Why So Many Former Texans?

With the hiring of former Texans coaches Gary Kubiak (offensive coordinator), Rick Dennison (quarterbacks coach), and Brian Pariani (tight ends coach) the Baltimore Ravens have all but finalized the massive overhaul of their offensive coaching staff.

In what may appear to some to be an attempt to embrace a "Texans North" identity, the Ravens have assembled a coaching staff of three former Texans coaches and may possibly add a fourth as there is currently a vacancy at the running backs coach position and former Texans RB coach Chick Harris is unemployed after eleven years with the team.

The collection of former Texans coaches now employed by the Ravens may have some fans wondering what their attraction is. The simplest answer? Chemistry.

We have seen it time after time: A team spends an enormous amount of money on a collection of top-tier talent and still fails.

The most recent examples of this include the 2012 Los Angeles Lakers who stumbled to a 45-37 finish and were swept in the first round of the playoffs after acquiring stars Dwight Howard and Steve Nash. The self-proclaimed  2012 Philadelphia Eagles "dream team" floundered to a 4-12 finish and missed the playoffs after acquiring a multitude of high-profile free agents. And finally, the 2013 Baltimore Ravens went a disappointing 8-8 after a promising off-season which included the signing of premier free agent Elvis Dumervil.

What do all of these examples have in common? All included big name additions who were expected to elevate their team to the next level and failed simply because they had no chemistry with the rest of their team.

Who honestly expected the unstable personalities of Dwight Howard and Kobe Bryant to mesh even if both stayed healthy? Nobody in their right mind expected the Eagles to succeed after bringing in free agents of different personalities and playing styles from all over the country. As much as Ravens fans wanted their team to stay afloat after the losses of Ray Lewis, Ed Reed, Matt Birk, and Anquan Boldin there was simply no way any team could survive losing the leadership of arguably four Hall-of-Fame players in one off-season.

In hiring three coaches that all worked together in the past and have an existing rapport, the Ravens have effectively made the awkward transition of bringing in a new regime significantly less awkward. Instead of wasting countless hours getting acquainted with one another and learning everyone's personalities, the new guys can get right to work and focus on how to make the offensive better - A task which Kubiak, Dennison, and Pariani are all familiar with.