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Front office shake-ups: Texans

thunderkyss said:
I could have sworn the vast majority of us were absolutely giddy about our last draft, before the injuries took it's tole.
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The board is always giddy about drafts - until live game play occurs. Then in many cases the draftees go from incredibly-talented-immediate-impact players to wait-three-years-before-they-can-be-judged disappointments.
 
PapaL said:
If Smith is a yes man why wouldn't the HC want that? These are the guys I want. Go get them.
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As a yes man, you'd think he would also make a good scapegoat. However, Rick Smith proved to be more adept at that game than our previous HC. It's possible (though I do not believe it to be true in any way) OB doesn't want to have to deal with that & become another notch on Smith's belt.
 
ObsiWan said:
If that's the way the owner wants his organization to function, what makes you - or any of us - think that the next GM will have a different set of responsibilities or more power than O'Brien?? We already know (or we believe based on the little info we get) that O'Brien will have veto power during the draft and personnel moves... I mean who was it that ordered the Mallett trade or went out and got Demaris Johnson?
Do you think O'Brien will give up that power?
Do you think McNair will take it from him after a successful season under 4 different QBs?
I don't.

...but I've been wrong before.
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I don't expect there to be much difference at all. In fact I expect whoever replaces Smith to act in much the same capacity. It's McNair's MO. My guess here is O'Brien has convinced McNair he needs to bring in his people and replace the old Denver mindset with a new New England Belichick mindset and way of doing business. Someone who knows and understands that particular business plan. My guess is O'Brien was not happy with the way draft board was set up and how the scouting reports panned out. I still expect McNair and O'Brien to have final say on players drafted, except I expect the draft board will have a new process. In essence McNair would be replacing the Shanahan/Denver Plan with the New England/Belichick Plan.

PHILLYTEXANFAN said:
I know he left them with Pro bowlers and tons of cap. His only real demise is the HC he brings in. Hiring Haley followed by keeping RAC as HC ruined that tenure
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I think you need to do a little more research. From my understanding Pioli ran the front office in much the same way Hitler ran the Third Reich. McNair would not give Pioli the power in Houston he had in KC.
 
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PapaL said:
If Smith is a yes man why wouldn't the HC want that? These are the guys I want. Go get them.
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The best leaders are willing to be challenged and value having people around them who will do that. It makes them better at what they do.

If all you do is what I tell you to do, then you are of limited value to me.
 
ObsiWan said:
That's what I was saying on the previous page. Whoever the new guy is will still go get the guys that O'Brien and Crennell tell him to go get.
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IF this happens it clearly points to exactly that.

Frankly this rumor makes no sense to me. However you dice it, looks like more people (all highly paid) splitting jobs normally handled by fewer people. I don't buy that McNair is chucking a couple mil a year just because he "likes" Rick (although that should disabuse the notion he is cheap if true).

Runner said:
The board is always giddy about drafts - until live game play occurs. Then in many cases the draftees go from incredibly-talented-immediate-impact players to wait-three-years-before-they-can-be-judged disappointments.
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Nah, folks were much more giddy about the 2014 draft class than usual. The grades in the post draft threads were higher and beotching was almost non-existent other than not picking a QB.
 
vupac1 said:
I actually feel that it is a good idea to have the coach pick or have a say in the GM, because they need to work together and most importantly, have the same vision of what the team needs, and value the same qualities/talents.

I don't think McNair was wrong in giving Kubiak that power, I just feel that Kubiak did a piss-poor job of picking his guys, and stayed too loyal too them (not just GM, but DC's and just about everyone else as well)
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Isn't it right for the owner to step back and give his GM the responsibility for running operations, including firing and hiring head coaches? Wasn't it that way when Hank Stram was GM of the Cowboys? The GM is supposed to know football and the owner seldom does.
 
Seegara said:
Isn't it right for the owner to step back and give his GM the responsibility for running operations, including firing and hiring head coaches?
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Why is there only one way to do it? It makes no more inherent sense to say the GM is over the HC than the HC is over the GM.

Wasn't it that way when Hank Stram was GM of the Cowboys? The GM is supposed to know football and the owner seldom does.
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You're looking for Tex Schramm. And during his time with the Cowboys he either made 0 or 1 HC decisions.
 
