I don't believe Brian Gaine's firing was a BO'B power play; not at all. I think it was a Cal McNair power play. Dumb as you might think the Texans are, they didn't wake up one morning and suddenly realize their offensive line was bad. I would bet good money Cal had an expectation that they would urgently address it and.... Gaine was passive in the draft and signed Matt Kalil. Not good enough so he gets whacked. When, in his post-Gaine press conference, BO'B indicated Cal made his expectations very clear... I think we saw that play out this weekend - Cal's expectations were that they urgently address the offensive line. So BO'B strikes a deal - Clowney-for-Tunsil; I think that's what started this. Clowney knew or realized he had leverage and blew the deal apart, damaging the relationship and throwing everything into chaos. What a wild weekend. But I think BO'B is absolutely on the hot seat. This trade for Tunsil - this win-now swing for the fences - is proof. There's a new sheriff on Kirby; I think there's going to be greater urgency, higher expectations, likely more chaos. I hope he can balance some of his dad's patience. Aggressive is good; too aggressive is bad.
It doesn't make sense that BOB is on the hotseat when they were letting him hand pick the new GM (again) and bring in Easterby. If Cal were in control here we wouldn't have dumped our best defender because OB doesn't like his practice habits.
Didn't BO'B also handpick Gaine?... I don't believe that's what happened. I think they realized (much too late) that they could leverage Clowney into addressing the offensive line; struck a deal with Miami and then - because they don't have an experienced, competent GM - got caught with their pants down because no one realized Clowney held all the cards after July 15. From there, I think Clowney made the decision he wanted to go and gave them an ultimatum: trade me or I'll sit the whole year. Listen to BO'B's press conference and how he answers the question of whether he thought Clowney would report... it's very telling, IMO.
Gaine tried to stop this insane trading away of assets, that's why he got fired. Cal is too dumb to realize that O'Brien is a moron.
I agree, this was a Jerry Jones, Al Davis style demand from the top. It’s not likely that an NFL owner could ever be convinced to take a risk like this. I think the owner demanded that the offensive line be improved, at all costs. So that’s exactly what his coach/GM did.
If the Texans, let's say, signed Trent Brown and made the move up to secure Andre Dillard...... what's the cost of that? A 3rd round pick, maybe? If they'd done that, do they make this move for Tunsil? So what insane trading away of assets was Gaine trying to stop, exactly? Do you honestly think they were unaware that their OL was a problem this offseason? Were YOU happy with how they addressed it? I think this weekend is, in so many ways, a declaration that Gaine was not urgent in fixing a problem.
Gaine and O'Brien worked together on everything. To think he was just scratching his ass or taking a dump while Dillard was taken is ridiculous. They should have traded for Dillard. That was a much more reasonable price. They screwed it up and then panicked and overpaid for Tunsil.
Right. And it cost Gaine his job and put BO'B on the hot seat. It just makes NO SENSE that they needed all of July and August to realize signing Matt Kalil was not the answer. I definitely think there's panic; it's hard to read this any other way. But they're panicking, in large part, because they did nothing in free agency/draft.
Agreed there. And to me it's crossing the line to mortgage the future because they don't know how to do their jobs. O'Brien needs to be fired before he destroys more assets. The more he does that the longer the rebuild will take. It's not easy to build a contender, it's going to be harder without first round picks and being in cap hell.
I think Hey Now! Hit the nail on the head. Cal gave an ultimatum to fix the offensive line. Gaine failed in free agency and with the draft, so he was fired. The Texans decided to try to flip Clowney for an offensive lineman, but that didn't pan out when Clowney refused to go to the Dolphins. The relationship between the Texans and Clowney evidently was damaged to a point to where both sides wanted a divorce. So, the Texans ended up selling low on Clowney, and buying high on Tunsil. The Texans DID finally hopefully improve the offensive line, but it was done in the worst way possible. All of this could have been avoided if the Texans were better at evaluating talent and had a competent GM. Duane Brown, Brooks, and Ben Jones could still be playing for the Texans, but they were all traded, or were allowed to walk away. Now, let's hope that Howard, Scharping, and Tunsil develop into great players for years to come.
Well, Cal wasn't the owner for 99% of that tenure... And, it's easier to fire a GM in June than a head coach. I firmly believe BO'B is on the hot seat, and will be fired if this season unravels.
True, it's Cal's thing now. He sure has a lot of trust in O'Brien to make him both HC and GM and let him trade away future assets, so if he's on the hot seat I think things have to go really south. 5-7 wins and O'brien can say they are still integrating Tunsil and new front office structure. 4 or less and who knows.
The Gaine firing made sense IMO, surprising yes but made sense. And when all the Caserio rumors came up, think there was a renewed sense of confidence with Cal and urgency we were seeing. Unfortunately the complete incompetence we have seen since has completely destroyed any confidence I have with this franchise regarding personnel and decision making.
I'm starting to think he's GM by default; I doubt he's working in a vacuum. Barring a Watson injury, I think anything less than 10 wins and a strong playoff showing, and BO'B is gone. I mean... Cal fired Gaine for whiffing in the offseason; I don't think he's going to stand for a 9-7, 0-1 postseason campaign.
Makes sense and Cal realizes he potentially has his franchise QB set for years and wants to protect his prized asset. Sounds good to me because after QB, the games are decided in the trenches.
The problem is of all the years where 9-7 might save BOB's job, it's this one. The schedule is ridiculously daunting. Outside of the Chiefs, I don't there's another team in the league that goes 11-5 or higher with our schedule.
Yes, and then he fired him and handpicked his replacement. There is literally nobody with any connection to the team who says Obrien is on the hotseat. They literally say he has more power than ever. Clowney told Rappaport and others he intended to report, sign and play for the Texans until last week (what was it, Monday?) when it was made clear that he would be traded as soon as he signed. That's when he tanked everything for the Texans and made it clear he wouldn't go to Miami. He still told people he was fine to play in Houston though. No chance he sits out the year. This was all Obrien not wanting him.