New GM and HC search [Nick Caserio Hired as GM] [David Culley Hired as HC]
 

There was news this week that the Texans are interviewing possible GM candidates https://www.nfl.com/news/louis-riddi...jobs-this-week

Is this the first guy on the list? Or has there been others?

As for Riddick, I like what I've seen about him, and I don't want them to miss out the Detroit on him. He has ties to the 3 top HC candidates and he is not a slave to Easterby.

I am surprised there has been so little news on the search.

The guys on 610am have talked about him.

Went to Pitt. Played for 6 years at Atlanta, Cleveland, Oakland as a DB. Only started 8 times in his career but saw a lot of action. Age 51. ESPN analyst.

https://www.pro-football-reference.c...R/RiddLo20.htm

OK, maybe he's got the smarts. Seems to have a lot of interest from other teams. He'd be a rookie GM. Between Head coach and GM, only one rookie, please.

They interviewed former Colts and Lions HC Jim Caldwell today.

They reportedly are going to interview former Chiefs and Browns GM John Dorsey and former Falcons GM Thomas Dimitroff soon.

They can't interview anyone who is currently employed by an NFL team until after their season is over, with certain exceptions for teams in the playoffs (which I need to look up because those rules have changed). So things will probably stay pretty quiet for a few more weeks.

Dorsey has been working as a consultant for the Eagles. I haven't seen anything that has said whether or not he is an Eagles employee, which would impact when he could be interviewed by the Texans.

Tom Herman could be available. He already has vast experience coaching teams who f--k up at the end of games. :eek:

I was coming here to update this interview, thank you.
https://www.houstonchronicle.com/tex...g-15820306.php

Yes those guys have me liking Riddick, and Robert Saleh 49ers DC for head coach.
Yes I've drank the koolaid.

Maybe I could be sold on Dorsey, but not Thomas Dimitroff even though he did have his team in the Super Bowl.

Another point I missed about the Caldwell interview, I thought they were going to let the the new GM pick the HC, shouldn't he be here for the interview process? This has the look of the team getting the Rooney rule out of the way. Caldwell deserve better treatment than that.

Remember when Bob McNair would drop players who ran afoul of the law (and weren't stars)? Now we're coming full circle as the Texans plan to interview former Bengals coach Marvin Lewis

https://www.cbssports.com/nfl/news/m...fl-per-report/

whose personnel kept the Cincinnati Police Department busy besides being a generally crappy coach. He was 0-7 in the playoffs as a head coach in 16 seasons, including two wild card losses to the Texans in 2011-12.

He's 62 so they might as well just keep Romeo if they're planning on hiring him. Maybe it's just that the Bagels are this week's opponent or they need to satisfy the Rooney Rule but this is one hire I hope they don't make.

Tony Dungy, who is part of McNair's advisory committee that may or may not actually be a committee, is a vocal proponent of Caldwell.

I wouldn't want Marvin Lewis but I think he is a competent NFL head coach. He never did anything in the playoffs but deserves some credit for getting more out of the notoriously cheap Bengals franchise than anybody else has in a long time.

The Texans interviewed current Director of Player Personnel Matt Bazirgan for the GM position. That must have been an interesting conversation given that he was part of the front office that made terrible move after terrible move. I guess he would have to take the same approach that Easterby clearly has and blame it all on BOB?

Here is a timeline of what interviews are allowed when under the NFL's rules: https://twitter.com/TomPelissero/sta...824961/photo/1

I'm not sure what there is about the Lions or the Bengals that would make any NFL executive say "I wish we were like those guys".

I'd support Kevin Sumlin for head coach. He had success at UH, minor success at Texas A&M, coached a Heisman winner and runs a very wide-open offense with running QBs. We'd have to find a defensive coach to run the defense because he seems to be to be an offense-only coach but the same was true with Kubiak.

First make a play for Dabo and find out what his price is to try the pros then fall back on Sumlin. That works for me.

Nothing like hiring a guy who just finished up his winless season at Arizona with a 70-7 loss to rival ASU for ASU's only win of the season. Sumlin will be lucky to find a college coordinator job, so I guess that makes him about as qualified to coach the Texans as a team chaplain is to run them.

I was already aware of this but the guy didn't suddenly forget how to coach. Sounds like some sort of divorce. Sumlin obviously lost control of the team. That happens.

He strikes me as someone who would be a better professional coach than a college one. Just a hunch. And he doesn't need to start at the top. Make him a O-coordinator for an NFL team and see how he does.

Agreed. Let's get a GM and HC on the same page from the jump. Rooney rule was my initial thought too, but I suppose it isn't a poor idea for the Texans to go through a "practice" round of interviewing themselves. Maybe help them query and parse the actual candidates when they interview them?

