A slow cleaning out of the inept scouting staff that has been here for yrs. Good job, wonder if Gaine is behind these moves?
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Brian Gaine promoted to Director of Player Personnel
- Thread starter Playoffs
- Start date
PHILLYTEXANFAN
Saddle Up Partner
Shame it doesn't include the medical staff
So McCagan got a new job... promotion really.
They promoted a guy from within to take his spot.
They're adding a new guy to take the place of the guy we promoted.
So we're pretty much the same, scouting staff wise... all but one guy.
& you say good job.
infantrycak
Hall of Fame
Man that Gaine is good. Got our incompetent director of college scouting hired into a promotion to GM by another team.
Gaine is good, certainly an upgrade. Carr/Jansen/O'Hara are upgrades to the scouting staff. IMHO. After the last 2 illustrious drafts I don't think it will take much to upgrade from Macagnan. The only reason he got the GM job is he and Casserly are buddies. He certainly didn't get the job because of his outstanding draft record.
Want to bet 5 yrs from now Macagnan will be gone from the Jets and the Jets will be starting all over again? Poor Todd Bowles.
Their seven-win improvement was a team effort with huge contributions coming from the scouting staff.
REALLY??????? In what way did the scouting staff contribute to our seven-win improvement?
ChampionTexan
Hall of Fame
Are you basing this in the 2014 draft class exclusively, or are you saying no players scouted by the Texans scouting staff who might have developed as a player (Hopkins), or seen improved productivity due to return from injury (Foster) were responsible for that improvement?
I think most folks would tell you that Foster was the player who made the biggest difference between the 2013 and the 2014 record. It's easy to forget about it six years into his NFL career, but shouldn't the scouting staff still get some credit for Foster being a Texan?
TheMatrix31
Hall of Fame
who identified the fill-in players who stepped up (in varying degrees, admittedly) when Foster was out, when J-Jo and KJ were hurt and missed time, when we were playing musical ILBs... That's the scouting staff's job to identify players that will fit in our offensive and defensive systems.
At the end of the day, it's community effort. The scouts have to identify them and the coaches have to prepare them and the coordinators have to put them to the best use that highlights strengths and hide weaknesses.
Could the system be better? Of course. We should always be looking to upgrade.
Brian Gaine is head of the dept that added Dent/Morris/Rolle/Simon etc....
They did draft Blue so I guess Macagnan's dept gets credit for that. The blind squirrel nut theory.
They also drafted Kareem, Hopkins, Ben Jones, Brandon Brooks, Derek Newton, Ryan Griffin, Jj Watt, & Jared Crick.
Lets hope this is the case.
DX-TEX
#TomSavageDontCare
And you know this how?
That 2-14 season was so strange that it was ridiculous. It wasn't a lack of talent on the roster as much as a monumental case of bad luck and worse timing.
The medical staff worries more than the front office does. Some of their decisions and things they miss (Clowney having a sports hernia for instance) just boggles my mind.
infantrycak
Hall of Fame
Exactly. There was less turnover between the 2-14 team and the 12-4 & 9-7 teams which surrounded it than average for the NFL, especially with a regime change. Talent other than at QB was not the primary problem.
This tells me it wasn't the drafting but the coaching and the QB issue. Hopefully, that got fixed with the new coaching staff and the QBs they've brought in.
We'll see.
Troy Chapman
Rookie
mr. peebs
gig 'em
it is known throughout the organization. this bit is from someone with rootes.
infantrycak
Hall of Fame
Are you trying to sell that Smith had more control when he first got here and less as time progressed?
I don't think it was necessarily the coaching. Kubiak is one of the best on his side of the ball. Wade is one of the best on his side of the ball. The two worked great together & we should have had more success had they been able to keep it together... which time will tell with Denver, so no point arguing.
I think we saw a civil war of sorts in 2013... Rick Smith won. Too much distraction behind closed doors to not show up on the field.
mr. peebs
gig 'em
as I said earlier, smith has less personnel control with o'brien than he did with kubiak
infantrycak
Hall of Fame
I was questioning what you meant by the 1st sentence above, not the 2nd.
