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Brian Gaine Fired

Here's what I think what happened. I believe they were not satisfied with the draft or FA.

Starting with FA, Brown was up for the taking but we didn't break the bank to get him. We didn't even offer our best corner/safety a contract. Getting outbid for Badger.

Drafting: big time needs at both tackle positions. We already have a project at LT with Davenport and you draft two more projects when there were better options available .
Then knowing Henderson hasn't played much due to injuries and letting Lamm go. Now there's a good chance one our projects will be playing right tackle.

Finally we drafted another TE in the draft and picked one up in FA.
 
You know how Rick Smith kept his job, year after year? Kept the owner in the loop on all of the decisions and plans. It seems like Cal didn't know about the plan to go cheap in FA, not re-signing Clowney, or taking small college OTs. Better to let the Big Guy know.
 
Lucky said:
Maybe he hates all the linemen Gaine brought in?


Sounds pretty rational. Like all the other June GM firings that go on.

I'm thinking Cal is the Mad King and O'Brien is Little Finger.
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My opinion is Cal is zealous to not make the mistakes his father made, and this was an over-correction. Unless he has what he believes to be the best possible candidate ready to sign, the firing at this time was a critical error.

Then you have to think how it affects the rookies. "Hey, the guy who made the decision to put you on this team? We canned him."
 
TheRealJoker said:
My only gripe about Gaine is that he did not maneuver in the draft to maximize value of selections in the 2 drafts where he was GM. The Patriots, Seahawks and Ravens are masters at this. Packers with their new GM have aggressively manipulated the board last two drafts as well.
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I understand where you're coming from. But this is the kind of thing I'd expect a first time GM to grow into.
 
beerlover said:
From a draftnik perspective this is spot on. You just can’t foresee or count on a Trent Williams popping up in the market month after draft. So he was committed to improving the OL and I’m not going to hate him or fire him for that.
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Part of me imagines a scenario when the Trent Williams rumors started McNair & BO'b ran to BG & said, "This is it, this is what we hoped would happen."

& Gaine shot it down with all the negatives about Williams that was brought up here. Or he wanted to wait & see what happens over the next couple of days to hopefully gain some insight about the situation. Or, he wanted to slow down & get his director of Pro Personnel to weigh in.

But it may have been too much for Cal. His sense of urgency was greater than Brian's .

Just a thought.
 
One thing that needs to be kept in perspective is the amount of change that took place with Cal moving into a more prominent role with the #Texans. Bob McNair was still running the team when Brian Gaine was hired. Cal, is watching day-to-day operations and has the say now.

— patrick (@PatDStat) June 8, 2019

I’ve mentioned multiple times on our podcast about don’t sleep on Cal being totally different from his father. Cal bottom line wants to win, especially for his father. Nothing will prevent him from that and expectations on getting the job done have risen.

I thought about this statement from OB too. During the second week of OTAs he was asked about evaluating players on the field during practices in regards to roster spots. He dropped this. "Whatever position you hold in this building, you’re being evaluated every day."

Is there more emphasis to evaluate the guys that are fighting on for a roster spot given the fewer number of OTAs? No, I think the evaluation takes place every day. I think that’s the National football League. I think everyone who walks into this building, whether you’re the head coach, the general manager, assistant coach, nutritionist, strength coach, trainer, player, equipment manage, video. Whatever position you hold in this building, you’re being evaluated every day. I think that’s the nature of this business. I think that the National Football League moves very fast and you have to try to he at your best every single day for the success of the organization. I think everybody gets evaluated as soon as they get out of their car and walk into the building, they’re being evaluated as to what they’re doing and how they’re helping the team win, in all phases. So, I think that’s an ongoing process."
Over the years I have had fans, readers, listeners and on-lookers have vocal opinions on the #Texans sitting back and being okay with the status quo. It is clear that Cal McNair is not okay with the status quo. Many will point at OB pulling the trigger to get Gaine gone.

