New GM and HC search [Nick Caserio Hired as GM] [David Culley Hired as HC]

[chuck]

Sounds good. Let us know if there's anything about Watson's future in any of the upcoming Q drops.

[bikerack]

My friend has been out of pocket for a while...took some time off to really think about whether he is going to stay with the team. For now, he's waiting like we all are to see what happens.

One new nugget...JE was not involved in the original GM interviews. He caught wind that the original choice (the assumption is that it was Kahn) was going to fire him and that is when everything went nuts. JE started to work whatever magic he has over Cal and yada, yada, yada...Caserio was hired. He still doesn't have the full story, but the people who do were shocked at the last-minute change.

This is an educated guess on my friend's part but he thinks DW4 was told about the original GM choice (or at least it was discussed) and then next thing you know, Caserio was hired. He feels lied to and the feeling within the building is that there is less than a 30% chance the fence gets mended...

[Keith]

@McClain_on_NFL
McClain: I expect David Culley to be hired over Leslie Frazier as Texans coach

https://twitter.com/McClain_on_NFL/s...07431498788866

"I think he's honest," (Andy) Reid said. "I think he gives you the same picture every day. He's upbeat and he loves life. He's an energy giver and he's optimistic.

"If things aren't going well, he's going to find out the problem and he's going to fix it. He's not going to hang his head about it. He's brutally honest with the players saying, 'Hey you're doing a great job' or 'You're screwing up. Here's what you have to do.'

"He really teaches them."

https://www.msn.com/en-us/sports/nfl...ey/ar-BB1d9by1

@AaronWilson_NFL
David Culley, traveling to Houston on Tuesday for his second job interview with Texans, coached Deshaun Watson in the Pro Bowl last year as part of Ravens' coaching staff. Watson and Culley built a really good connection that week, according to sources

https://twitter.com/AaronWilson_NFL/...43248167583744

[painekiller]

Its official, its Culley.

[Keith]

Some quick resume diving on Culley... obv a first-time HC at 65 years old is a bit of an eyebrow raiser, but he has been involved on coaching some rather impressive passing offenses for almost 3 decades now. Between retaining OC Tim Kelly and picking a guy Watson reportedly liked during Pro Bowl week a year ago, we can try to hope DW4 is on board with this.

Steelers WR Coach (under Cowher) - Lost AFC Conference Title in '97
Eagles WR Coach (Reid) - Lost Super Bowl '04, Lost NFC Conference 4x
Chiefs AHC (Reid) - playoffs 3 of 4 years
Bills QB Coach (McDermott) - playoffs 1 of 2 years
Ravens AHC (Harbaugh) - playoffs both years

McCown and Lovie Smith reportedly joining the staff, too.

[Warren]

Old interview from when he joined the Chiefs: https://www.chiefs.com/video/coach-s...ulley-11256873

Reminds me of Herm Edwards.

[Keith]

Culley has worked with (among others obv): Kordell Stewart, Donovan McNabb, Lamar Jackson. Would like to see Deshaun Watson added to that list.

[chuck]

The only way this makes any sense is if Deshaun said If you hire this guy I’ll settle down.

Otherwise it’s up there with trading your best players for nothing or giving away the farm for a guy you don’t even have extended, in other words, typical Nexans.

I realize that very few if any credible candidates wanted this job, but come on.

[Arky]

Well, I guess if Watson stays, it's worth it.

Remains to be seen whether the new coach can rise above Ed Biles or Bill Peterson type production....

Having a coach that the players want to play for is so important, no?

Still, it is fun to speculate if Watson wants out, the Texans could get a gold mine for him - if they don't screw it up....

[Keith]

Originally Posted by chuck

I realize that very few if any credible candidates wanted this job, but come on.

Rumor is that Bieniemy wanted some amount of say in the personnel, and that was pretty much game over for Caserio.

Culley sounds a lot like the "culture fit" type that Easterby and Cal want. So... that's not really encouraging.