My initial reaction too was to be repulsed by the thought of Lewis. And I'm not trying to convince anyone otherwise here, least of all me, but Lewis had a winning record as HC of the Bengals at 131-122-3. That's like 16 years, and the last 3 had win totals of just 6, 7, and 6. He produced winning teams with such a woeful franchise and ownership. Was also the DC for that stout Ravens defense that won SB XXXV and set a record for fewest points allowed.

Now for the bad - his teams went 0-7 in the playoffs, all wild card games. Six wild card losses over a seven year span actually. Feels very Oiler-esque from their late 80s-early 90s run, but unlike a few of those Oilers squads, how many of those losses did Lewis clearly have the better talent on the field? He entered as the home team with a division championship a few times, but I'm not sure he lost with clearly better talent. His QB for most of those seasons was Andy Dalton, not a HoF guy like Warren Moon.

I probably said the same thing about Bill Belichick after his stint with the Browns though.

I knew this would come up. Belichick was a highly successful DC under Parcells and he had to learn how to coach without Tuna behind him. There are few top head coaches who were big winners with their first head coaching gigs. Most of them (cough, Kubiak) reached their peak with a second team.

But you can't overcome a lack of talent although Bum certainly tried.

He'd be much worse as an NFL coach. He is a fantastic recruiter who then mostly gets the least out of his guys. And it's not like he was great as a coach and then had an off year. He's been on a constant downward spiral since the Manziel days. Manziel won the Heisman and the team went 11-2 in Sumlin's first year at A&M. Since then he's gone...

9-4
8-5
8-5
8-5
7-5
5-7
4-8
0-5

And that includes 12 straight losses currently to complete a pretty easy to spot trend. I legitimately can't think of a worse candidate. But I guess Kliff Kingsburry failed up into the Cardinals job so it's possible Sumlin could fail upwards too.

I'd much prefer an NFL guy like Beinemy or Saleh.

Why hasn't anyone hired Bieniemy as head coach yet?

Well it might be incidents like this:

https://www.cincyjungle.com/2019/1/6...joseph-broncos

Granted, nothing has been added to the list in over a decade but we all know the passage of time doesn't matter to certain activist groups.

Or could it be he is not the guy that is calling the plays?

Texans appear to be going backwards:

https://www.houstonchronicle.com/tex...M-15844228.php


And a HC request:

https://www.houstonchronicle.com/tex...t-15844366.php



If McNair stays with Easterby, then I'm done.

I could live with Caserio. He's supposed to be a really sharp guy contrary to some of the other Patriot imports...

I want to move on from the Patriots, no team has been able to emulate the Pats, and I want a real front office. A GM who is the boss, he is the personel guy. He picks the HC. Like most teams in the league.

Without Belichick, this system has not work anywhere else in the league.

I thought Caserio had signed a new contract with the Krafts and therefor was
untouchable to any other NFL organizations ?

Understandable. However, it's early in the Belichick/Brady breakup and Belichick's team is not doing that great and Brady's team is doing fine. So, it's possible the greatness that is Brady contributed a lot to Belichick's rep. Probably need a few more years to make an accurate call on that...

I don't know. Just looking at the links from Painekiller, it looked like Caserio is available for interviews.

When the NFL changed up the rules related to hiring in May, they added a prohibition on restricting opportunities for upward mobility through employment contract provisions, such as requirements for the employee to decline interview requests or that the team be compensated if the employee moves, etc. So Caserio can interview if it's for a promotion.

I have seen reports that they requested interviews with Scott Cohen (Ravens Director of Football Research), Trent Kirchner (Seahawks VP of Player Personnel), Malik Boyd (Bills Director of Player Personnel), and Alonzo Highsmith (Seahawks Personnel Executive).

On the HC side, Matt Eberflus (Colts DC) and Brian Daboll (Bills OC).

It has also been reported than O'Brien is talking to Nick Saban about the Alabama OC vacancy.

I was lucky enough to meet Alonzo on a flight back in the days he was a scout for the Packers. I really came away impressed and he was a very likable guy. He has been with a few very good organizations and I for one would be happy to see him end up here in Houston.

Mothership announced they interviewed Omar Khan for GM... very interesting candidate. Has been with Steelers since 2001 and is seen a bit more as a cap guy than traditional scout (though he's been in pro football since graduation from Tulane). Considering the team has some cap obstacles to overcome in 2021 and not many high picks where he could lean on his college scouts, it seems particularly intriguing, especially short-term where the team will build with free agents and contract extensions.

But Khan seems like a guy the Steelers have groomed as a future GM for awhile now. What's crazier is he has a connection to Bill Cowher should Cowher ever decide to be a NFL head coach again. Might a hiring of Khan be also paired with a courtship with Cowher?

And if not Cowher, recall that before becoming the Ravens DC, Marvin Lewis was Cowher's LB coach in the mid-90s... probably a good recommendation in there.

How's he related to the Jags owner ?
Anyway no way the McNair family hires a Muslim dude, not gonna happen.