If anything Cal McNair has realized that the #Texans more than likely have not moved the needle that much in their two most important position groups of need. Offensive line and secondary coming into this season. That was Gaine’s primary job during the off-season, not OBs.

There were plenty of resources available for Gaine to make moves to help both position groups and he stood pat. Add in McNair feels there is no reason that Jadeveon Clowney should not have a new deal with all the available cap room for the team to get a deal done.

This comes down to Cal McNair not liking the direction the Texans were headed from a plan of action standpoint. Resources were not maximized and Cal had seen enough.
 
Lucky said:
Who knows if Cal turns on O'Brien after a disappointing season? Maybe the next GM is better at parlor politics than Bill (Please don't call him Butt Chin)? This may or may not work. But, it ain't normal.
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Agree, I think O'Brien made the call and Cal pulled the trigger. That has been Cal's M.O., doing what he's been told. O'Brien will likely hire a Belichick clipboard and notebook analyst who has never managed to be the next GM. Cal will fire O'Brien next year after a disappointing season and O'Brien's newly hired GM will be instrumental in hiring the next Head Coach and the boardroom silly cycle known as the Houston Texans continues doing the same things over and over again expecting different results. Welcome to square 1. It's what they know and what they do best. And why no high profile head coach or general manager will come to houston. It's detrimental to their career.
 
Brisco_County said:
My opinion is Cal is zealous to not make the mistakes his father made, and this was an over-correction. Unless he has what he believes to be the best possible candidate ready to sign, the firing at this time was a critical error.

Then you have to think how it affects the rookies. "Hey, the guy who made the decision to put you on this team? We canned him."
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Over correction would be firing everyone including Crennel.

He's setting up another misalignment scenario where nobody knows who is responsible.
 
Texas Sports HOF'er, the great McClain_on_NFL</a> joins <a href="https://twitter.com/alexmarvez?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">alexmarvez & me now to chat #Texans and Brian Gaine on SiriusXMNFL</a> 88 & the <a href="https://twitter.com/SIRIUSXM?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">SIRIUSXM app.

— Zig Fracassi (@ZigFracassi) June 8, 2019


John McClain: (on new GM) It'll be someone w/#Patriots ties who's worked w/HC Bill O'Brien. No Rick Smith or Mike Maccagnan return. #Texans.

— Zig Fracassi (@ZigFracassi) June 8, 2019
 
Carr Bombed said:
Every damn G.M. who has to construct a roster in a hard cap league "counts beans", what's your point?
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I'm going to stay positive and think the next gm won't be as consumed with having cap space as Gaine was . Kinda like Dorsey with the Browns, good times are ahead.
 
zshawn10 said:
Texas Sports HOF'er, the great McClain_on_NFL</a> joins <a href="https://twitter.com/alexmarvez?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">alexmarvez & me now to chat #Texans and Brian Gaine on SiriusXMNFL</a> 88 & the <a href="https://twitter.com/SIRIUSXM?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">SIRIUSXM app.

— Zig Fracassi (@ZigFracassi) June 8, 2019


John McClain: (on new GM) It'll be someone w/#Patriots ties who's worked w/HC Bill O'Brien. No Rick Smith or Mike Maccagnan return. #Texans.

— Zig Fracassi (@ZigFracassi) June 8, 2019
Click to expand...

Ceasario?
 
Brisco_County said:
My opinion is Cal is zealous to not make the mistakes his father made, and this was an over-correction. Unless he has what he believes to be the best possible candidate ready to sign, the firing at this time was a critical error.

Then you have to think how it affects the rookies. "Hey, the guy who made the decision to put you on this team? We canned him."
Click to expand...

What is so critical about this firing?

Although unconventional this to me is a great time to can a gm.

The bulk of his job for the year is already done. Draft is over. Picks are signed.

And now if a new gm is brought in they have a whole year to observe the organization and personnel and dont have to dive immediately into off season mode without having observed everything first hand.
 
