Texans divorce doesn’t add up Spoiler So, the Texans somehow figured out Brian Gaine isn’t a championship general manager? At least that’s the potentially slanderous theme they are sharing with certain media members on the down low after firing Gaine on Friday. Let’s not argue with them on that point. Gaine didn’t do anything in his year and a half on the job to indicate he was going to lead the Texans to a Super Bowl anytime soon, but that has never been an issue with the Texans before. That’s the new standard? Well, hallelujah! So, when is Bill O’Brien going to be fired? The Texans re-hired O’Brien, signing him to a ridiculous four-year contract extension coming off a 4-12 record (31-33 overall), the same day it hired Gaine. One had to figure that Brutus O’Brien and Brian Gaine were joined at the hip. (Oops, that should be Bill O’Brien … sorry, autocorrect issues.) They were hired by the Texans a few weeks apart and worked with each other for three seasons before Gaine made a lateral move to take a job in Buffalo. A year later, they were together again when Gaine was named general manager after Rick Smith took a leave of absence. They are hard-nosed. They are Irish. They have the same agent. And, clearly, they agreed the Texans didn’t need to be aggressive in building a stronger offensive line the last two offseasons. Texans fans should sue them for malpractice. Not one, both. Every time O’Brien and Gaine talked about each other, their feelings, their admiration, their respect … it sounded like wedding vows. “The working relationship with Coach O’Brien is wonderful,” Gaine said. “Philosophical alignment … it’s as true as can be. “We believe in the same principles and beliefs on how to build football culture, football program, how to identify players, how to grade players, how to scout players, how to develop players. We talk about our offseason program, training room, how we’re going to practice, the types of players we want, what we physically want them to look like, critical factors, position specifics. Bill and I are philosophically aligned in so many places. “So, our working relationship is tremendous.” Apparently not. That was a mere three months ago. Vegas could have made bundle on this one. The over/under on how many general managers O’Brien would coach for with the Texans was 2½, and the smart money was on the under. The logic was if O’Brien succeeded, his boy Brian Gaine would be at his side. They talked about their football love affair often. Apparently, it wasn’t as deep as we thought. Gaine was not a McNair hire. Not Bob, Cal, Janice or any other McNair. They may have been involved, but Gaine was an O’Brien hire. O’Brien knew him better than anyone else on the search committee. “We interviewed some great candidates, but Brian was head and shoulders above everybody and he brings an intelligence,” O’Brien said when Gaine was hired. “And the biggest thing for me, just personally, is he’s a real close friend of mine and we’re very much aligned football-wise.” The question is, whether Gaine is an O’Brien fire. How else could he lose a power struggle to someone who shouldn’t have had that much power to begin with? Maybe Gaine was too stubborn. O’Brien definitely is. Being loud and unbending doesn’t make a person more right. O’Brien makes confident, wronger than wrong calls almost every Sunday during football season. Two hardheads battling over decisions is not the atmosphere Bob McNair envisioned, cultivated and demanded. The Texans are now Cal McNair’s team. But the bungling of this GM hire/fire shouldn’t make Texans fans any more confident the organization knows what it is doing. It didn’t take long for the Texans to start trying to justify this stupefying move. Four sentences into Cal McNair’s statement, he leaned on an item from Page 1 of the sports team crisis management handbook: “When announcing a move that makes you look like you don’t know what you’re doing, be sure to mention ‘best interest of the team’ and ‘championship quest.’” “While the timing may be unusual, this decision was made in the best interest of our organization in our quest to build a championship team for the City of Houston,” McNair’s statement read. Cal McNair doesn’t want to win a championship any more than his father did. Desire is not the issue. Does he know how? At 58 years old, Cal McNair is no kid. He has been involved with the Texans from the start and has been involved in every major hire the organization has made. All of the right ones and all of the wrong ones. All the moves that have led to zero championships. After a “thorough evaluation” the Texans concluded that Gaine wasn’t a championship GM? That isn’t a sign that the team is finally getting it right. Unless there are more thorough examinations yet to come. Who’s next?