Texian said:
I don't expect there to be much difference at all. In fact I expect whoever replaces Smith to act in much the same capacity. It's McNair's MO. My guess here is O'Brien has convinced McNair he needs to bring in his people and replace the old Denver mindset with a new New England Belichick mindset and way of doing business. Someone who knows and understands that particular business plan. My guess is O'Brien was not happy with the way draft board was set up and how the scouting reports panned out. I still expect McNair and O'Brien to have final say on players drafted, except I expect the draft board will have a new process. In essence McNair would be replacing the Shanahan/Denver Plan with the New England/Belichick Plan.



I think you need to do a little more research. From my understanding Pioli ran the front office in much the same way Hitler ran the Third Reich. McNair would not give Pioli the power in Houston he had in KC.
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I talked to my buddy who's a Chiefs fan he said PIOLI was brought in to KC to act that way and clean house. Who's your ideal candidate Texian?
 
ObsiWan said:
That's what I was saying on the previous page. Whoever the new guy is will still go get the guys that O'Brien and Crennell tell him to go get.
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It's not just about that though, it's also about managing the cap and getting the most value from your payroll. Just grabbing the guys in the draft the coaches want is an automatic win due to the rookie pay structure. It's a different ball of wax when it comes to retaining talented players and picking ones up in free agency without killing your budget, and this has been a major failure over the years. It's the reason why when our drafts don't pan out it seems so glaring.
 
PHILLYTEXANFAN said:
I talked to my buddy who's a Chiefs fan he said PIOLI was brought in to KC to act that way and clean house. Who's your ideal candidate Texian?
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My ideal candidate is a GM in the mold of Ted Thompson or Ozzie Newsome, like Eliot Wolf or Eric DeCosta. I know that's not going to happen. McNair is not going to give up that much control and power. Therefore if Smith is in fact moved OUT I expect BOB has his eye on someone in the Patriots Pro or Scouting departments. I would not be surprised to learn that both Dimitroff and Pioli are no longer with Atlanta but think that both would be a mistake for Houston.
 
Texian said:
My ideal candidate is a GM in the mold of Ted Thompson or Ozzie Newsome, like Eliot Wolf or Eric DeCosta. I know that's not going to happen. McNair is not going to give up that much control and power. Therefore if Smith is in fact moved OUT I expect BOB has his eye on someone in the Patriots Pro or Scouting departments. I would not be surprised to learn that both Dimitroff and Pioli are no longer with Atlanta but think that both would be a mistake for Houston.
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I wouldn't mind Decosta. Wasn't he part of drafting Flacco?
 
I know it's not a front office position, but I'd like them to look into a possible Oline coaching change.
 
PHILLYTEXANFAN said:
I wouldn't mind Decosta. Wasn't he part of drafting Flacco?
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If DeCosta comes in great, but it should be viewed as lightning striking. He was getting attention as GM elsewhere and in response got a new contract in 2012 with his title changed to Asst. GM, given a raise to a salary on par with GMs elsewhere and assurances he would be Newsome's eventual replacement. He has turned down multiple opportunities to interview for GM positions and said he has no intention of leaving the Ravens.

HOU-TEX said:
I know it's not a front office position, but I'd like them to look into a possible Oline coaching change.
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I'd like a new OL coach as well.
 
Anyone but the two guys currently with the Texans..

You don't fix problems with the talent pool and the cap space
by hiring from within the same underperforming hierarchy.

We need new blood and fresh thinking IMO
 
Playoffs said:
So was Josh Daniels/Charlie Weis and I wouldn't touch them, either. Case by case basis for me.
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Two things:

1. Perhaps not by you, but prior to this season, many folks would have included Romeo Crennel in your list. (I know virtually every Chiefs fan I know in KC would have included him)

2. I'm guessing Pioli's role would be more in line with the one he had in New England as opposed to the one he had in K.C.

I don't know that I'd be jumping for joy if this happened, but I would readily acknowledge it had potential to be an improvement over the existing situation.
 
ChampionTexan said:
Two things:

1. Perhaps not by you, but prior to this season, many folks would have included Romeo Crennel in your list. (I know virtually every Chiefs fan I know in KC would have included him)

2. I'm guessing Pioli's role would be more in line with the one he had in New England as opposed to the one he had in K.C.