Speedy said:
He also didn't maximize free agency to lessen the burden of having to hit all homers in the draft. This is in no way saying they have to sign all the top FA to a bazillion dollars, but there are moves that can be made where you're not putting all of your eggs in one basket and not killing your cap.
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Before FA I said I believe Davenport played well enough that if factoring in improvement I would look at needing a plus level player to replace him.

Trent Brown may have been that player.

I don't think Donald Penn was that player. Improvement, maybe but only marginal.

I'm only saying this to say I think it's reasonable the Texans saw it the same way.

& I truly believe they handled the secondary pretty well given what was available

From my perspective the only thing they should have done differently was trade for the two guards that were traded this FA & jump all over Trent Williams.
 
Lucky said:
I don't remember a lot of hand wringing when Rick Smith replaced Casserly after the 2006 draft.
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Because casserly was just helping with the transition to a new regime at that point. He wasn't a 1 year old gm handpicked by the head coach after a power struggle where he got rid of the old gm
 
xtruroyaltyx said:
What is so critical about this firing?

Although unconventional this to me is a great time to can a gm.

The bulk of his job for the year is already done. Draft is over. Picks are signed.

And now if a new gm is brought in they have a whole year to observe the organization and personnel and dont have to dive immediately into off season mode without having observed everything first hand.
Click to expand...

I hope you're right, but I think it's best to evaluate the draft class first. If it turns out to be one of the better ones in team history, then we just got rid of the decision maker who made it happen. If a GM can build a team through great drafts, everything else, however important, is secondary.
 
zshawn10 said:
One thing that needs to be kept in perspective is the amount of change that took place with Cal moving into a more prominent role with the #Texans. Bob McNair was still running the team when Brian Gaine was hired. Cal, is watching day-to-day operations and has the say now.

— patrick (@PatDStat) June 8, 2019

I’ve mentioned multiple times on our podcast about don’t sleep on Cal being totally different from his father. Cal bottom line wants to win, especially for his father. Nothing will prevent him from that and expectations on getting the job done have risen.

I thought about this statement from OB too. During the second week of OTAs he was asked about evaluating players on the field during practices in regards to roster spots. He dropped this. "Whatever position you hold in this building, you’re being evaluated every day."

Is there more emphasis to evaluate the guys that are fighting on for a roster spot given the fewer number of OTAs? No, I think the evaluation takes place every day. I think that’s the National football League. I think everyone who walks into this building, whether you’re the head coach, the general manager, assistant coach, nutritionist, strength coach, trainer, player, equipment manage, video. Whatever position you hold in this building, you’re being evaluated every day. I think that’s the nature of this business. I think that the National Football League moves very fast and you have to try to he at your best every single day for the success of the organization. I think everybody gets evaluated as soon as they get out of their car and walk into the building, they’re being evaluated as to what they’re doing and how they’re helping the team win, in all phases. So, I think that’s an ongoing process."
Over the years I have had fans, readers, listeners and on-lookers have vocal opinions on the #Texans sitting back and being okay with the status quo. It is clear that Cal McNair is not okay with the status quo. Many will point at OB pulling the trigger to get Gaine gone.

If anything Cal McNair has realized that the #Texans more than likely have not moved the needle that much in their two most important position groups of need. Offensive line and secondary coming into this season. That was Gaine’s primary job during the off-season, not OBs.

There were plenty of resources available for Gaine to make moves to help both position groups and he stood pat. Add in McNair feels there is no reason that Jadeveon Clowney should not have a new deal with all the available cap room for the team to get a deal done.

This comes down to Cal McNair not liking the direction the Texans were headed from a plan of action standpoint. Resources were not maximized and Cal had seen enough.
Click to expand...

This calls to mind the observation some of you made that BG & BO'b must have some kind of assurance that their jobs are not reliant on the near future because of the pace they seemed to be locked into.

I'm guessing no assurances were made.
 
If I were NE, I'd definitely deny an interview. This is a great opportunity to hamstring an AFC competitor in June.
 
