what I was doing and what I was putting myself through [and] trying to do too much. [I] kind of ran myself into the ground a little bit. I’ve tried to do things different. I still -- I mean, I love the work, so I’m going to be up early in the morning working the hours, but I’ve also tried to go about it a little bit of [a] different way -- not try to take on everything myself and understand I’ve got good people with me. I think it has helped me.”
Defensive coordinator Wade Phillips and offensive coordinator Rick Dennison both have a lot of experience as NFL coaches and a lot of experience with Kubiak, something that has likely made it easier for the head coach to delegate more responsibilities to them over the course of the season. It’s proven to be a winning formula for the Broncos and one that will hopefully help Kubiak remain healthy for years to come.
