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Brian Gardner fired

AcresHomesTexan

No Longer Arlington: Escaped From Jerry's World
Staff member
Didn't know where to put this but according to Jason La Canfora the Texans fired director of Pro Personnel Brian Gardener.


per MistaRed post (not found link or tweet as of yet) AT
 

MistaRed

Rookie
Thanks for that AT. Here's the tweet...

Jason La Canfora (@JasonLaCanfora) tweeted at 9:08 PM on Fri, Jan 17, 2014:
Texans have parted with Pro Personnel Director Brian Gardner, according to team sources. Could be plenty more front office change to come...
 

steelbtexan

King of the W. B. Club
Contributor's Club
Didn't know where to put this but according to Jason La Canfora the Texans fired director of Pro Personnel Brian Gardener.


per MistaRed post (not found link or tweet as of yet) AT
This is a start of the culture change/ getting rid of the main problems that have plagued the Texans org for the last 8 yrs.
 

MistaRed

Rookie
Another tweet from La Canfora:

Jason La Canfora (@JasonLaCanfora)
Many people in the league believe if Texans GM Rick Smith had his way, Ken Whisenhunt would have been his top choice. More change could come
 

Playoffs

Hall of Fame
John McClain ‏@McClain_on_NFL
GM Rick Smith will have to hire a new director of pro scouting. Bobby Grier, one of the NFL's best, is heavily involved in pro scouting dept

I feel bad for Brian Gardner, who was fired as Texans director of pro scouting. A real good guy. He was fired today with scout Kevin Murphy.
Jason La Canfora ‏@JasonLaCanfora
The relationship between Bill O'Brien and Rick Smith - or lack thereof - will be worth monitoring, closely in 2014 and beyond

Texans pro scout Kevin Murphy, who was well regarded within that franchise and outside it, has also been let go. More possibly to come

The Texans have also parted with at least one pro scout, and, again, more reshuffling is likely on the horizon

Many people in the league believe if Texans GM Rick Smith had his way, Ken Whisenhunt would have been his top choice. More change could come

You pay a coach $7M to buy him out of his contract, and a Belichick disciple at that, and people brace for significant change ...

New Texans coach Bill O'Brien is swinging a big stick there and much of the old guard is a little unsure of where they stand ...

Texans have parted with Pro Personnel Director Brian Gardner, according to team sources. Could be plenty more front office change to come...
 

steelbtexan

King of the W. B. Club
Contributor's Club
John McClain ‏@McClain_on_NFL

Jason La Canfora ‏@JasonLaCanfora
When you finish 2-14 there is going to be people getting fired. Gardner may have been the greatest guy in the world but he was a contributor to 2-14.

Although I would've preferred Whisenhunt over Obie, I'm very happy to know that BoB's token didn't set the franchises future.
 

Playoffs

Hall of Fame
If Gardner was the guy responsible for the recent UDFA signings we made, I'd say this could be a loss. Whoever was signing those was cleaning up.

As for the Whizz stuff, I don't put much stock in what some butthurt fired scout tries to blow up as he's escorted off the premises. Unprofessional. And LaCanfora is the TMZ of NFL rumor mongerers -- zero respect from peers.
 

ChampionTexan

Hall of Fame
If Gardner was the guy responsible for the recent UDFA signings we made, I'd say this could be a loss. Whoever was signing those was cleaning up.
I wouldn't imagine somebody with "Pro Personnel" in their title would be the one at the forefront of bringing in UDFA's.
 

Trap_Star

SiteContributor
any chance they bring in alonzo highsmith from the packers to replace gardner until they promote him to GM when lil ricky gets the ax in a year or two?
 

Carr Bombed

Hall of Fame
When you finish 2-14 there is going to be people getting fired. Gardner may have been the greatest guy in the world but he was a contributor to 2-14.

Although I would've preferred Whisenhunt over Obie, I'm very happy to know that BoB's token didn't set the franchises future.
Not me.. There were 3 HC candidates that were hired this offseason that I would've taken over Whisenhunt and we hired the guy who was at the top of my list.