Texian said:
He would say, "I told you so". Then he would remind you that no self respecting Head Coach or General Manager is going to come to Houston and subject themself to the Circus at Kirby that is masquerading as a boardroom. The Kirby boardroom/circus is career killer. Then he would tell you that the best hope for the Texans is a sibling rivalry uprising in the next 3 to 4 years and they will demand their fair share of the Houston Texans pie (cash they can spend) and the team will be sold. Then hope that the new owner is much better at winning than they are at meddling. In closing he would say, until then this conundrum will likely to go from bad to worse.

In his IMHO, he would say Gaines is gone because after the Texans got a good look at Tytus Howard and they realized he was another Louis Nix III pick, only worse because it was a 1 instead of a 3. He would also point out that if you watched Howard's Combine workout you can see and hear coaches running every drill say faster, faster, hurry up, you're to slow.
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Glad to have you back ol friend!
 
TheKDog said:
But if we do get a real GM like Caserio, he could push out O'Brien.
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How is Caserio a real GM?

There's no way he can be a "real GM" if he only comes here at the behest of BO'b. He can't be a real GM if he & BO'b are equals, both working for McNair
 
On a positive note, maybe BOB learned something from the QB carousel and he'll be a little bit quicker to find his guy with the GM carousel.
 
Mr.Scarface said:
Nix was injury prone and had work ethic issues. You don't like Howard because you think a small school tackle is not good. I hate to tell ya, Talent is Talent. If you have it, then it doesn't matter the school you go to. It is about putting in the work....
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I don’t have an opinion about Tytus’ game since I haven’t seen him play yet. Like virtually everyone, I was not happy from a draft value perspective on where we drafted him and by letting Philly move up and nab the guy we clearly wanted.
 
thunderkyss said:
:spit:

The Texans aren't an AFC competitor. Especially not against New England.
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Well, technically speaking they are.... but... only if you use the word "competitor" loosely.

I doubt ANYONE from the organization to fans are really worried about facing the Texans , pre, post or regular season.
 
Brisco_County said:
Some opinions from Pat Star that I hope are correct.

@PatDStat
Over the years I have had fans, readers, listeners and on-lookers have vocal opinions on the #Texans sitting back and being okay with the status quo. It is clear that Cal McNair is not okay with the status quo. Many will point at OB pulling the trigger to get Gaine gone.

@PatDStat
If anything Cal McNair has realized that the #Texans more than likely have not moved the needle that much in their two most important position groups of need. Offensive line and secondary coming into this season. That was Gaine’s primary job during the off-season, not OBs.

@PatDStat
There were plenty of resources available for Gaine to make moves to help both position groups and he stood pat. Add in McNair feels there is no reason that Jadeveon Clowney should not have a new deal with all the available cap room for the team to get a deal done.

@PatDStat
This comes down to Cal McNair not liking the direction the Texans were headed from a plan of action standpoint. Resources were not maximized and Cal had seen enough.

(In response to Gaine being respected on personnel decisions but not other GM duties)

@PatDStat
Gaine interview for multiple GM jobs being passed over before. Then he landed the Texans one in which he was not even the top candidate. Most of the candidates they wanted were still in the playoffs and requests were denied.
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Anyone else here getting excited that Cal is showing signs of being a good owner if we believe the stuff that PatDStat is saying. Remember, Gaine was hired by his daddy so I don’t pin making a mistake in hiring Gaine on Cal’s head. I don’t like drafting projects but I’m going to have an open mind with respect to the play of Howard, Johnson, Warring and Scharping. I am keeping an open mind about Cal now after this bold move. I assumed we’d have more of the same, that wasn’t accurate
 
Last edited:
Texans are interviewing Ray Farmer... We might as well fold the franchise if he is their pick to upgrade. Give me Charley Casserly or beg Rick Smith to come back before that guy.
 
Can we at least come to the conclusion that this puts OB on the hot seat?

If Cal can pull the trigger so quick on a GM because of direction, he has to feel the same way about OB?

Maybe Cal doesn’t pull the trigger on OB because it would cause more disruptions for the players?

But on Black Monday...
 
TexansBull said:
Can we at least come to the conclusion that this puts OB on the hot seat?

