Houston Texans: Three things to know about new QBs coach Carl Smith

Thing #2: Smith’s entrance into the Modern Era

The tides had changed when Smith was faced with his newest assignment with the Jacksonville Jaguars in 2005-07.  He tasked with developing a QB that was unorthodox to the types that he coached in the past — this new, young QB was a dual threat on the ground and wasn’t afraid to leave the pocket if he had to.

I’m talking about David Garrard, still one of the Jags’ most-productive QBs in their short-lived franchise history.  In 2007, figuratively his most successful, Garrard threw for 2,509 yards, while throwing 18 touchdowns to three interceptions in 12 starts.

He had a career-high, 83.4 QBR to complement.  Garrard didn’t have to run the football as much that season, with a close to a record-low 185 yards on the ground with a two-headed monster attack of Fred Taylor and a young, maturing Maurice Jones-Drew on the ground.  Garrard was truly one of my favorite quarterbacks to watch during that era with his systematic, yet deliberate movements all with his stocky 6-foot-1, 244-pound frame.

Garrard didn’t quite achieve the level of success he had when Smith coached him after he left in 2007.

And finally, Smith after a mostly-forgettable second stint with the Cleveland Browns as their quarterback’s coach, his old friend Pete came calling again, this time as the new head coach of the Seattle Seahawks.  He got the most he could out of Tavaris Jackson in 2011 but it was when he took the reigns in regard to coaching Wilson, where his legacy started to fully blossom.

His experiences working with Garrard helped him be able to develop Wilson into one of the most successful QBs of this era that we’re in with each season that’s he’s coached being just as good as the one that preceded, for the most part.  This definitely set the table for their Super Bowl win back in 2013.

Wilson just finished a season where he threw for a career-high 35 touchdown passes to seven interceptions along with 10-6 record but a stinging Wild Card 24-22 loss to the Dallas Cowboys.  And just like with Garrard, Wilson recorded his second-lowest rushing total on the ground with just 376 of those this credit.

O’Brien has now called on Smith to try to get the best out of Deshaun Watson, who appears that he has the potential to be the best QB in the league but just needs a bit of coaching not only to preserve his health but another voice to help incorporate the growth of his game-management skills along with finding a medium to his addiction to always wanting to make the big play.

I’m anxious to see if the “Smith Effect” can find his way to Watson to get him to soar to the highest of heights.

What’s the last thing to know about Smith?  Let’s dig further.