I AM DEAD WRONG ABOUT THE TEXANS. From J.K., of Katy, Texas: “Big Texans fan. You wrote in your column that Jack Easterby was ‘smart and authoritative’ and implied he could run the search for a new coach. We don’t want that. What has Easterby ever done in football to deserve to run a coaching search? God help us if he’s our GM.”
Yes, I said Easterby is smart and authoritative, because he is. Does he deserve to be an NFL GM? Probably not, and by the way, I’m not even sure Easterby wants to be a GM. In any case, my gut feeling is owner Cal McNair will hire both a coach and non-Easterby GM. Does Easterby deserve to run the coaching search? I am dubious about that, except that I believe he’s quite smart, learned a lot from working under Bill Belichick, and knows the qualities a coach needs to succeed. Easterby’s problem, as I see it, is that he’s basically been a shadow exec under Bill O’Brien in Houston for a couple of years. All the fans see is someone who’s been at the right hand of O’Brien as the GM/coach made two trades,
Laremy Tunsil and
DeAndre Hopkins, they hate. I think the organization needs to expose Easterby to the public more so the fans can make a decision for themselves whether they think he’ll help Houston build a winner.