Houston Texans: The likelihood of Rick Smith’s future job role
The Houston Texans had Executive Vice President of Football Operations/General Manager Rick Smith at the podium today in regard to his press conference explaining the reasoning why he decided to go on a leave of absence. With all things considered, here’s what I think about his future job role.
The Houston Texans’ disappointing season is finally over, culminating a gaudy 4-12 record on the season. With that mark being made, changes are certainly on the horizon on who will be running the day-to-day operations of this team.
As you know, Rick Smith has decided to take a leave of absence to care for his wife as she battles through cancer treatments. First and foremost, my thoughts and prayers go out to the Smith family in regard to this. We all know someone that has been affected by this terrible disease and when one hears this, we can certainly all relate to the emotional toil that it takes.
With that being said, football has certainly become one of his lesser priorities as he helps his better half fight for her life. Smith has continued to reiterate in his presser that he’s not resigning but just stepping a way for awhile.
The timing of this announcement comes off the heels of rumors of he and Bill O’Brien‘s relationship to have deteriorated immensely over time and it was going to be one of those situations where either one was going to have to step aside.
It’s unfortunate that the news of his wife having cancer has occurred but the reality of O’Brien and Smith co-existing in the same organization is still a certainty. They both continue to say that they have a great “working” relationship but that’s the extent of it. I don’t think they traditionally swap Christmas cards and have dinner at each other’s houses during the holiday season.
But that’s not a requirement for them to do their jobs effectively. As long as the results are being put out on the football field, it doesn’t matter. But because this season clearly depicts something has gone terribly awry — notwithstanding the injuries — the fingers start to be pointing at the most public figures — the general manager and the head coach.
What will Smith’s future look like?
As I expected, I think his future with the Houston Texans was a lock regardless of this announcement. He’s got an extremely tight relationship with the McNairs and he’s not going anywhere as he mentioned. I’d expect him to keep his EVP title but I doubt even when he returns
More from House of Houston
- Are you the 2021 FanSided Sports Fan of the Year?
- Houston Texans: 4 reasons Romeo Crennel is right coach right now
- Astros-Twins Wild Card Series: 5 things to know as MLB postseason begins
- Houston Texans: The Most Underrated Sports Drought Ever
- Houston Texans: J.J. Watt’s early case for NFL Hall of Fame
that he’ll get the general manager job back. There will have to be someone who is capable of taking over the role for the year and if they do well, it would be extremely difficult to take that away from that individual.
So I’m sure Smith will have the ability to provide some input in the day-to-day operations but he will not wield as much power as he does now in his current role. I’m speculating but I’m sure this is likely what O’Brien wants and why he’s going to have a lot of say who’s going to take over. It’s clearly understood that O’Brien is returning to the Houston Texans or else they would’ve fired him already among the others today.
Although Smith has had some misses in free agency as well as in the draft, he has done some good for this team. The fact that he subtracted a Brock Osweiler mistake and added a Deshaun Watson correction indicates his savvy ability to work with people to get deals done.
Next: Why Bill O'Brien deserves a contract extension
One thing’s for sure, when Smith returns, I think it will be situation where he quietly ease into his new role rather than the pronounced — yet extremely important — course of action he’s taking to step away.
We’ll have to see.
Go Texans.