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Texans name Bush defensive coordinator

By Nick Scurfield
January 13, 2009 Comments (0) | Avg. Rating
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The Texans named senior defensive assistant Frank Bush as the team's defensive coordinator on Tuesday, two weeks after Richard Smith was dismissed from the team.
 
Bush, 46, is entering his 23rd season in the NFL as a player, scout and coach. He spent the previous two seasons working primarily with the Texans' defensive line, including Pro Bowl defensive end Mario Williams.

"There's a sense of continuity," Bush said of his familiarity with the Texans' personnel. "We know these guys. We kind of know which buttons to push. We know what makes them tick. That part will give us a better chance of motivating these guys and getting them to go play.

"I'm excited; I'm extremely excited. It's a great opportunity."

This is the first stint as a defensive coordinator for Bush, who has coached every position group on the defensive side of the ball during his career. Citing defensive minds such as Buddy Ryan, Greg Robinson and Jerry Glanville as coaches who have influenced his preferred style of play, Bush said he plans to bring a new identity to the Texans' defense.

"I just want guys that are attacking, that are aggressive, that play with a lot of passion, a lot of emotion and fly around to the football."

- Defensive coordinator Frank Bush
"I just want guys that are attacking, that are aggressive, that play with a lot of passion, a lot of emotion and fly around to the football," he said. "By doing that, we can create turnovers and we can do some other things that can help our offense get the ball back."

Houston has ranked 24th or worse in takeaways in four consecutive seasons.

"We're going to simplify so our guys can play faster," Bush said. "The faster that we play, the more times that we get big hits. The more big hits we get, the more times that ball will come out, and that's what we're going to try to do. We want guys to attack and be violent and create turnovers that way."

Bush was a college scout with the Oilers from 1987-92 before coaching the Oilers' linebackers from 1992-94. In nine seasons with the Broncos from 1995-2003, he served as Denver's linebackers coach, secondary coach and special teams coordinator. Bush was the assistant head coach/linebackers for the Arizona Cardinals from 2004-05.

A fifth-round draft pick of the Oilers as a linebacker in 1985, Bush was named to the NFL all-rookie team but suffered a career-ending injury one year later.

Texans head coach Gary Kubiak had spent the past two weeks examining coaching candidates around the NFL, asking for input from Texans players as part of his search process. His request to interview Washington Redskins assistant Jerry Gray was denied by the Redskins last week.

Bush was the only candidate interviewed for the defensive coordinator position.

"Studying the guys that were out there, trying to go through things with (owner) Bob (McNair) and with (general manager) Rick (Smith), all my homework kept coming back to Frank," Kubiak said. "I just think that we've got something started here. We don't want to venture away from our 4-3 scheme and what we're doing. 

"I love Frank's ideas and identity and what he sees us being as a defensive football team. I know he's a great teacher and a great motivator and a fit right away with the coaches here. I think we're heading in the right direction, and Frank keeps us heading in that direction."

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