Texans quarterbacks coach Greg Knapp has been hired by the Oakland Raiders as their offensive coordinator.
Knapp, 48, was a coordinator for nine seasons before joining the Texans in 2010. He coached in Oakland from 2007-08 and worked with new Raiders head coach Dennis Allen in Atlanta from 2004-05.
"I think it's a great opportunity for him," Texans coach Gary Kubiak said on Wednesday. "Obviously, you don't like losing coaches. But Greg's been a coordinator in this league before and been successful, and he's trying to make his way back to that opportunity and a chance to be a head coach, so we're very happy for him. It's a great opportunity for him. At the same time, we hate to lose him. He did a tremendous job for us, and we wish him the best."
Knapp received high praise from Kubiak this season for his work with rookie quarterback T.J. Yates after season-ending injuries to Matt Schaub and Matt Leinart. Yates started the final five games of the regular season and led the Texans to the Divisional Round of the playoffs.
Knapp and offensive coordinator Rick Dennison spent countless hours meeting with Yates and veteran backups Jake Delhomme and Jeff Garcia late in the season. The Texans used four different quarterbacks and had six on the roster in 2011.
"I've been in this league a long time," Kubiak said. "I've never seen that happen. I've been down to my backup a couple times and that's tough enough in this league, and to get down to our third who was a fifth-round pick, young rookie, it's extremely difficult.
"For us to still go as far as we did and win a playoff game have an excellent chance to win a second one, it just says a lot about the job Rico (Dennison) did, Knapp did, with the young man throughout the course of the year, and the job that our team did of lifting him up and playing well around him."
In addition to his quarterback coach duties, Knapp played a significant role in the Texans' game-planning process with Kubiak and Dennison.
"We kind of all work together as we game plan," Kubiak said. "Knapp's ear is through the quarterback. When you're sitting there with Matt (Schaub) every day, you know the things that Matt likes, and he's a guy that has to get those quarterbacks ready to play. He's a guy relaying plays to them in their helmets on gameday for me, so it's a big, big task; it's going to be a tough guy to replace."
Kubiak said he's "talking to a few guys" who could take over for Knapp but that the Texans probably won't do anything until next week.
"I'm looking for the same type of guy," Kubiak said. "I'm looking for somebody that could help me from a game-plan standpoint, somebody that has some background from a play-caller, coordinator, those type of things, and then yet, just somebody that I know will fit with Matt Schaub. The number one thing I want to do is make sure I bring in a guy that will fit with Matt very quickly in the meeting room and we can get started on next season."
Twitter.com/NickScurfield
