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With the Houston Texans firing Bill O’Brien, it not only leaves them with a coaching vacancy but a general manager one, too. The organization will have to commence a general manager search alongside their coaching campaign.
According to Mark Schofield from the Touchdown Wire, who outlined the five-best candidates to replace O’Brien as general manager, ESPN analyst Louis Riddick was one of the names presented as a quality candidate to man the front office.
After his own playing days were over (Riddick spent time with the 49ers, the Browns, the Falcons and the Raiders during his NFL days) Riddick moved into pro scouting. His first job was with Washington, and he spent four years as a scout with that organization before becoming their director of pro personnel.
Riddick served in that role until 2007, before joining the Philadelphia Eagles. He served as a pro scout for the 2008 season, before becoming their assistant director of pro personnel for the 2009 campaign. He was then promoted to their director of pro personnel, and served in that capacity from 2010 to 2013. Riddick was part of the team that assembled the 2011 Eagles, commonly known as “The Dream Team” given the talented roster that was built. However, that team failed to live up to expectations.
It’s a simple question, but needs to be asked. If Riddick is so good, why is he in television and not a front office or personnel department somewhere? Not everyone who gets into the media after their NFL jobs are over are disqualified, but they need a little more scrutiny compared to people who have actually been around the action the last couple of years.
Because of the New England Patriots influence O’Brien invited into the organization, chairman and CEO Cal McNair will have to decide if they want to continue being Patriots South or if they want to go in an all-new direction entirely. Riddick would provide that option.
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