Texans coach Gary Kubiak extended good wishes to quarterbacks coach Greg Knapp on Wednesday as Knapp leaves Houston to become the Oakland Raiders' new offensive coordinator.
"I think it's a great opportunity for him," Kubiak said, according to the Texans' official website. "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."
The 48-year-old Knapp coached in Oakland from 2007 to 2008 and worked with new Raiders head coach Dennis Allen in Atlanta from 2004 to 2005. He drew special praise from Kubiak for his work with rookie quarterback T.J. Yates after starter Matt Schaub and backup Matt Leinart both went down for the season with injuries.
"For us to still go as far as we did and win a playoff game (and) have an excellent chance to win a second one, it just says a lot about the job Rico (offensive coordinator Rick 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," Kubiak said.
In other news, the Raiders have been denied permission to interview Dallas special teams coordinator Joe DeCamillis about a possible assistant head coach position, according to the Cowboys' official website.
DeCamillis will return for his fourth season as the Cowboys' special teams coordinator.
