Former Green Bay Packers coach Mike Sherman met Friday with Houston Texans officials and is considering an offer to join first-year head coach Gary Kubiak's staff in the role of assistant head coach/offensive line. Sherman and Kubiak worked together on the Texas A&M staff under then-Aggies coach R.C. Slocum in 1992-93 and are said to have a solid relationship. Landing Sherman, who has rebuffed assistant coach offers from other franchises in the past 10 days, would be a coup for Kubiak as he continues to assemble his first staff. Sherman, 51, interviewed for head coach vacancies in New Orleans Saints and Buffalo Bills but lost out to Sean Payton and Dick Jauron, respectively, for those positions. He has also been approached in recent days by the New York Jets and Buffalo Bills, in both cases for the offensive coordinator spot, but opted not to pursue those opportunities.

As a ball boy for the Houston Oilers more than 25 years ago, Gary Kubiak never thought he would eventually coach the team that replaced them. But he long vowed that he would return to Houston. On Thursday he did, and was introduced as the second coach of the Houston Texans. "I always told my mom and dad I would be home someday," he said. "I think they started not to believe me after a while. But I finally made it back." Kubiak, who spent the last 11 years as Denver's offensive coordinator, inherits a team that had a league-worst 2-14 record last season, costing Dom Capers his job. Kubiak reportedly signed a five-year contract worth about $10 million.

The Houston Texans will hire Denver offensive coordinator Gary Kubiak to take over the worst team in the league and help decide what to do with the first pick in the draft. Texans owner Bob McNair said during a Sunday news conference that the hiring won't be completed until later in the week because the Texans could not negotiate a contract with Kubiak until the Broncos were eliminated from the playoffs. McNair's announcement came about an hour after Denver lost to Pittsburgh in the AFC championship game. "Hopefully we'll have him down here by the middle of the week and he will then be assembling a staff," McNair said.

Reggie Bush has long been assumed the top pick in the NFL draft, but after Vince Young's performance in the Rose Bowl, the Trojans wanted some assurance before the Heisman Trophy winner agreed to forgo his senior season. USC sources told ESPN's Chris Mortensen that coach Pete Carroll gave his blessing for Bush to turn pro only after being assured by Texans owner Bob McNair that the running back would be the No. 1 pick in the draft. Young, a Texas native, led his Longhorns to a victory over the favored Trojans in the national championship and ignited a public frenzy demanding Houston select the quarterback instead of Bush. However, the Texans appear to be sticking with their initial plan of drafting the running back -- a preference of the top candidate to become their head coach. A Broncos source told Mortensen that Gary Kubiak, Denver's offensive coordinator and the favorite for the Texans' head coaching post, believes current Houston quarterback David Carr can flourish with a new offense headlined by Bush and wide receiver Andre Johnson. Kubiak, a Houston native, is widely considered the likely successor to Dom Capers, who was fired as Texans coach on Jan. 2, one day after finishing a 2-14 season with a loss at San Francisco.

Receiver Rod Smith's first season on the Broncos' active roster was 1995, the same year Gary Kubiak returned to Denver as offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach under new coach Mike Shanahan. During his 11-year career, Smith has progressed from an undrafted free agent from Missouri Southern to one of the most prolific receivers in NFL history with 797 catches and 10,877 yards. "And I can say without a shred of doubt that I wouldn't have had anywhere near the career I've had without Kubes on my side," said Smith, the Broncos' 35-year-old team leader. "Kubes" is Kubiak, who will become the Texans' new head coach after the Broncos lose in the playoffs or win the Super Bowl.

Iowa coach Kirk Ferentz has informed NFL teams that he is withdrawing his name from consideration for head coaching jobs and returning to coach the Hawkeyes, ESPN's Chris Mortensen reported Wednesday. The Houston Texans were said to be interested in Ferentz, and the Wisconsin State Journal on Wednesday said Ferentz remained a candidate for the vacant Green Bay Packers job, citing two league sources. Last week, ESPN.com's John Clayton reported Ferentz was still recruiting high school players for the Hawkeyes and had yet to agree to an interview with the Texans. Ferentz, who succeeded Hayden Fry, is 42-31 at Iowa, including 31-7 in the past three seasons. The Hawkeyes have been to four straight bowl games. Previously he was coach at Maine and served as an assistant to Bill Belichick with the Cleveland Browns.

The Houston Texans will select USC running back Reggie Bush with the No. 1 pick in this April's NFL draft, pending the formality of Bush announcing that he is turning pro, team and league sources told Chris Mortensen. Almost nothing will change that course, the sources say, even after the Texans received word Friday from an intermediary representing Texas quarterback Vince Young that the Houston native is leaning strongly to also going pro.

Houston Texans coach Dom Capers will be fired on Monday, league and team sources told ESPN's Chris Mortensen. Even though team consultant Dan Reeves wouldn't mind becoming the Texans' next coach, owner Bob McNair will look closely at offensive coordinators like Denver's Gary Kubiak and San Diego's Cam Cameron, with Iowa's Kirk Ferentz likely on the radar of teams who have or will have openings, Mortensen reported. McNair made it clear when hiring Reeves that Reeves was not interviewing to be coach of the Texans, nor was he brought in to critique Capers or general manager Charley Casserly. "He's here as a resource to assist me as we go forward and to assist the other people in our organization to help us be a better team," McNair said.

The Houston Texans had so much to lose if they won their season finale. They nearly did it anyway. Instead, the San Francisco 49ers salvaged some pride in their own miserable season -- and the Texans got on the clock for the NFL draft in April. Mike Adams lateraled his second interception to Ben Emanuel for a 35-yard return in overtime, Joe Nedney kicked a 33-yard field goal with 3:52 left and the 49ers earned their first consecutive victories in more than two years with a 20-17 victory Sunday. But after one last loss, fans of the Texans (2-14) might have felt like the real winners: Their franchise clinched the top pick. Houston now has the chance to choose Reggie Bush, the Heisman Trophy-winning tailback from USC who's widely expected to enter the draft. "Whatever happens in this game, it won't have any effect on me," Bush said in Los Angeles, where he's preparing for Wednesday's Rose Bowl against Texas. "Obviously it will just (affect) who gets the first pick in the NFL draft. ... Like I said from Day 1, I won't be worried about it until after the season."