Whisenhunt was a losing head coach without grey beard.. So I'm glad "BoB" :rolleyes: tied Smith's hands if that rumor is true.
 

bOODRO87

Time Consumer
When you finish 2-14 there is going to be people getting fired. Gardner may have been the greatest guy in the world but he was a contributor to 2-14.

Although I would've preferred Whisenhunt over Obie, I'm very happy to know that BoB's token didn't set the franchises future.
What the F has Whisenhunt done to win you over?
 

TheMatrix31

Hall of Fame
I just hope if Smith stays, he and O'Brien can figure **** out and build chemistry. I do not want a power struggle and stupid, unnecessary drama for another year.
 

Wolf6151

All Pro
I think smith has one draft to prove his worth.
Agreed. The 2014 FA period and draft will be a test for Smith and keeping his job depends on how he does. I'm glad to see the firing of these 2 guys, not that I have anything against them personally but I've long thought that our scouting dept. wasn't getting the job done very well.
 

welsh texan

You may say I’m a dreamer but I’m not the only one
I take it this effects FA prep rather than draft prep (due to the title "pro"), if so, it surprises me somewhat to see these guys going now rather than later, OB must have been pretty unimpressed with the body of work presented to him to not wait a few months.
 

thunderkyss

Just win baby!!!
Staff member
Contributor's Club
Bill must have caught them playing solitaire on the computer instead of planning ahead for the draft.
I am curious if OB had any say in these firings.

It's probable that Kubiak would still be here, if he'd have fired Marciano, Bush, Wade..... Benton. If nothing else, a head coach should be able to assemble a competent staff. & quite frankly I haven't been pleased with many of our position coaches.

So maybe Rick is doing what Kubiak wouldn't & shedding dead weight.

I am cautious that it sounds like I was right & Rick Smith did not have as much influence over the HC hire as I would like. Well, not that I wanted Rick Smith picking our HC, but the GM should have some influence over the HC, I think.

The HC should have absolutely no influence on scouts & directors of pro personnel.

At the very least, it sounds like our HC & our GM are the heads of two departments, reporting directly to Bob McNair.
 

Texn4life

All Pro
The thing is year in and year out there are journeyman type players who go on to make significant impacts for their new teams. The Texans haven't been exactly hitting on those types of signings I would say. Ball was one guy who was decent for us in certain aspects, but he was JAG.

I think this probably may have had a little something to do with it IMO. Maybe they looked at some of their reports on past free agents, and they could have just been completely off. Having known people in the scouting department I can tell you that if you miss and are way off on too many guys then you won't have a job for long. Its very possible that's what happened in this case.
 

Errant Hothy

Hypermediocrity
any chance they bring in alonzo highsmith from the packers to replace gardner until they promote him to GM when lil ricky gets the ax in a year or two?
Highsmith is in Miami, right? If I was 'zo I'd take just about any gig that got my away from that dumpster fire of an organization.
 

ChampionTexan

Hall of Fame
I'm not pretending to know what's going on (cause I have no idea), and it could certainly be that this is O'Brien flexing his muscle, but has anybody considered the possibility that these are Kubiak guys who were simply cleared out as Rick Smith works to consolidate power at the front office level?

Both of these guys were hired by the Texans in '06, and while nobody knows fore certain, there's clearly a number of folks who believe that Kubiak was in charge of pretty much everything at the time of his hire.

Lots of folks (including me) will hate this idea, and I can't even call it speculation as I'm not saying I believe it to be true - just wondering about it.

Anybody out there seeing something I'm not and therefore can shoot this theory out of the water?
 

IDEXAN

Hall of Fame
Contributor's Club
What the F has Whisenhunt done to win you over?
I'm not necessarily a Whisenhunt guy, but honestly why has he not been as successful an NFL HC as Jon Gruden or Cower ? OK he's much more understated and not got that flashy personality of Gruden, or dosen't look mean and slobber like Cowher, but if not for a terrible call by a ref he win's the SB just as those other two coachs .
 

