Tag: Brad Seely

Texans special teams are still in good shape after Brad Seely’s retirement

The Houston Texans still have key special teams pieces on the roster, even after the retirement of special teams coordinator Brad Seely.

The Houston Texans won’t have the benefit of Brad Seely and his decades of special teams experience coordinating the transition unit in 2020, but there are still valuable pieces on the roster.

Pro Football Focus uncovered statistics that Texans punter Bryan Anger finished in the top-10 of the football analytics firm’s punt grade as well as ubiquitous stats such as net average and average hang time.

The Texans acquired Anger during training camp, cut the former Jacksonville Jaguar and Tampa Bay Buccaneer the end of preseason, and then signed him back to the active roster ahead of their Week 3 showdown at the Los Angeles Chargers.

Houston also has Ka’imi Fairbairn handling the kicking duties. The former UCLA Bruin connected on 20-of-25 field goals for an 80.0% field goal percentage, the second-best of his career. However, the extra point percentage was the lowest of his career at 88.9%. Fairbairn connected on an overtime field goal in the AFC wild-card that delivered the Texans a 22-19 win over the Buffalo Bills for the club’s first playoff win since 2016.

Long snapper Jon Weeks also returns for the Texans. The Pro Bowl long snapper gives Houston stability at one of the most critical yet unheralded aspects of the game.

The Texans also have role players on the rosters who provide consistency to the team’s coverage units. Linebacker Dylan Cole earned his first captaincy of his career in 2019, and the club also added a Pro Bowl special teamer in safety Michael Thomas.

Though Seely retired, the knowledge and cohesion he forged on the Texans may not be lost. If the club chooses to promote Tracy Smith, who has been Seely’s assistant since 2010 with the Cleveland Browns and has followed him at every stop between there and Houston, then all of the pieces the Texans have will continue the system; they won’t have to relearn a new one.

Seely was a coach that Bill O’Brien relied upon, but he still has two others in his inner circle still on the staff in associate head coach Romeo Crennel and offensive line coach Mike Devlin. Similarly, the loss of Seely may not be impactful to the special teams given the talent and experience already present.

Tracy Smith is natural fit to take over as Texans special teams coordinator

The Houston Texans are in need of a special teams coordinator, and the promotion of Tracy Smith would be natural given his coaching experience.

The Houston Texans were dealt the unexpected when special teams coordinator Brad Seely announced his retirement from the NFL after 31 years of professional coaching.

Seely, who spent the past two seasons with the Texans, leaves the job vacant. Now, Houston has to come up with an answer as to who will replace the three-time Super Bowl-winning coordinator.

The solution could be already on the staff. When Seely came over to Houston from the Oakland Raiders, where he had been the special teams coordinator under Jack Del Rio from 2015-17, he brought with him Tracy Smith.

Smith, an LSU graduate, has been an understudy of Seely’s for the past 10 years. In 2010, Smith’s first job came with the Cleveland Browns as Seely was in his second year with the AFC North club as their special teams coordinator

In 2011 when Seely took the same job with the San Francisco 49ers, Smith followed and stayed there through the 2014 season.

Smith, whose father, Carl Smith, is still on the Texans’ staff as an offensive assistant, is known throughout the league for his ability to work with special teams. Ahead of the Texans’ Week 16 encounter with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, coach Bruce Arians, who was the Arizona Cardinals coach from 2013-17 and went against the 49ers twice a year, was complimentary of Smith.

“Extremely, extremely well coached,” Arians told Houston reporters on Dec. 17, 2019. “Brad Seely and Smith, those young guys, they have such a great tandem of coaches. Everywhere they’ve been together, the special teams have been outstanding.”

The band is breaking up with Seely going into retirement, but the acquisition of safety Michael Thomas may ease the transition from Seely to Smith. The former 2018 Pro Bowler played for the 49ers from 2012-13 and has experience with the Seely and Smith system.

“You’re talking about a guy that has always been considered one of the top special teams players in the league,” coach Bill O’Brien said on April 24. “He’s played very well, he has experience with Brad Seely, Tracy Smith, most recently with the Giants. He played for the Giants, done a good job.”

Thomas earned his Pro Bowl selection with the New York Giants in 2018, but his formative years in the NFL were with Seely and Smith.

If the Texans want to keep the continuity in systems in the transition phase of the game, then promoting Smith is the logical move.

Texans special teams coordinator Brad Seely announces retirement

Houston Texans special teams coordinator Brad Seely announced his retirement from the NFL after 31 seasons in the league.

Houston Texans special teams coordinator Brad Seely announced his retirement from the NFL Friday.

The 63-year-old, who spent 31 seasons of his 41 total coaching in the NFL, was the Texans’ special teams coordinator for the past two seasons.

“I’ve been incredibly fortunate to spend over 30 years in the NFL coaching the game I love,” Seely said in a statement. “I want to thank each and every coach, player and staff member I worked with from when I entered the league in 1989 until now. I’ve been blessed to be a part of some of the best organizations in professional sports and I will forever cherish the friendships and memories I’ve made around the league.”

