I know we want to FIRE RICK Just like we wanted to FIRE CHARLIE! I am curious . . . .do you think either of them were good? and Do you think they both were hamstrung by management? Beholden to the Coach I am just curious how the Texans GM Position works at all cause it does not seem like we handle it like other teams Rocket River
Rick obtained more power now than he had with Kubiak... not sure how that works. He's still more of a liaison between the coach and ownership than he is an actual decision maker. He also seems to conveniently side with the role that keeps him more insulated (wasn't really in charge when they went 2-14 with Kubiak, was more in charge when they made the big splash signings this off-season).
Rick has some degree of say when it comes to the draft. There are player that were high draft picks that Rick specifically wanted and got. However I also know that there were other players that Kubiak or O'Brien wanted that were drafted. In some cases even an assistant had a lot of say. Wade Phillips really wanted JJ Watt and won the war room. I remember a few years ago hearing a Wade Phillips interview where he talked candidly about the Texans war room and saying that everyone in the room had a say and if the coach and GM were not on the same page, McNair would make the decision. I don't think Casserly or Smith were especially good. I believe the game had passed Casserly by when the Texans hired him. He had made some very poor decisions in his last years in Washington. Smith has made some okay or even good picks, but not with the type of depth needed. He also has been poor at cap management and handing out contracts and over paying for the running back position and giving extension before required to, risking injury. The real question is how much say does McNair exert. I am not sure how much of the signing free agent QB's and not drafting one in round one is Smith and how much is McNair. David Carr #1 still leaves a really bad taste in McNair's mouth. The lack of clarity concerning roles is just indicative of the Texans organization. It is an out dated and flawed organizational structure. The only way I see it changing is having someone brought i as GM or HC that consistently wins or drafts well that is able to wrestle power away and also gain the confidence of McNair to defer and go along with the personnel decisions. It has happened before, Robert Kraft went from completely controlling to submitting to Bellichek..... but you can count on one hand the number of coaches that good in the last 75 years of football.
Well, there's the problem. Finding someone really talented to make the big decisions. Those people are few and far between. Does an owner hire a new GM every couple of years until he finds something that works? I really don't blame owners for getting involved when a team is not doing well. Owners want their team to win just like the fans want their team to win.
They need an analytics team in the worst way. They are so far behind in that aspect from other teams that it's embarrassing. Lack of analytics lead to "conservative" decision making blunders like we see all the time, not to mention piss poor drafts year after year. I wish some hedge fund guys would buy the Texans like the Astros.
Some of the greatest mysteries of our time: 1. Who really killed JFK 2. The Loch Ness Monster 3. What does Rick Smith actually do?
Rick is a YES man. Been telling people that for years. The personnel buck does not stop with him. I'm actually starting to believe McNair may be making personnel decisions. Rick goes and get who McNair tells him to go after nothing more nothing less.
Well if you watched Hard Knocks when the Texans were on there, you would have seen just what the dynamic was with Smith. He was not the guy calling the personnel shots - that was BoB & Co.. Smith merely handled whatever business mechanics were involved with the personnel decision. And as I posted in another thread, that is by design because of what happened with Charlie Casserly. McNair appeared to move from having a strong/dominant GM with control over personnel to what we have now with the coaching staff along with the scouting staff calling the shots. So to continually b**** at Rick Smith is a wasted exercise because it won't change the dynamic. I think KevC is on to something with his post because I, too, get the impression that their analytical methods are lacking. Example number one is Brock Osweiler whom I believe BoB wanted solely because he was tall.
If so, then Rick's there as a buffer and so that the fanbase and media doesn't ridicule McNair. There was an issue during the season where Rick and BOB were reportedly split on a decision, and that McNair was the final say on stuff like that. Has that been dismissed as one side overplaying/underplaying their own power in the decision making process?
Ranking all 32 NFL coach and general manager duos, from first to worst http://ftw.usatoday.com/2016/12/nfl-head-coach-general-manager-gm-rankings-2016
Did a national writer really just play the "first place" card? I thought only the local media did that... At any rate, it won't matter a a week from today since we won't be in first place anymore.
