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Casserly Passing the Buck-Fire Him!

C

CowboysTexansFan

Waterboy
Here is a link to Richard Justice's blog. I wish he would turn this into a regular column for publication in the Chronicle and explore the Texans' drafting in more detail. More specifically, he should talk about how the drafting by the Colts and Steelers has been even better than the Texans' when you factor in that the Colts and Steelers have been picking much later in each round than the Texans have been.

Justice should also analyze the trade for P. Burnt and how the Texans gave up a 2nd and 3rd round pick for that castoff from the Raiders. I wonder if Casserly wants to blame the coaches for that one, too.

http://blogs.chron.com/sportsjustice...g_the_tex.html
 
He makes some good points, certainly Casserly has been a failure. However, the blame can't be placed solely on him. The coaching staff has as much to do with this as the GM. Several players from this team have moved on to make contributions to good teams. This coaching staff simply makes good players look bad. Remember when Andre, Domanick and Dunta looked like Pro Bowl calibur players?
 
I've reposted the link. You may need to be registered with the Chronicle's website to access the article, so I've copied and pasted the relevant excerpt.


http://blogs.chron.com/sportsjustice/archives/2005/11/grading_the_tex.html

Casserly's drafts and Coach Fran
People can be so cruel. For instance, there was the time a Washington Redskins coach offered a tough assessment of his general manager.

That general manager's name was Charley Casserly, but you didn't hear that from me.

"Pittsburgh has three times as many scouts as we do, and they still draft better than we do," the coach said. "Why don't we have some of our scouts follow the Pittsburgh scouts around? It's not like we'd do any worse."

He suggested a sportswriter pass that suggestion along. The sportswriter declined.
 
Why the Texans lose...

• Someone has been writing that coaching hasn't been a problem in recent weeks, that the issue is a lack of talent. That someone has changed his mind.

• There's no defense for what happened Sunday night. The Texans weren't ready to play, and that's a reflection of a poor job by the coaching staff.

• David Carr fumbled a third-down snap on the opening drive. Dumb.

• Andre Johnson commits a penalty to take his team out of field goal range. Dumb.

• Phillip Buchanon either can't or won't tackle. Why hasn't he been released? Why haven't the people who acquired him been fired?

• Why doesn't Derick Armstrong play more? The personnel department hasn't found many good players. Why are the coaches refusing to play one of the few?

• Gary Walker angrily stalks the sidelines. Why was he mad? Did someone ask why he'd had just 1.5 sacks in three seasons? Pretty poor production for the huge signing bonus he got.

• Chad Stanley can't hold a snap from center on a field-goal try late in the second quarter. Dumb.

• No matter what you think of the play calling or the effort by WR Cory Bradford, that was a terrible throw by Carr at the end of the first half. Because the pass protection is so bad, the offense has been quickened to the point that nothing has time to develop.

• They couldn't even get lined up deep in Kansas City territory in the second half and had to burn a timeout. Dumb.

• Other than pass protection and play-calling, which was limited by the personnel, these issues are coaching issues. If you're going to make a case that head coach Dom Capers should be retained and only GM Charley Casserly fired, you're on your own.

• And the knuckleheads get in a fight late in the game. Why didn't they show some fight in the first half? Dumb.

• If Capers is told to clean out his office Monday morning, he'd get no argument from me. Casserly can stay long enough to have Thanksgiving Dinner in the cafeteria. Then he goes, too.

• It's time to start over.

http://blogs.chron.com/sportsjustice/
 
"Because the pass protection is so bad, the offense has been quickened to the point that nothing has time to develop."

At the end of the season, I think that'll be the tagline to every single game.
 
HJam72 said:
It would help if they'd open a whole for the RB and let him develope.
Click to expand...

Well, we've had a couple games this season where we've had a good running game, but we haven't won those contests. On the other hand, we've never won a game in which we allowed 45 points. Or even 32 points.
 
I liked it when we had 4th and 1 and went with the 4 wideout spread and ran it. Wow, that was bad.
 
Here is an interesting tidbit...
If first-year Vikings owner Zygi Wilf were to make the ultimate move for fans and hand the keys to the franchise to ex-Green Bay Packers general manager Ron Wolf,who wants back into the NFL, it could cost nearly $4 million a year. Vikings executives have only this season left on their contracts, and Wolf could start fresh with his own people.

Word within the NFL is that the Houston Texans are interested in Vikings vice president of football operations Rob Brzezinski.
Click to expand...
http://www.twincities.com/mld/twincities/news/special_packages/columnists/13214471.htm
 
I don't know anything about Rob Brzezinski of the Vikings. Before this year, the Vikings were generally pretty good, but I don't know how good they've been at drafting and trading. Does anyone have any thoughts about that guy?