The South Dakota State alumnus coached in nine conference title games, won three Super Bowls, all with the New England Patriots in the early 2000s, and coached 10 different players to 17 special teams Pro Bowl selections.

“Brad Seely is one of the best special teams coaches in NFL history and his contributions to the game have been unparalleled,” coach Bill O’brien said. “I first met Brad when we were both assistant coaches in New England and immediately recognized his ability to connect with his players and teach them about the game in his own unique way.”

Seely started in the NFL in 1989 with the Indianapolis Colts as a tight ends/special teams coach. In 1994, Seely coached with the New York Jets under Pete Carroll until he landed with the Carolina Panthers from 1995-98.

In 1999, Seely rejoined Carroll in New England and stayed on under Bill Belchick until the end of the 2008 season. For the next two seasons, Seely was special teams coordinator for the Cleveland Browns before joining Jim Harbaugh’s staff with the San Francisco 49ers from 2011-14.

Before coming to Houston, Seely was with the Oakland Raiders on Jack Del Rio’s staff from 2015-17.

“It was an honor and privilege to coach alongside Brad and I will always consider him a friend,” said O’Brien. “On behalf of the entire Texans organization, we wish him and his family the best in his retirement.”

Texans safety Michael Thomas says playing special teams ‘takes a different mentality’

Houston Texans safety Michael Thomas says that in order to play special teams at a high level, one must have a unique mentality on the field.

Coming out of Stanford as an undrafted free agent in 2012, Michael Thomas had to battle for security with the San Francisco 49ers.

It didn’t last long. After spending time on the practice squad in 2012 and preseason in 2013, Thomas moved on to the Miami Dolphins through the 2017 season. For the past two years, Thomas has played for the New York Giants.

The 5-10, 196-pound safety knew that the best way to ensure his longevity in the NFL would be to master special teams play.

“It takes a different mentality,” Thomas said. “You’re going down there and going against a bunch of guys that might be their only job, to go down there and try to block you for the whole game.”

Thomas earned a Pro Bowl in 2018 for his special teams play, and Pro Football Focus added him to their 2010s all-decade team because of his ability to excel in the transition phase of the game.

Said Thomas: “So, you have to be fast, you have to be strong, but you’ve also got to use your mind and understand this guy that’s probably returning the ball when I’m covering a punt or a kick, it’s probably like a Tyreek Hill, it’s probably like a (Mecole) Hardman, it’s probably somebody who is very fast, very gifted and talented.”

The first aspect Thomas has to handle is defeating his block and then set himself up to an open field tackle. While it is simple to explain, it is even more difficult to execute.

“I didn’t just want to do it to be one of the guys out there,” said Thomas. “I want to master it and I want to be one of the best. I know I can play on defense and I can contribute in any type of role, whatever the team needs me to do.”

Thomas is looking forward to teaming up with special teams aces such as outside linebacker Brennan Scarlett, inside linebacker Peter Kalambayi, and safety A.J. Moore to bring even more dominance to special teams coordinator Brad Seely’s unit.

“I’m going to love being out there with Scarlett, Pete, A.J. Moore, being out there with those guys now because they did it at a high level last year and we’re going to continue to try to do it this year,” Moore said.

Texans take pride in being dominant on special teams

The Houston Texans, under special teams coach Brad Seely, rank as one of the NFL’s best special teams units for the second year in a row.

It wasn’t long ago that the Houston Texans shot themselves on the foot consistently due to poor special teams play. However, that changed in 2018, when Houston brought-in special teams coach Brad Seely.

Since the arrival of Seely, the Texans have risen from Football Outsiders‘ 26th-ranked special teams unit (in terms of DVOA [-4.5%]) to fifth in 2018 (3.5%) to fourth in 2019 (2.9%). They’ve allowed the fewest punt return yards in 2019 (73) and led the NFL in field goals made in 2018 (37).

“I think it’s an important part of who we are as a team,” Texans coach Bill O’Brien said on Thursday.

The Texans take a special teams approach similar to the New England Patriots and Baltimore Ravens, teams that historically, under their respective head coaches, are among the NFL’s best on special teams. They bring in players specifically for their abilities on the ever-so-valuable but overlooked third-team.

Cornerback Keion Crossen, fullback Cullen Gillaspia, running backs Buddy Howell and Taiwan Jones, safety A.J. Moore and linebackers Dylan Cole (out for the season – ACL), Barkevious Mingo and Tyrell Adams see most of their snaps on special teams. They take pride in that.

“These guys take a lot of pride in it. They love being on special teams,” said O’Brien. “So, we’ve done a good job, especially of covering kicks, and I think our return game has been able to get a couple of first downs, basically, during the year and I think that’s important. So, I think our special teams is a big part of who we are.”

The Texans have 99 problems, but the special teams ain’t one.