If Cal can pull the trigger so quick on a GM because of direction, he has to feel the same way about OB?
Click to expand...

17 months & he's seen all he needs to see from Brian Gaine. 5 years of watching BO'b say things like, "I don't know." "It's not my job." "The coaching has to get better & that starts with me."

& you think there's a chance BO'b will disappoint him?
 
TexansFight said:
I don’t have an opinion about Tytus’ game since I haven’t seen him play yet. Like virtually everyone, I was not happy from a draft value perspective on where we drafted him and by letting Philly move up and nab the guy we clearly wanted.
Click to expand...


Making a lot of assumptions there. Not sure out of which left field you are pulling the “clearly wanted” stuff from. Absolutely zero evidence to support that.
 
zshawn10 said:
One thing that needs to be kept in perspective is the amount of change that took place with Cal moving into a more prominent role with the #Texans. Bob McNair was still running the team when Brian Gaine was hired. Cal, is watching day-to-day operations and has the say now.

— patrick (@PatDStat) June 8, 2019

I’ve mentioned multiple times on our podcast about don’t sleep on Cal being totally different from his father. Cal bottom line wants to win, especially for his father. Nothing will prevent him from that and expectations on getting the job done have risen.

I thought about this statement from OB too. During the second week of OTAs he was asked about evaluating players on the field during practices in regards to roster spots. He dropped this. "Whatever position you hold in this building, you’re being evaluated every day."

Is there more emphasis to evaluate the guys that are fighting on for a roster spot given the fewer number of OTAs? No, I think the evaluation takes place every day. I think that’s the National football League. I think everyone who walks into this building, whether you’re the head coach, the general manager, assistant coach, nutritionist, strength coach, trainer, player, equipment manage, video. Whatever position you hold in this building, you’re being evaluated every day. I think that’s the nature of this business. I think that the National Football League moves very fast and you have to try to he at your best every single day for the success of the organization. I think everybody gets evaluated as soon as they get out of their car and walk into the building, they’re being evaluated as to what they’re doing and how they’re helping the team win, in all phases. So, I think that’s an ongoing process."
Over the years I have had fans, readers, listeners and on-lookers have vocal opinions on the #Texans sitting back and being okay with the status quo. It is clear that Cal McNair is not okay with the status quo. Many will point at OB pulling the trigger to get Gaine gone.

If anything Cal McNair has realized that the #Texans more than likely have not moved the needle that much in their two most important position groups of need. Offensive line and secondary coming into this season. That was Gaine’s primary job during the off-season, not OBs.

There were plenty of resources available for Gaine to make moves to help both position groups and he stood pat. Add in McNair feels there is no reason that Jadeveon Clowney should not have a new deal with all the available cap room for the team to get a deal done.

This comes down to Cal McNair not liking the direction the Texans were headed from a plan of action standpoint. Resources were not maximized and Cal had seen enough.
Click to expand...
Funny that I actually saw a definite direction and philosophy with how Gaine was drafting players and FAs. I think losing HB was ugly, but is anyone here really sad to see KJax gone? I'm still 100% OK with Clowney being franchised 2 yrs in a row. I liked Gaine drafting athletic players. I firmly believe in building through the draft and plugging holes with FAs, but not breaking the bank to sign them. If they were all that and a bag of chips, they either have attitude issues that are detrimental to the team or have other major concerns/issues (age, injuries). I firmly believe that "winning" the offseason rarely equates to winning in the regular season/playoffs.

I can't decide if this was a knee jerk reaction by Cal or a power play by Teflon O'Brien. Regardless, I don't see anything Gaine has done, or didn't do, that was egregious enough to warrant being fired. If this is about Cal wanting to win now and doing everything he can to win now, he 100% fired the wrong person. If this "thorough" analysis of the team didn't show the extremely obvious ineptness of Teflon's "offense", then this was a witch hunt from the beginning and a power play by Teflon.

At least I have the Cleveland Browns to follow if the Texans implode. I can hardly believe I just typed that, but yeah.
 
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