Personally, I'd be more interested if McNair hired Jimmy Johnson or Ron Wolf.
 
Vinny said:
Here is an interesting tidbit...
http://www.twincities.com/mld/twincities/news/special_packages/columnists/13214471.htm
Click to expand...

And let the rumors begin (or continue). Considering the Texans are likely in the market for a new head coach and GM, I have a feeling this stuff make the annual draft threads look sane.

fwiw, I emailed Risk Gosselin the other day and here's what he had to say about Wolf:

"I'd be surprised if he comes back. He's retired, living in Annapolis and loves it there. He's had some opportunities in the last few years and has passed on them. I'd hire Ron Wolf in a second if he said he wanted to come back. But I think he's had his fill of the NFL. The game has changed from the game he knew. The salary cap & free agency make it more difficult to maintain what you build. And there was no better builder...
"
 
I still say Casserly is not the problem. We have had excellent talent from the draft, but the coaching staff has simply destoyed the talent we have. The schemes we play, the game plans we utilize, you name it and it has been bad. Until I see a new set of coaches handling what we have and suggesting to Casserly what we need, I will give him a pass. I firmly believe that everything that has happened to this ball club is a function of Pendry, Capers and Fangio. Its unfair to blame the fans, the players, the owner, or Casserly for this debacle. The owner takes blame simply because he won't say enough is enough, particularly in light of what he said last December. He bought the Capers - Pendry solution hook line and sinker. They sold him a bill of goods and he's simply scared to cut and run. It won't hurt very long if he does. We have some very good players on this ball club, but they are not being used effectively and won't be until this set of coaches is gone. The one exception I believe is Marciano. I believe he should be kept as our current interim coach and everyone else should be fired as of yesterday. Bring is some temps and get the job done for the rest of the season. Heck we might surprise some people. Again, I BELIEVE WE HAVE A LOT OF TALENT ON THIS BALL CLUB. THAT TALENT WILL NEVER SEE THE LIGHT OF DAY AS LONG AS THIS COACHING STAFF IS HERE.
 
was it just me or did anyone else notice during the game shots of McNair with arms folded, seemingly scowling, sandwiched between former President Bush jabbering away & Charlie Casserly endlessly feeding his face like in some altered state of depression or avoidence to the gravity of the situtuation on the field? very surreal, just like this season :um:
 
When Buchanon got hurt trying to make a tackle, I commented to the guy next to me that when they get him off the field he will tell the coach, "That's why I avoid making tackles coach, it hurts to do that"

Way too many things are going wrong on this team. Its a little confusing since the first three season looked much better.

The defense used to keep the team in the game, and sometimes even scored.

During the off season most of the changes were made on defense, despite the obvious fact that is was the offense that needed more help. Now the defense is as pathetic as the offense. Whoever was part of the moves during the offseason needs to go.

I think Bob M is finding out that just being rich, and a nice guy, doesn't mean you are qualified to be an NFL owner. He has some tough decisions to make, wish he new a bit more about football so he could make the right ones.
 
billtxus said:
I think Bob M is finding out that just being rich, and a nice guy, doesn't mean you are qualified to be an NFL owner. He has some tough decisions to make, wish he new a bit more about football so he could make the right ones.
Click to expand...


You don't become as rich as McNair is from being a nice guy. He's a sharp business man and he'll get rid of anybody who is not doing their job.
 
Johnny Utah said:
You don't become as rich as McNair is from being a nice guy. He's a sharp business man and he'll get rid of anybody who is not doing their job.
Click to expand...


I think we should fire McNair too for hiring Casserly and Capers!:sarcasm:

bobby 119C:brickwall
 
Ibar_Harry said:
I still say Casserly is not the problem. We have had excellent talent from the draft, but the coaching staff has simply destoyed the talent we have...
Click to expand...


And I still totally disagree with you, Ibar. WHAT talent? Other than a couple of great pickups with very high (and therefore relatively safe) draft choices, and a few late-round gems that pretty much most teams get once in a while,
where is the underexploited talent? Please select any from the following list of genius Casserly selections/moves to demonstrate why you feel like these guys are somehow being held back from greatness:

FA SIGNINGS:
Philip Burntcannon
Morlon Greenwood
Todd Overpade
Victor Riley
Stacey Mack

DRAFT PICKS:
Travis Johnson
Tony Hollings
Jason Babin

(NOTE: I don't hold Joppru against Casserly...Nobody could've foreseen that. Not finding a legitimate TE when the evidence was clear that Joppru was a bust is very much on Casserly, though.)

I do hope you are not arguing that this weak cast of characters on the O-line are simply "undercoached" or "mismanaged." They stink. And they're paid, compared to most other NFL lines, insanely large sums of money from Casserly-inked deals to stink as badly as they do.