Pretty sure Smith's role has been fairly consistent (scouting/contracts/cap) with the final say on draft and 53 on the HCs.
Not surprising if true. Probably a condition of employment by O'Brien, who said himself that he and Smith are equal partners.
My own take is that Casserly's smugness probably turned McNair off to strong GMs in the traditional power structure of NFL teams. The Texans seem to operate more like a corporate boardroom, allowing more power to the head coach so he can buy some of the groceries that he's expected to cook. And if this assumption is true, it could explain how Rick Smith has avoided the pink slip beyond his personal relationships with the McNair family.
infantrycak
Hall of Fame
All these discussions seem unrealistic to me, as if whoever has final say relegates everyone else to Siberia and they play no part in the process. Strong GM Casserly said he went out and made the deals happen to get the players the coaches wanted (Babin & Buchanon). I think McNair has been honest that ordinarily it's a discussion which rarely comes to loggerheads.
Having said that, I don't think there has been a day of Smith's tenure that if Kubiak or OB said they wanted player X drafted, Smith could or has said f'k you we're taking Y. I also don't think the HCs dictate contracts (when to extend or total $) - they say who they want on the team and prioritize if need be.
Yeah, I agree. I readily admit that it is pure speculation on my part, simply because we fans have never had a camel's nose under the tent.
I do believe that McNair learned a lot from the Casserly years, and much of it probably how not to run his franchise. Plus, he takes a lot of advice from Robert Kraft, who obviously has a strong head coach model on how he runs his team.
infantrycak
Hall of Fame
I wasn't trying to contradict you at all on Casserly. Just illustrating that regardless of who has final say, things are a lot more collaborative than people make out. To go back to the Babin example, I got the impression Capers/Fangio said they wanted a pass rushing OLB and they'd used tweeners before and then left Casserly and his 4-3 experience to go get them one.
I do think the net upshot of the Capers/Casserly experience was McNair wanted the coaches more involved in personnel.
Strength of schedule might of had something to do with that.
Marshall
Not pretty, but ALIVE!
Why is the team no better than their worst year? Why is the 2013 2-14 season such a better indicator than the 12-4 2012 season? Was the 9-7 2014 a drastic improvement or simply a return to the mean? I think you have a less than objective picture of the state of the Texans Talent.
But that is just my opinion and we can differ.
The difference is better coaching.
But the Texans talent level is closer to the 2-14 than the 12-4 record. IMHO and will remain that way until 1. A QB upgrade is found. 2. More team speed is added. Take Watt off of the team and tell me what you think their record would be?
We will have to agree to disagree.
Where is that new coach is same as old coach thread. Some still think the Texans would be better off with Kubiak as HC.
badboy
Hall of Fame
I have to disagree with your evaluation as closer to the two win record. Our excellent (Watt) should stay the same and imo our very good (Foster) will also be same. Cushing & AJ will be better. Our Oline as a group will be better & I expect a huge leap from X as the game will slow for him. No matter who is the QB that position will improve just with health and time together under OBrien. We won 9 and I don't see that sliding more than one game at most. This schedule and a healthier team will do fine.
I started the "meet the new boss, same as the old boss" to point out... nvm.
Marshall
Not pretty, but ALIVE!
I suppose so since the same coach had what you called inferior talent and took them to 12-4 in 2012.
Don't get me wrong. I like OB. But I can't say he is a superior coach at this time. And I certainly don't think the talent is substantially different among 2012, 2013 and 2014. Injuries at key positions has had a far greater influence on the records.
It wasn't the talent. It wasn't the coaching. IF we're going by record before & after, neither makes sense.
There was a civil war going on at Reliant. The little bit we've heard through the media leaves it as the only viable reason. A lot of turmoil in the F.O. has an effect on the field. Maybe the coaches weren't able to provide their full attention to their duties on the field because they were politicking in the F.O. too much. Maybe the players were too concerned about their futures, maybe they kept talking about it instead of focusing on their responsibilities.