Don't have the DNA results, but Omar is unrelated to Shad. I do think I read that Omar interviewed recently with the Jaguars.

And I have no idea whether Omar is Muslim. Shad is I think.

Early years​[edit]

His mother is a native of Honduras and his father is from India. He was born and raised in New Orleans, Louisiana. After graduating 1994 from Archbishop Rummel High School in Metairie, he matriculated to Tulane University from which he earned a degree in Sports Management with a minor in Business Administration in 3​1⁄2 years.
***
As a student, Khan worked with the Tulane football team as an Undergraduate Assistant. Following his time with the Tulane Football program, Khan served as a Scouting/Personnel Intern with the New Orleans Saints. Once he graduated in 1997, he was brought on in a full-time role by the Saints in the Football Operations Department. He worked his way up the ladder in New Orleans by diligently handling anything that was asked of him.

In 2001 he was hired by the Steelers in the Football Operations/Player Personnel Department. In that role he has helped to assemble two Super Bowl winners. Along with General Manager Kevin Colbert, in 20 seasons they have drafted and signed/extended over 30 Pro Bowl Players
***
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Omar_Khan_(administrator)
***
He's from the area, born and raised in NOLA and only 43.
A lot of good football experience with two different, and both truly premiere NFL organization: the Steelers & the Saints.
Yes indeed this guy is interesting.

Looks like Caserio is the guy.
https://www.houstonchronicle.com/tex...d-15848913.php

So most likely Easterby will be staying.

From Casserly to Caserio. The Oilers are nothing if not progressive.

Welp.

John McClain reporting that Caserio will not consider Josh McDaniels as a potential head coach candidate. So I guess that's good that they aren't a package deal.

Caserio may be the right guy for the existing roster management, but the Patriots' draft record over his recent years there is bleak. Of course, would be hard to mess up the Texans 2021 draft without any first and second round picks.

I feel teased by the news the team interviewed Khan, and they apparently ignored all of the candidates suggested by Korn Ferry, their hiring consultants, which is honestly quite funny and very much on brand for this team.

After twice being blocked by the Patriots from interviewing for the Texans’ general manager job in the past three years, Nick Caserio has a deal in place to become the next general manager in Houston, a league source confirmed to the Globe on Tuesday night.


The Patriots have suffered an exodus of coaches and front office talent over the last few years, including Matt Patricia, Brian Flores, Joe Judge, and Monti Ossenfort. Now they are set to lose Caserio, who has been the Patriots’ director of player personnel and Bill Belichick’s right-hand man since 2008.

Caserio, 45, has been a valuable and versatile member of the Patriots’ organization since joining the team as a personnel assistant in 2001. He quickly rose up the ladder to become the top football executive under Belichick in 2008, and he also was an on-field coach in 2002 and 2007.
***
https://www.bostonglobe.com/2021/01/...ouston-texans/
***
So FWIW the Boston Globe seems to think Caserios departure is a significant
loss.
I'll have to watch Eisen today and see what that little snot-nosed guy from Boston on his show thinks of the Texans new hire.

The Franchise seems ambivalent:

https://twitter.com/deshaunwatson/st...523839488?s=20

My friend with the team (who is very seriously considering leaving) told me that the behind-the-scenes situation with the players is untenable right now. He told me "unless something else changes, they've lost the team...every player".

Specifically what is the problem(s) that the players are upset about ?

Caserio signed 6 years $30 million. I don't think any Texans player is under contract that long?

Something will change, the team will hire a new head coach, and from that, the rest of the staff will be determined. Easy to understand the player perspective since it resembles the fans, but they're obviously living it; their lives depend upon where they work.

But the players play for the coach, not the GM. So hopefully the new head coach will mend some of those hurt feelings.

Can't think of a worse time though to be a fan of this franchise.

Caserio signed 6 years $30 million. I don't think any Texans player is under contract that long? Easy to understand the player perspective since it resembles the fans, but they're obviously living it; their lives depend upon where they work.

Something will change - - the team will hire a new head coach, and from that, the rest of the staff will be determined.

The players play for the coach, not the GM. So hopefully the new head coach will mend some of those hurt feelings.

Can't think of a worse time though to be a fan of this franchise.

This is where I enter into "I can't repeat everything territory" per a request from my friend.

I would just say that if you listen to DW4's last media event where he talked about needing a culture change and there are mixed messages as to who is in charge, you can connect the dots.

That is my hope too. Any pissed off feelings will hopefully blow over as long as the right HC is brought in (that is truly a Caserio hire) and Caserio/the new HC set the culture.

It's obviously not every player since Cooks came out vocally in support. But it's not surprising if it's some or most of the players. Why wouldn't players on this franchise be upset? What blows my mind is the idea the players are upset now over a GM hire, but nobody said anything when Hopkins was shipped out.