Cass deserves credit for the good picks of AJ and Dunta, and for the Drew Henson draft/trade. He (or his staff) also identified Jerome Mathis and have made some other nice moves in late rounds. But the prices paid (and talent missed) for some of these stiffs mentioned above have been too great. And I know this has been said before, but if this is ALL the fault of the coaches, then Casserly has failed to do his job and stop the bleeding, and that makes him accountable too.

Franchises that consistently have weak drafts and FA periods have weak rosters. They don't get better just because a good coach shows up. This team needs a new coach, but it also needs a lot more horses, and the guy up front next to McNair ain't bringin' in very many horses. At this point, it's time to kick everyone out and start over--Casserly and all.
 
Nice post, TexanExile, I couldn't agree with you more. To expand slightly on what you wrote, Casserly has gotten virtually nothing out of 4 years' worth of 2nd and 3rd round picks, either because of bad picks or bad trades.

His a-- needs to be sent packing. The sooner, the better.
 
CowboysTexansFan said:
Casserly has gotten virtually nothing out of 4 years' worth of 2nd and 3rd round picks,
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Casserly needs to be fired, as does Capers and his crew, but Gaffney, Pitts, and Peek amount to something more than 'virtually nothing.'
 
I think Pitts is pretty good and has the potential to get better, but Gaffney and Peek have not shown me that they're much more than average players.

Gaffney has posted some decent numbers this year, but that's largely because AJ has been out much of the time. I'm not sold on him as a solid #2 receiver. I think he's more of a #3 receiver.

As to Peek, occasionally he'll make a play, but his performance has not come close to matching all the hype surrounding his alleged great athletic ability.

Now if you count all the 2nd and 3rd round picks the team has had during its existence, and all you can come up with are those 3 players, it doesn't amount to much. In fact, it's totally unacceptable to have drafted only one quality player with 4 years' worth of 2nd and 3rd round picks.

I stand by my statement.
 
CowboysTexansFan said:
Here is a link to Richard Justice's blog. I wish he would turn this into a regular column for publication in the Chronicle and explore the Texans' drafting in more detail. More specifically, he should talk about how the drafting by the Colts and Steelers has been even better than the Texans' when you factor in that the Colts and Steelers have been picking much later in each round than the Texans have been.

Justice should also analyze the trade for P. Burnt and how the Texans gave up a 2nd and 3rd round pick for that castoff from the Raiders. I wonder if Casserly wants to blame the coaches for that one, too.

http://blogs.chron.com/sportsjustice...g_the_tex.html
Click to expand...

A.) You can't judge draft picks on the short term. B.) Casserly got Dom Davis with a fourth-rounder, so if you're gonna pan him for some picks you have to praise him for the ones that worked out. C.) I get tired of all this rather redundant calling for firings. "Fire Capers! Fire Casserly! Fire Carr! Fire the ball boy! Fire them all!" Give me a break. For the past three years, these guys have done a fine job. But we don't hear anything about what they did in the first three years of this franchise. No wonder people around the NFL don't respect Houston fans.
 
aj. said:
Casserly needs to be fired, as does Capers and his crew, but Gaffney, Pitts, and Peek amount to something more than 'virtually nothing.'
Click to expand...

That would be pretty stupid to fire perhaps the best GM in football and the guy who took an expansion team to the precipice of a .500 season in just three years.
 
CowboysTexansFan said:
Nice post, TexanExile, I couldn't agree with you more. To expand slightly on what you wrote, Casserly has gotten virtually nothing out of 4 years' worth of 2nd and 3rd round picks, either because of bad picks or bad trades.

His a-- needs to be sent packing. The sooner, the better.
Click to expand...

Two words: Dominick Davis.
 
TexanExile said:
And I still totally disagree with you, Ibar. WHAT talent? Other than a couple of great pickups with very high (and therefore relatively safe) draft choices, and a few late-round gems that pretty much most teams get once in a while,
where is the underexploited talent? Please select any from the following list of genius Casserly selections/moves to demonstrate why you feel like these guys are somehow being held back from greatness:

FA SIGNINGS:
Philip Burntcannon
Morlon Greenwood
Todd Overpade
Victor Riley
Stacey Mack

DRAFT PICKS:
Travis Johnson
Tony Hollings
Jason Babin

(NOTE: I don't hold Joppru against Casserly...Nobody could've foreseen that. Not finding a legitimate TE when the evidence was clear that Joppru was a bust is very much on Casserly, though.)

I do hope you are not arguing that this weak cast of characters on the O-line are simply "undercoached" or "mismanaged." They stink. And they're paid, compared to most other NFL lines, insanely large sums of money from Casserly-inked deals to stink as badly as they do.

