Tag: front office

Report: Texans fire interim general manager Chris Olsen

The Houston Texans have fired interim general manager and senior vice president of football administration Chris Olsen.

The Houston Texans have shaken up their front office in the aftermath of the 2019 season coming to a close.

According to Aaron Wilson of the Houston Chronicle, the Texans have fired senior vice president of football administration Chris Olsen, who was serving as the interim general manager since the club fired general manager Brian Gaine on June 7, 2019.

Olsen had been with the Texans since 2007 where he started out as a vice president of football administration. Olsen had been a key part of helping the Texans manage the salary cap and negotiate player contracts.

Prior to Olsen joining the Texans, he worked in the NFL league offices for 13 years, including as manager of labor relations on the NFL management council from 1999-2006, where he gain extensive experience working with player contracts as he had to make sure player contracts teams submitted were in compliance with the collective bargaining agreement and salary cap. Olsen was also the NFL’s liaison to the NFLPA as it related to player contracts.

Firing Olsen means more shakeup in the front office, and it could be more influence from the part of executive vice president of team development Jack Easterby, who helped evaluate the Texans from an organization standpoint during the 2019 offseason, even when the club’s nine-week workout program started in April.

Coach Bill O’Brien had influence over the five-man general managing council, even though Olsen was the interim general manager. Now with Olsen out of the way, O’Brien has even more sway that he did before.

The Texans have a bevy of offseason moves to be made, including whether to retain receiver Will Fuller, keep cornerback Bradley Roby, or start negotiations with quarterback Deshaun Watson on his well-deserved contract extension. Houston will have to negotiate some of these new contracts without the benefit of Olsen’s 12 years of experience.

Report: Washington almost hired former Texans general manager Rick Smith

Washington almost hired former Houston Texans general manager Rick Smith to be their GM.

Former Houston Texans general manager Rick Smith almost returned to an NFL front office.

According to Adam Schefter of ESPN, Washington came close to hiring the former Texans front office boss with owner Dan Snyder and Smith having frequent meetings in the Bahamas.

Before they hired Ron Rivera as their new head coach this past week, the Washington Redskins came close to hiring former Houston Texans general manager Rick Smith as their president to run the team, league sources told ESPN.

Smith and Redskins owner Daniel Snyder had multiple meetings in the Bahamas, formulating a vision for the struggling franchise, according to sources.

Sources familiar with the situation expected a deal to get done and Smith to be in charge of the Redskins.

But Snyder ultimately opted to run his franchise through his head coach instead of a president, bestowing the power to Rivera, who was officially hired Wednesday.

What Smith’s frequent meetings with Snyder indicate is that the former Texans general manager is ready to get back into the front office of an NFL team.

The second general manager in Texans history has not been involved in football since his wife, Tiffany, died of cancer in late January of 2019.

Smith’s successor, Brian Gaine, was fired on June 7. Since then, executive vice president of football administration Chris Olsen has been the interim general manager, but the Texans actually have a five-man general managing council with coach Bill O’Brien making significant decisions regarding personnel.

The Cleveland Browns currently have a vacancy at general manager after firing John Dorsey. Interestingly, the Browns were the team Smith made a trade with to move up to take quarterback Deshaun Watson in the first round of the 2017 NFL draft. Smith may not have overseen greatness while with Houston, but he may have made one of the draft day trades that does give the Texans a shot at greatness.

Will Brian Gaine going to get the last laugh over Bill O’Brien in Bills versus Texans?

The Houston Texans fired GM Brian Gaine on June 7, and he landed back with the Buffalo Bills. Will he have the last laugh over Bill O’Brien?

2019 has been a whirlwind for Brian Gaine.

After spending all offseason carefully managing the Houston Texans’ salary cap situation, trying to replace safety Tyrann Mathieu with another Pro Bowler in Tashaun Gipson, not spending big money to keep 30-year-old Kareem Jackson, and taking Tytus Howard after the Philadelphia Eagles drafted Andre Dillard in the first round, Gaine found himself out of a job.

On June 7, the Texans fired Gaine as general manger ⁠— the Friday before the club was to hold its veteran mandatory minicamp, the last offseason workout before a month hiatus, the advent to training camp.

Usually front office personnel gets canned at the end of the season, or midway through a disappointing campaign. The Texans were taking a Jets-esque approach and firing Gaine after all of their offseason moves had been made.

In late July, Gaine returned to the franchise that he spent the 2017 with as its vice president of player personnel, the Buffalo Bills. Of course, Dan Morgan has that job now, and Gaine is a nebulous “senior personnel advisor.”

