Houston Texans: Why the team should avoid Brian Gaine for the GM job

With Rick Smith taking a leave of absence, the Houston Texans are now hot on the trail for the search of a general manager to keep the continuity of the business in motion. They need to avoid Brian Gaine at all costs. Here’s why.

The Houston Texans are dominating the headlines with the whirlwind of changes that are taking place after a lackluster 4-12 finish to the 2017 season. I honestly didn’t see all of this coming at once but some minor tweaks as with the players that are currently on the team. That will likely happen as well but we’ll know more about that as we move closer to the spring.

But for the now, the focus at this time is general manager position, which has been vacated because Rick Smith is in the unfortunate situation tending to his ailing wife while she undergoes cancer treatments. Smith is expected to be back in 2019 but the picture is unclear if he will get the GM job back. He did confirm that he will keep the title of Executive Vice President of Football Operations.

My best inclination is that his installation plan to return will be set in stone by then and he won’t be the GM. He’ll still be a top-level executive with the Houston Texans but just not be embossed with the day-to-day of the football operations. I might be wrong but we’ll see about that.

But anyway, the Houston Texans have hired Korn Ferry, a search firm that specializes in searching for the best and brightest executives in pro football.

As per NFL Insider Ian Rapoport, here’s the latest candidates the Houston Texans are considering:

The #Texans have hired a search firm and are going through the process of hiring a GM to replace Rick Smith, sources say. External names expected to receive interest: Nick Caserio & Monti Ossenfort (#Patriots), Brian Gaine (#Bills), and Brian Gutekunst (#Packers).
— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) January 2, 2018

That’s an interesting list but whatever they do, I don’t think the Houston Texans should hire Brian Gaine. I want a fresh face that will view things objectively as far as how best to move forward with the improvement of this team. I don’t see how Gaine would be able to do that.

Gaine, who was with the Houston Texans from 2014-16, is currently the vice president of player personnel for the Buffalo Bills. The franchise has been granted permission to speak with him and he’ll likely be the first candidate that the team interviews.

Yes, it has been said that he and Bill O’Brien work well together and that the Bills have finally snapped their 18-year playoff drought dating before the start of this century but I want new blood and if that means going outside of the box to do this hire, then I’m all for it.

It’s tough to tell how much an influence Gaine had on free agency as well as the draft during his tenure but it’s clear that guys like Louis Nix III, Jaelen Strong and possibly Kevin Johnson are sure-fire misses during his time in the player personnel arena here in H-Town.

I don’t want a re-hash of past regimes, I want someone with a fresh mindset.

Who should they target out of the rumored?

That man out of the bunch mentioned is New England Patriots director of player personnel Nick Caserio, who has been with the club for 17 seasons and has been a part of every Super Bowl win the franchise has had since. He has an excellent reputation for his managerial and people skills and his keen ability to determine talent.

Karen Guregian of the Boston Herald spoke with Bill Belichick and he had this to say about Caserio:

"“In Nick’s case, he directs everybody else in the college and the pros, coordinating those things with the coaching staff,” said Belichick. “It’s good to have continuity and consistency in thoseareas. We know there’s turnover in this league and there’s turnover in this team. When those things happen, we take the appropriate steps and try to put a competitive product on the field.”"

Guregian also mentioned that Caserio is in the press box during their games to give valuable

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insight to the coaching staff on any particular nuances of the offense, equivalent to a virtual pair binoculars that can talk back to him.

Do you think Smith did that during games? Likely not. That’s not necessarily because he didn’t want to but O’Brien likely felt that he didn’t need any input from Smith, hence the alleged

dysfunctional relationship that they had.

Caserio is the epitome of having versatility which is a theme the Texans have had in the O’Brien era. He has proven he can do more than one thing, will have a fresh set of eyes and provide an innovative perspective of how to go about the business of managing talent.

Next: Houston Sports: Three New Year Predictions for 2018

If the Texans do land him, it’d be a serious coup to which I’m still putting this in the realm of unlikely but possible.

It’ll be interesting to see where the team goes with this but we’re going to find out sooner than later as free agency and draft will be right around the corner within the next couple of months.

Let’s hope for the best.

Go Texans.

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