I could definitely see the pope lawsuit coming into play with his dismissal. Cal is likely still very frustrated with the portrayal of his father as a racist and wouldn’t want further negative attention in that manner, regardless of how the allegations play out.
https://www.si.com/nfl/2019/06/13/carson-wentz-eagles-contract-extension-howie-roseman Late Wednesday afternoon, the Patriots filed tampering charges against the Texans over the latter’s pursuit of New England VP of player personnel Nick Caserio. And, as we said on Monday, this is something you could see coming. Here are the facts… • New Texans EVP of team development Jack Easterby, hired on April 2, is close with Caserio, and played a major role in the ouster of GM Brian Gaine. Caserio is also close with Texans coach Bill O’Brien. • The night before, Easterby, who left the Patriots in February, attended the Patriots’ ring ceremony at owner Robert Kraft’s residence in Brookline, Mass. • Shortly after firing Gaine on Friday afternoon, the Texans put in a request to interview Caserio for their newly vacant GM position. • The Patriots dragged their feet on granting permission, and rumblings in league circles held that they were planning to try to block Caserio from interviewing, which they could only do if they proved that the Texans job wasn’t a “true” GM position, or that Caserio already had one in Foxboro. • The Texans interviewed ex-Browns GM Ray Farmer on Saturday, and ex-Lions GM Martin Mayhew on Sunday. They haven’t interviewed another candidate since, which only added to the idea they’re zeroed in on Caserio, as they awaited permission to interview him. So what will the Patriots’ case focus on? I’m told that the timing of the events above—Easterby and Caserio being together less than 24 hours before Gaine was fired, then the Texans putting in for Caserio almost immediately after moving on from Gaine—got their attention. Only adding to that was Caserio and Easterby seen talking with one another (which isn’t really unusual, but still …) at the Kraft’s house. It’ll be interesting to see where things go next. Could the Patriots seek compensation for Caserio, who’s been as good a soldier as Belichick could ask for over the last 18 years? Would New England work to flat-out stop Caserio from going? Is that what Caserio, who’s turned down a ton of opportunities the last few years, really wants? Would it be awkward after all this for Caserio to go back to work in Foxboro? The Patriots, of course, have been embroiled in tampering investigations in the past (they filed one against the Jets on Deion Branch, and the Patriots and Jets filed charges against one another on Darrelle Revis), and this one figures to be as interesting as the rest of them. If not moreso.
-Caserio wants to take this job; they're trying to prevent him from interviewing -Would have full control as Brian Gaine, Rick Smith & Charlie Casserly did -Tight will Bill O'Brien; Tight with Jack Easterby -Patriots trying to say Easterby tampered last week at ring ceremony -Texans not giving up number one draft choice -Could end any day with a settlement or could play out -If it plays out on & don't get Caserio, they'll stick with what they have. (O'Brien personnel; Easterby football operations; Olsen cap/contracts; Jamey Roots administrative side) -They're pulling out all the stops to keep him from leaving -Does NFL rule they have to let him interview? If so, he's coming & Texans will get him as their new GM -Would give up a 3rd round pick; Patriots will wait & hold out for a 1/2, Patriots will stall & hold out as long as they can -Caserio is worth a draft pick, wouldn't give up a 1st or 2nd -If Caserio didn't want to leave, he'd just say no. If Caserio didn't want to interview, he'd just say no. He wants the job. -Lots of teams have tried to get Caserio & failed. It'll be a lot of fun to see how this plays out. If a guy wants to go, been here since 2001, I want to go there & be GM, do they really want to force him to stay? -(What if they did tamper?) They can be fined, lose draft choices. KC tampered with Jeremy Maclin. Chiefs lost 3rd/5th round picks, Reid fined $75K, Dorsey $25K -Two of his best friends(O'Brien/Easterby) has a lot to do with him wanting to go. -(Why would NE settle for a 3rd if they tampered and why would Houston give up anything if they did nothing?) If they don't want to wait to see, and I don't think they'll take a 3, I can see the Texans offering it to make it go away. Patriots will go to the end & tie them up. They should offer a 3. -(How will it end?) He wants to leave & come to Houston. I don't think they can block him based on the way the rules are written. The Texans can still be found guilty of tampering and be fined/lose a draft choice or two. I'll say Caserio ends up here. -(Timetable?) If they don't get Caserio, won't hire a GM until next year. Not necessary they hire someone else. -(Discrimination suit?) Brian Gaine being fired had nothing to do with that.
whoopsie.. Your post did not age well. The texans were asleep at the wheel AGAIN. Lack of due diligence you implied... Incompetence.. They had no clue..texans burned again.
Honestly, the circus doesn't feel complete yet. Either they're gonna rehire him, or he's gonna sue back for defamation or whatever is the executive version of wrongful termination
Don’t worry. If the draft class does we O’Brien will take credit for it. If the draft class fails, O’Brien will blame Gaine.
Ah. The team also loved what they saw in our dual QB threat of Hoyer and Mallet in training camp back in the day. Shortly after, the team also fell madly in love with Brock Osweiler during training camp. Legends are born in training camp.