Regardless of pro football and the money and lifestyle involved, getting fired out of nowhere is disruptive on an individual. To think you’re safe for at least the next five months and have the rug pulled out from under you is jarring.

Could Gaine have the last laugh over Texans coach Bill O’Brien?

In the absence of a full-time general manager, senior vice president of football administration, Chris Olsen, has taken on the role as interim general manager. However, that is nothing more than a title. A five-man general managing council makes the front office decisions for the Texans, and O’Brien has considerable influence. Make no mistake: his six trades from Aug. 8 to Oct. 21 were timely and helped fill voids along the roster.

However, it was Jack Easterby, the executive vice president of team development, part of the New England Patriots’ colonization of the Texans, who arrived in the 2019 offseason, who helped Texans chairman Cal McNair realize Gaine needed to go. Getting rid of Gaine helped O’Brien win yet another power struggle over a general manager.

If the Bills pull off the upset and take down the Texans at NRG Stadium, they will be a team that Gaine had very little influence over, not compared to Houston, who has O’Brien’s fingerprints all over them by this stage of the postseason. And if they lose, it will only be that much sweeter to Gaine.

Deshaun Watson says Texans’ consistency of winning the AFC South starts with coaching, front office

Houston Texans quarterback Deshaun Watson credits the coaching and the front office for why the organization consistently wins the AFC South.

The Houston Texans are 2019 AFC South champions. They have won the division four of the past five seasons. Since 2002, only the Indianapolis Colts’ seven division titles outnumbered the Texans’ six.

For quarterback Deshaun Watson, finding who deserves the credit for the Texans winning the division on a regular basis is rather easy.

“It just starts with the head coach and the front office,” Watson said after the club’s 23-20 win over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers Saturday. “I have only been here for two, so I’m on the back end of those last four.”

The Texans hired coach Bill O’Brien in 2014, and the rookie coach from Penn State led Houston to a 9-7 finish but no postseason berth. In 2015, with the quartet of Brian Hoyer, Ryan Mallett, T.J. Yates, and Brandon Weeden all logging starts, Houston win the AFC South. In 2016, they repeated with Brock Osweiler and Tom Savage making starts.

In some ways, Watson, who went 19-of-32 for 184 yards and an interception in the win, has made it easier on O’Brien and the front office. Whether general manager Rick Smith, who was there in Watson’s first season, or Brian Gaine, who was there in Watson’s second year but fired shortly before 2019 minicamp, the general manager in Houston has not had to devote any time to finding a franchise quarterback since the Texans drafted Watson in the first round of the 2017 NFL draft.

“It definitely starts with how they run things up front and the guys they want in the locker room and the way that we prepare and the way that we go about our business, so it definitely starts up there,” Watson said.

Fans in Houston appreciate the division titles, but are hopeful for a deeper playoff run in the near future, especially with a two-time Pro Bowler in Watson under center. If that doesn’t happen in Watson’s career in Houston, fans will blame the head coach and front office.

Report: Texans not planning to hire a general manager for the 2020 season

The Houston Texans will not hire a general manager in 2020 according to a report from Ian Rapoport of NFL Network.

The Houston Texans may continue with a “business as usual” approach to their front office, which currently has a general manager vacancy, is ran by a five-man council, and is considerably influenced by coach Bill O’Brien.

According to NFL Network insider Ian Rapoport, the Texans are not planning to hire a general manager, even after the 2019 season is over.

Sources say that the Texans plan to continue this offseason and beyond with their current personnel structure rather than hire a true general manager in title. Coach Bill O’Brien has final say, though he essentially works with the team’s executive vice president of team development Jack Easterby to be in charge of football operations.

The Texans have some of the other general manager duties split up between Easterby, player personnel director Matt Bazirgan, and vice president of football administration Chris Olsen, who is technically the interim general manager, and currently manages the team’s salary cap situation.

The council of general managing has worked well for Houston to this point as they boast a 7-4 record, first place in the AFC South, and have done so with bold trades to shore up key positions. The trade for left tackle Laremy Tunsil on Aug. 31 may have been a season saver as the club did not have any viable option to protect Deshaun Watson’s blindside other than oft-injured veteran Matt Kalil and first-round rookie Tytus Howard, who is now on injured reserve.

Houston also traded for running back Carlos Hyde, who has been a great replacement for starter Lamar Miller, who went down in the third preseason game with a torn ACL.

The Texans have also gotten younger at the cornerback position by trading for Gareon Conley with the Oakland Raiders prior to their Week 8 encounter, and also adding Vernon Hargreaves leading up to Week 11 at Baltimore.

Houston fired Brian Gaine as general manager on June 7, days before the club opened mandatory minicamp.