ChampionTexan

Hall of Fame
I'm not necessarily a Whisenhunt guy, but honestly why has he not been as successful an NFL HC as Jon Gruden or Cower ? OK he's much more understated and not got that flashy personality of Gruden, or dosen't look mean and slobber like Cowher, but if not for a terrible call by a ref he win's the SB just as those other two coachs .
Whisenhunt was probably right behind Lovie on the list of guys we didn't hire but I would have been fine with (and for the record, I have no problem with O'Brien being brought in ahead of either of those guys).

What I don't understand is hearing the primary (and almost exclusive) criticism of Whisenhunt being that he couldn't win without Warner, but then - from a generic NFL coaching standpoint - seeing how many folks put forth the philosophy that you can't succeed without an above average QB. Arizona never had a QB that was even close to average after Warner retired.

We've had some debate on this site for the last few years (thankfully no longer relevant) that went beyond the QB position, regarding whether Kubiak was capable of getting a team to the Super Bowl . Simply questioning was he capable of doing it under any circumstances. Well, that's an argument that doesn't need to be conducted as it relates to Whisenhunt.

As a somewhat related additional comment, I'm not excited at all to see that he's bringing in Ray Horton to coordinate the Titans D.
 

speedfreek

All Pro
>Jason La Canfora (@JasonLaCanfora)
Many people in the league believe if Texans GM Rick Smith had his way, Ken Whisenhunt would have been his top choice. More change could come


I agree with Rick Smith..
 

ObsiWan

Hall of Fame
Contributor's Club
When you finish 2-14 there is going to be people getting fired. Gardner may have been the greatest guy in the world but he was a contributor to 2-14.

Although I would've preferred Whisenhunt over Obie, I'm very happy to know that BoB's token didn't set the franchises future.
What the F has Whisenhunt done to win you over?
Yes... tell us. Please.
Count me in the camp of those that think Whisenhunt's success out west was due to Kurt Warner. We don't have anything close to a Kurt Warner. Whisenhunt has never, ever shown the ability to pick a good QB let alone develop a rookie QB.
I'm actually rejoicing that Tennessee is stuck with him. I think they screwed the pooch by firing Munchak
 

The Pencil Neck

Hall of Fame
I'm not pretending to know what's going on (cause I have no idea), and it could certainly be that this is O'Brien flexing his muscle, but has anybody considered the possibility that these are Kubiak guys who were simply cleared out as Rick Smith works to consolidate power at the front office level?

Both of these guys were hired by the Texans in '06, and while nobody knows fore certain, there's clearly a number of folks who believe that Kubiak was in charge of pretty much everything at the time of his hire.

Lots of folks (including me) will hate this idea, and I can't even call it speculation as I'm not saying I believe it to be true - just wondering about it.

Anybody out there seeing something I'm not and therefore can shoot this theory out of the water?
There MIGHT be a connection with Kubiak but I don't know.

http://media.houstontexans.com/images/9057/Media_Guides/2013MG/2013FootballOperationsStaff.pdf

Based on this document, he came over in 2006 after spending a couple of years with the Buccs. Prior to that, he was with the Niners for several years.

He could have known Kubiak from that Niners association. But I don't know.
 

The Pencil Neck

Hall of Fame
What I don't understand is hearing the primary (and almost exclusive) criticism of Whisenhunt being that he couldn't win without Warner, but then - from a generic NFL coaching standpoint - seeing how many folks put forth the philosophy that you can't succeed without an above average QB. Arizona never had a QB that was even close to average after Warner retired.
The question is: Who's fault is that? Is it Whisenhunt's fault that he couldn't identify the right QB? Or is it his fault that he couldn't develop the ones he got?

I don't know either way on that. He did a pretty good job developing Roethlisberger and getting the most out of him when he was a young QB but then again, how much say did he have in drafting him?

He might just have a bad eye in spotting QB talent and how it's going to transition to the NFL. In which case, he's not a guy we'd want.

In a lot of ways, Whisenhunt is like Kubiak to me. They don't seem to have an eye for finding QB talent but when they get it, they can put an offense around it.
 

Dutchrudder

Hall of Fame
I'm not pretending to know what's going on (cause I have no idea), and it could certainly be that this is O'Brien flexing his muscle, but has anybody considered the possibility that these are Kubiak guys who were simply cleared out as Rick Smith works to consolidate power at the front office level?

