Texans

Offense

Best known for his rocky tenure as the head coach of UCLA, Dorrell worked alongside Gary Kubiak as the Broncos’ WRs coach from 2000-02. He spent the past four seasons as a Dolphins’ assistant, coaching WRs from 2008-10 and QBs in 2011. He’ll be tasked with furthering backup QB T.J. Yates’ development as Matt Schaub comes back from a serious foot injury.

It’s well deserved. Smith has built a young powerhouse roster, and Kubiak has the franchise poised to dominate the AFC South for the next couple of seasons. “We’ll be back next season, and we’ll be even better,” McNair said. “We made so much progress. This was an unbelievable season.” A Kubiak extension would provide long-term stability for Arian Foster’s Dynasty value.

Their old contracts expired after the 2012 season. During his six years as head coach, Kubiak has gone 47-49 and guided the Texans to their first ever playoff berth last season despite a crippling injury to Matt Schaub. Smith’s resume includes trading for Schaub, snatching up an undrafted Arian Foster and signing shadow corner Johnathan Joseph. Kubiak is now under contract through 2014 and Smith is locked up through 2016.

ESPN’s Adam Caplan confirms that Houston has been “doing work on” O’Brien this week. It’s a bit of a surprise, as NFL head-coaching experience is believed to be near the top of owner Bob McNair’s list of criteria, but O’Brien has proven his bonafides as an NFL coordinator and college head coach. At the very least, O’Brien is going to get another fat raise out of his latest dalliance with bolting State College.

Gaine served the last two seasons as the assistant GM in Miami and was a finalist in the Dolphins’ GM search. Gaine lost out to Dennis Hickey, leaving Miami shortly after. Gaine is replacing Brian Gardner, who was fired after the 2013 season.

O’Brien met with the Texans this week and now appears to be the leading candidate for the head coaching job. It’s a change in direction from owner Bob McNair after he said NFL head-coaching experience was near the top of his list of criteria, but O’Brien was a New England assistant from 2007-2012 and interviewed with the Eagles and Browns last offseason. A deal between the two sides is expected to be in place within the next week. Houston is also believed to have a short list of candidates in case talks break down.

Angling for a franchise quarterback such as Louisville’s Teddy Bridgewater, the 2-13 Texans are a game up on the 3-12 Redskins for the worst record in the league. If they finish tied, the Skins will likely seize the No. 1 overall pick on the back of the strength of schedule tiebreaker. Of course, that pick belongs to the Rams as a result of the Robert Griffin III trade.

Texans coach Gary Kubiak is highly thought of within the organization, but having one of those big names around the campfire might have made him a little hot under the collar. QBs coach Kyle Shanahan and former UCLA head coach Karl Dorrell remain the top two candidates.

Dorrell was the Broncos’ WRs coach from 2000-2002, so he knows Gary Kubiak well. Kubiak was Denver’s offensive coordinator during that span. Current Texans quarterbacks coach Kyle Shanahan is another candidate.

Gibbs is a zone-blocking guru who tutored Terrell Davis and later Atlanta’s running game from 2004-2006. He worked with Gary Kubiak in Denver.