Look at what happened in San Francisco... same thing.
Coaches & the F.O. have to be able to work together to get a decent product on the field.
That & we didn't have Arian Foster for much of the year.
There was a civil war going on at Reliant. The little bit we've heard through the media leaves it as the only viable reason. A lot of turmoil in the F.O. has an effect on the field. Maybe the coaches weren't able to provide their full attention to their duties on the field because they were politicking in the F.O. too much. Maybe the players were too concerned about their futures, maybe they kept talking about it instead of focusing on their responsibilities.
Look at what happened in San Francisco... same thing.
Coaches & the F.O. have to be able to work together to get a decent product on the field.
That & we didn't have Arian Foster for much of the year.
I wasn't talking about what the Texans W-L record will be next yr. (They will not finish 2-14) I was just asking what do you think their record would be if Watt plays say 5 games next yr.
Point is I think the talent level is not as good as some here think it is.
Rick Smith?
Why couldn't the Texans overcome these injuries. Could it be there was a lack of talent/depth?
12-4 and getting embarrassed on national TV games against good teams. Ahhh!!!! the good times. Fact is the Texans just weren't good enough talent/coaching wise to compete against elite level teams.
sandman
Brexit Advisor
I may have to go back to previous years to see if this holds true, but for the 2014 season, there was more than one team that made the playoffs with only 1-2 wins against other playoff teams.
Indy got to the AFCCG (by way of blowing out Denver) with a 2-4 regular season record against playoff teams. And three of the four losses were BAD blowouts. Baltimore only had one win and was headed to the AFCCG before blowing a 14 point lead in the 2nd half against the Patriots.
Sometimes, getting to the playoffs is more important than how you got there. For three straight seasons between 2010-2012, the Super Bowl winners were 10/9/10 game winners in the regular season.
infantrycak
Hall of Fame
Correct. To be specific in 2012 the Texans were 3-3 against playoff teams. The SB winning Ravens were 2-4 against playoff teams. The Patriots who knocked us out in the playoffs were 2-3 against playoff teams.
Just another oft-repeated myth.
So the Texans didn't play like crap on national TV and get deservedly blown out during the 12-4 season?
What caused them to be so unprepared for big games if it wasn't the coaching or talent level?
infantrycak
Hall of Fame
Didn't say that. Proved your Texans did it more than other playoff teams assertion was FOS.
I'll tell you right after you say why the SB Ravens got blown out by playoff teams?
sandman
Brexit Advisor
So they lost badly to Green Bay, New England and Minnesota. They also beat Denver, Baltimore, Indy (all of which made the playoffs) and Chicago who at 10-6 missed the playoffs on a tie breaker to Minnesota.
So the Denver game at Mile High wasn't a big game? Blowing out Baltimore by 30 wasn't big? The Bears game in Chicago? Beating Indy at home to win the division? None of those were big games?
As far as nationally televised goes... The Jets win on MNF? Wasn't that nationally televised? What about that amazing game on Thanksgiving with a short week after an OT win? Pretty sure that was a national game.
We get so caught up in Rodgers throwing 6 TD's and Brady destroying this team on MNF that we have started believing this myth that they didn't/couldn't rise to the occasion in any big game all season.
The only thing that you've proven is that you are very good at avoiding questions. Which is too be expected.
I need to make my point clear, I am talking about elite teams. N.E./Packers and yes Baltimore when they played Baltimore the Ravens were beat up by injuries.
I don't consider the Jets/Bears to be elite teams. As far as blowing big games when you lose to the Pats in the regular season (Badly) Get blown out the Minny game at home and loses your last 2 games with HFA on the line that is my definition of sucking in big games. We just may have a different definition of what a big game really is.
That was 3 years ago with a different regime... you really should let this go and move on ...
Marshall
Not pretty, but ALIVE!
In other words, every game we lose is now defined as a BIG GAME. Got it.