I like the narrative portion of Lovie Smith becoming the DC. I'm just not so sure I'm as sold on the X's & O's portion of it. Smith's HC career has just spiraled out of control since departing the Bears with rough stops in Tampa then at the college level at Illinois. Not sure how his philosophy has changed, but he was a big cover-2 guy (a "Tampa 2" really, dropping MLB into coverage) back in the day and probably still is. I'm a bit rusty on this D, but I'm not sure how that scheme at all works in the NFL these days. And I definitely question whether the Texans have anywhere near the personnel to run it.

[painekiller]

I'm done. I've deleted my Texans app. I am moving on. I think I'm going to be a Chiefs fan. I hate the Cowboys, and IMO the Saints are at the end of their run. So the Chiefs are the choice. They are also a front runner and that will be fun for a while.

See you guys later

[chuck]

These idiots chose a fking youth pastor over their best players. I mean, that is literally what happened. I'm used to total incompetence from Houston professional sports, but this is a new wrinkle.

[bikerack]

This is the stop-gap "Dusty Baker" type of hire he predicted back on page 3 of this thread.

The thinking/prediction around the watercooler is that in 2 years, McCown will step in to be HC.

[chuck]

Did they get to the point where they offered the job to Brady but were turned down or did they eventually cool on him for whatever reason?

Do you know if any candidate explicitly turned the job down? Surely there were guys who declined an interview.

[bikerack]

Originally Posted by chuck

Did they get to the point where they offered the job to Brady but were turned down or did they eventually cool on him for whatever reason?

Do you know if any candidate explicitly turned the job down? Surely there were guys who declined an interview.

My understanding is that the closest they came to offering a job to anyone was asking EB what it would take. He wanted truckloads of cash and partial roster control. That was a no-go...

As has been said here and elsewhere, I think this was their back-up plan all along and guys they have been interviewing have actually been for staff positions on the team (i.e. McCown and maybe Caldwell).

[HPF Bob]

I wasn't going to say it earlier because I thought Culley's hire might have had backchannel approval from Watson but, since it appears it wasn't, explain how the Oilers publicly interviewed two African-Americans and one white for the head coaching job and then picked the (very old) white guy with no HC experience thinking Watson would be down with that?

I don't care if the white coach was Vince Lombardi, blacks will perceive this as a slap in the face - more "white privilege". How tone deaf can they be? This isn't about Culley or his qualifications. He just walked into a hornet's nest. But, man, this has Bud Adams written all over it.

[bikerack]

Originally Posted by HPF Bob

I wasn't going to say it earlier because I thought Culley's hire might have had backchannel approval from Watson but, since it appears it wasn't, explain how the Oilers publicly interviewed two African-Americans and one white for the head coaching job and then picked the (very old) white guy with no HC experience thinking Watson would be down with that?

I don't care if the white coach was Vince Lombardi, blacks will perceive this as a slap in the face - more "white privilege". How tone deaf can they be? This isn't about Culley or his qualifications. He just walked into a hornet's nest. But, man, this has Bud Adams written all over it.

In case you haven't seen, Culley is being called the first black HC hired during this cycle...

https://www.nj.com/sports/2021/01/ex...ead-coach.html

Cully is the first Black head coach to be hired in this current coaching cycle. Due to the new rule passed by the NFL owners this season, the Ravens will receive a compensatory third-round pick in this year’s draft and the 2022 draft because the Texans hired Culley.

[chuck]

So I guess Culley can use the White restroom in Buford Holler if he's a mind to.

[barrett]

Originally Posted by HPF Bob

I wasn't going to say it earlier because I thought Culley's hire might have had backchannel approval from Watson but, since it appears it wasn't, explain how the Oilers publicly interviewed two African-Americans and one white for the head coaching job and then picked the (very old) white guy with no HC experience thinking Watson would be down with that?

I don't care if the white coach was Vince Lombardi, blacks will perceive this as a slap in the face - more "white privilege". How tone deaf can they be? This isn't about Culley or his qualifications. He just walked into a hornet's nest. But, man, this has Bud Adams written all over it.

What??????

[HPF Bob]

Originally Posted by bikerack

In case you haven't seen, Culley is being called the first black HC hired during this cycle...

I shouldn't have jumped to conclusions based on a couple of media photos, but that's the palest-looking black since Rachel Dolezal.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rachel_Dolezal