Cass deserves credit for the good picks of AJ and Dunta, and for the Drew Henson draft/trade. He (or his staff) also identified Jerome Mathis and have made some other nice moves in late rounds. But the prices paid (and talent missed) for some of these stiffs mentioned above have been too great. And I know this has been said before, but if this is ALL the fault of the coaches, then Casserly has failed to do his job and stop the bleeding, and that makes him accountable too.

Franchises that consistently have weak drafts and FA periods have weak rosters. They don't get better just because a good coach shows up. This team needs a new coach, but it also needs a lot more horses, and the guy up front next to McNair ain't bringin' in very many horses. At this point, it's time to kick everyone out and start over--Casserly and all.
Click to expand...

No mention of Dom Davis, Andre Johnson or D. Robinson? Hmm ... wonder why?
 
We went boom or bust on our drafts and unfortuantly we busted.. we took projects that our coaching/scouting departments saw a diamond in the rough and went with it..(aka Wand/Hollings/etc) ... If hollings showed the explosion in the NFL as he did with the 4 games he played in college..we'd be praising Casserly..


for the record.. I am not praising/bashing Casserly.. we gambled with our picks and so far they haven't worked out
 
Bobo:

Are you saying that because Casserly made a nice pick in the 4th round with DD that he has done a great job with the team's drafting? I give him credit for that, but I also give him credit for all the busts he has selected with high picks or has traded away for bad players.

Have ALL of his picks been bad? No. But when you look at his overall record, any objective evaluation will conclude that his drafting has been lousy.

As to AJ and DR, those were high first round picks, which are more difficult to mangle because the choices are usually fairly obvious. Not foolproof, but relatively low risk.

Why don't you mention Babin, who was a 1st round pick? The team gave up basically its entire draft to get him, after selecting DR. Was Babin worth it? So far, no way. He was benched at the beginning of the season for poor play and hasn't returned to the starting lineup.

You call Casserly "perhaps the best GM in football and the guy who took an expansion team to the precipice of a .500 season in just three years." Yes, no one was calling for him to be fired last year. But here we are in Year 4, and the team is worse than it was in Year 1.

The blame is not all his, but bad personnel decisions are a big reason why the team is as bad as it is, and we need a better GM to build the team. We also need better coaches.

By the way, are you a friend of Casserly's or related to him?
 
CowboysTexansFan said:
Bobo:

Are you saying that because Casserly made a nice pick in the 4th round with DD that he has done a great job with the team's drafting? I give him credit for that, but I also give him credit for all the busts he has selected with high picks or has traded away for bad players.

Have ALL of his picks been bad? No. But when you look at his overall record, any objective evaluation will conclude that his drafting has been lousy.

As to AJ and DR, those were high first round picks, which are more difficult to mangle because the choices are usually fairly obvious. Not foolproof, but relatively low risk.

Why don't you mention Babin, who was a 1st round pick? The team gave up basically its entire draft to get him, after selecting DR. Was Babin worth it? So far, no way. He was benched at the beginning of the season for poor play and hasn't returned to the starting lineup.

You call Casserly "perhaps the best GM in football and the guy who took an expansion team to the precipice of a .500 season in just three years." Yes, no one was calling for him to be fired last year. But here we are in Year 4, and the team is worse than it was in Year 1.

The blame is not all his, but bad personnel decisions are a big reason why the team is as bad as it is, and we need a better GM to build the team. We also need better coaches.

By the way, are you a friend of Casserly's or related to him?
Click to expand...

Many of the draft picks haven't played out yet. Casserly has a track record of great picks -- don't be surprised if many of those you want to debunk before one season is over with them pan out in the end. As for Hollings, the only reason he hasn't done much is because the Texans have guys better than him. And don't go off with this ridiculous "are you a friend of Casserly's" rant. If you look at his track record, it's a fine one. Too many folks want to go off half-cocked and fire folks who have proven track records and replace them with people who don't and are destined for failure. Are you one of those folks who want to do that?
 
Some of his picks haven't been with the team long, but others have been with the team for years.

Please provide your reasoning behind the statement that "Casserly has a track record of great picks". Some of Casserly's picks that I can think of are Heath Shuler, Tony Hollings, Fred Weary and others.

One of the reasons he deserves to be fired is his lousy trading and signing of free agents. We have one of the highest paid O-lines in the league, and also one of the worst. That's partly Casserly's work.

I wouldn't want to replace Casserly with someone unqualified. But guys like Jimmy Johnson and Ron Wolf have MUCH better track records than Casserly ever will in his wildest dreams.

I repeat the question: Are you related to Casserly or a friend of his? Or are you Casserly himself?
 
Bobo said:
As for Hollings, the only reason he hasn't done much is because the Texans have guys better than him.
Click to expand...
Help me out here. By saying that the TExans have better guys doesnt that mean that Hollings is bad pick?
 
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