Both of these guys were hired by the Texans in '06, and while nobody knows fore certain, there's clearly a number of folks who believe that Kubiak was in charge of pretty much everything at the time of his hire.

Lots of folks (including me) will hate this idea, and I can't even call it speculation as I'm not saying I believe it to be true - just wondering about it.

Anybody out there seeing something I'm not and therefore can shoot this theory out of the water?
I'd say you are "getting warmer" with those statements. There was definitely more than a couple of people in the scouting department who thought Rick should have been fired, and didn't respect him as a talent evaluator, but not because they are simply Kubiak guys. I'm surprised it took him this long to give those guys the boot, but I'm not surprised they are gone. Incompetent folks always need to fire subordinates in order to cover up their own inadequacies, and that's all that is happening here.
 

JB

Innocent Bystander
Contributor's Club
I'd say you are "getting warmer" with those statements. There was definitely more than a couple of people in the scouting department who thought Rick should have been fired, and didn't respect him as a talent evaluator, but not because they are simply Kubiak guys. I'm surprised it took him this long to give those guys the boot, but I'm not surprised they are gone. Incompetent folks always need to fire subordinates in order to cover up their own inadequacies, and that's all that is happening here.
He'll run out of fall guys soon
 

thunderkyss

Just win baby!!!
Staff member
Contributor's Club
Yes... tell us. Please.
Count me in the camp of those that think Whisenhunt's success out west was due to Kurt Warner. We don't have anything close to a Kurt Warner. Whisenhunt has never, ever shown the ability to pick a good QB let alone develop a rookie QB.
Like ChampionTexan said, we all know no coach is going to go far without a QB. I don't hold that against Whiz.

He also didn't have Derrick Brooks & Warren Sapp. He took a team very similar to the one we have to the Super Bowl. So did Love Smith.

After Warner & Lienart their stabs at future QB were iffy & strange. I don't know those were his decisions or his GMs. So I don't hold those against him either.

If Rick Smith is the guy his fans say he is, I think Whiz or Lovie was the quickest path to a Super Bowl. I've got nothing against OB. I'm looking forward to next season.

Sent from my SCH-I535 using Tapatalk
 

Errant Hothy

Hypermediocrity
I'd say you are "getting warmer" with those statements. There was definitely more than a couple of people in the scouting department who thought Rick should have been fired, and didn't respect him as a talent evaluator, but not because they are simply Kubiak guys. I'm surprised it took him this long to give those guys the boot, but I'm not surprised they are gone. Incompetent folks always need to fire subordinates in order to cover up their own inadequacies, and that's all that is happening here.
I think this is certainly possible, but on the other hand has the pro side of the scouting group done anything to write home about? Manning and Joseph shouldn't count as finds as everybody already knew what they were. Myers? And it's not so much the big names, where are the little/low cost FA moves that solidify a roster?

Will never know but I'm curious if this is an any way fallout from the Ed Reed fiasco.
 

Dutchrudder

Hall of Fame
I think this is certainly possible, but on the other hand has the pro side of the scouting group done anything to write home about. Manning and Joseph shouldn't count as finds as everybody already knew what they were.

Will never know but I'm curious if this is an any way fallout from the Ed Reed fiasco.
Scouting other team's players for free agency isn't the only thing pro-scouts do, they also help with scouting other teams for strengths and weaknesses leading up to games. In week 1, guys like Brian, Kevin and Larry are usually at the Texans week 2 opponent's game. Both of them have been with the Texans for as long as Rick Smith, so that should tell you something. Clearly this 2-14 season wasn't simply a breakdown in the pro-scout department, but of course when making big changes even the smallest rifts can cost you your job. I have no doubt that they will find employment elsewhere, just sad to see the wrong people getting fired.
 
Interesting turn of events.

I'm guessing that O'Brien, after weeks of watching a lot of game film, went to Rick and Bob and said, "um, yeah, about our talent evaluation process..."




Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 

Errant Hothy

Hypermediocrity
Scouting other team's players for free agency isn't the only thing pro-scouts do, they also help with scouting other teams for strengths and weaknesses leading up to games. In week 1, guys like Brian, Kevin and Larry are usually at the Texans week 2 opponent's game. Both of them have been with the Texans for as long as Rick Smith, so that should tell you something. Clearly this 2-14 season wasn't simply a breakdown in the pro-scout department, but of course when making big changes even the smallest rifts can cost you your job. I have no doubt that they will find employment elsewhere, just sad to see the wrong people getting fired.
So the question could become did the coaches do a poor job implementing the info gathered by the pro scouts or was the info from the pro scouts poor? Or a combination of both?

And even if they were only failing in part of their job, scouting for FAs; is that not reason enough to fire them?

Also I don't care who you are, if you voice the opinion that your boss sucks at part of their job, irregardless if it is the truth or not, you will likely find yourself no longer employed.

I agree that it should have been a total cleaning out on Kirby, but if that had happened wouldn't these guys have been fired then? I also can see how keeping the GM enabled the front office to move much more quickly in their pursuit of O'Brien.
 

Texian

Hall of Fame

deucetx

Rookie
Like ChampionTexan said, we all know no coach is going to go far without a QB. I don't hold that against Whiz.

He also didn't have Derrick Brooks & Warren Sapp. He took a team very similar to the one we have to the Super Bowl. So did Love Smith.

After Warner & Lienart their stabs at future QB were iffy & strange. I don't know those were his decisions or his GMs. So I don't hold those against him either.

If Rick Smith is the guy his fans say he is, I think Whiz or Lovie was the quickest path to a Super Bowl. I've got nothing against OB. I'm looking forward to next season.

Sent from my SCH-I535 using Tapatalk
Most coaches have some say in their selections. In fact, it is generally a majority. But in this situation it was stated that Whisenhunt did have a say in those choices so yes, he should be held accountable. His inability to right the quarterback position was one of the reasons he was terminated. The Cardinals GM at the time (Rod Graves) was known to defer to his head coaches on their selections as he did previously with Dennis Green.
 

texanhead08

All Pro
This is why we should have cleaned house and hired a new GM. I have no faith in Rick Smith to turn this around. We could be looking at some lean years in the near future.
 

Dutchrudder

Hall of Fame
So the question could become did the coaches do a poor job implementing the info gathered by the pro scouts or was the info from the pro scouts poor? Or a combination of both?
It's completely on the coaches to scheme against their opponents and evaluate these things. The scouts are merely creating dossiers on every player for free agency and game planning purposes. The information is generally agnostic towards our team, or at least that's my understanding of it. I seriously doubt that system, which has been in place since Rick got here, had any deficiencies that came out of nowhere this year.

And even if they were only failing in part of their job, scouting for FAs; is that not reason enough to fire them?
Maybe, if that was the case. These guys don't really have much to do with the hiring process for free agents. That's Rick's call, and it's generally coordinated with the coach who is going to be using the player. That's why the Ed Reed thing was such a debacle, because Wade didn't have any interest in him, but Rick gave him a contract. Rick always has final say over these guys, regardless of what their evaluations say.

Also I don't care who you are, if you voice the opinion that your boss sucks at part of their job, irregardless if it is the truth or not, you will likely find yourself no longer employed.
Never said that, merely mentioned that there were rifts, and as far as I know, it came from disagreements on players. Ed Reed being the biggest one.

I agree that it should have been a total cleaning out on Kirby, but if that had happened wouldn't these guys have been fired then? I also can see how keeping the GM enabled the front office to move much more quickly in their pursuit of O'Brien.
If Rick had gone, then maybe these guys would go, maybe not. It's not uncommon in the NFL for the scouting departments (pro and college) to often retain folks from regime to regime. I'm not saying these guys were particularly elite at their jobs, just that the charlatan GM we have is likely getting rid of folks who don't agree with him and could undermine his preferences.
 

Brisco_County

Apples and roadmaps
This bring some questions to mind.

If this was part of the housecleaning, why weren't they let go sooner? Either the FO was waiting to see what replacement candidates were available, or this decision was made after lengthy review.

How involved were these guys in the ranking of Sam Montgomery and Brennan Williams? I consider that third round as the first failing pebble in the dike of 2013.
 
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