I don't know that I'd be jumping for joy if this happened, but I would readily acknowledge it had potential to be an improvement over the existing situation.
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They loved him as DC, hated him as HC
 
PapaL said:
If Smith is a yes man why wouldn't the HC want that? These are the guys I want. Go get them.
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O'Brien is part of the Bill Parcells coaching tree through Belichick.

And it was Parcells who made famous the following quote as a head coach:

"If I'm going to be asked to cook the meal, I'd like to be able to pick the groceries."
~ Bill Parcells

What we simply do not know is the power structure at Kirby and how decisions are ultimately made at the end of the day. There is lots of speculation and assumptions, and some valid clues, but it is still a process hidden in the shadows.

That said, I tend to think that McNair values the opinions of his head coaches. To what degree is anyone's guess, but he has always been very high on whoever is his head coach at the time.

Playoffs said:
SOTT: ARE THE TEXANS KICKING THE TIRES ON SCOTT PIOLI?

Oh, god no. Pioli is too bizarre imo. :mariopalm:
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I've always liked Pioli as a talent evaluator from his days at NE. It's been awhile, but I remember reading a very favorable article about him with some great insights by Belichick and Robert Kraft.

ChampionTexan said:
Not the ones I know.

I'm from KC, and know a whole bunch of fans up there, and virtually every one I talked to about it told me it was a mistake when the Texans hired him as DC.
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Do they still think it was a mistake? I'd hope not, or they'd just be another bunch of uneducated biased fans.
 
Texian said:
Are you sure you want anything to do with Pioli?

http://www.kansascity.com/news/spec...ty-Turnover-off-the-field-causes-concern.html

A closer look at four years of Pioli draft busts with the Chiefs

Read more here: http://www.kansascity.com/sports/sp...raft-busts-with-the-Chiefs.html#storylink=cpy
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Nobody seen Sherman or Wilson coming. Poe is gonna be a monster for years. Berry is solid(nobody seen his lymphoma coming) Hudson is a beast at C. JH is the best Pass rusher OLB imo. Letting Asomoah go was a big mistake on their end, taking Decker instead. Lol, Decker is mediocre at best, product of Peyton. You can say the same for any GMs draft history coulda woulda shoulda, but they didnt
 
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Yes. Let's just assume the ones who make the decision are lying and speculate about replacing our GM. It won't matter since he's working for LIARS.
 
dream_team said:
These types of articles are lame. You can do a draft busts article on every single GM in the league and make them look incompetent.
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I thought the first article was much more telling and more important of why you don't want Pioli than the draft article.
 
PHILLYTEXANFAN said:
Couple don't like the "bend don't break attitude"
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thunderkyss said:
I think as the year went on, we got away from that "bend" part all together.
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I was one that wasn't very high on RC's defenses due to historically being the bend but not break style. I think TK's right, saying we got away from it towards the 2nd half of the season. We became more of an attacking D

I was kinda pissed at the way we played defense the first several games. It seemed like a switch flipped and we became more aggressive. We blitzed the Ravens darn near 50% and rattled the heck out of Flacco.

I enjoyed watching the D play toward the end of the season.
 
HOU-TEX said:
I was one that wasn't very high on RC's defenses due to historically being the bend but not break style. I think TK's right, saying we got away from it towards the 2nd half of the season. We became more of an attacking D

I was kinda pissed at the way we played defense the first several games. It seemed like a switch flipped and we became more aggressive. We blitzed the Ravens darn near 50% and rattled the heck out of Flacco.

I enjoyed watching the D play toward the end of the season.
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If he gets completely healthy, I can't wait to see this defense with Clowney added next year. And, just what kind of numbers will JJ put up with Clowney back? :eek:
 
I've found myself lurking here most of the day waiting for some news..big news to come out. Dunno why.
 
Pioli is a Doosh Bag. I can't believe people have heard all the horror stories about this guy and his ego.
 
Chris Mortensen ‏@mortreport
The Eagles have fired Tom Gamble, VP of player personnel. It may be announced as “parting ways” with Gamble but it is what it is.
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A name that has been whispered around Texans offices.
 
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