Tag: nick caserio

Report: Nick Caserio emerging as a top candidate for the Texans’ GM job

Texans fans may not be happy with Caserio, however.

The New England Patriots are, once again, in danger of losing their director of personnel, Nick Caserio. He could emerge as the leading candidate for the Houston Texans’ general manager job, according to the Houston Chronicle’s John McClain. Caserio was in Houston on Tuesday to interview for the job.

The Texans attempted to interview Caserio in 2019, only to have the Patriots file tampering charges, which led to Houston backing away from the front-office executive. At that point, Houston promoted Bill O’Brien to work as general manager on top of his coaching duties — and the Texans fired him this season from both positions.

Before leaving, however, O’Brien traded away Houston’s first- and second-round picks for the 2021 NFL Draft. The Texans (4-12) would have been slated to pick at third overall. They do, however, boast one of the best young quarterbacks in the NFL: Deshaun Watson.

Caserio has risen up the ranks in New England since he joined the organization in 2001. He has spent time in the personnel and coaching departments, with work as a receivers coach during the record-breaking 2007 Patriots season. He has been the director of player personnel since 2008.

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Houston Texans general manager tracker

The Houston Texans are searching for their fifth general manager in team history. Follow along with all of the updates here.

The Houston Texans are searching for their fifth full-time general manager in team history. The Texans fired coach and general manager Bill O’Brien on Oct. 5, but didn’t start their general manager search in full until midway through December. Here is who the Texans have met with or targeted thus far:

Louis Riddick — Dec. 16

Matt Bazirgan — Dec. 23

Malik Boyd — Dec. 31

Scott Cohen — Jan. 3

Trent Kirchner — Jan. 4

Nick Caserio — Jan. 4

“All these GM’s and personnel guys, they are evaluating their teams and thinking about next year,” interim coach Romeo Crennel told reporters on Dec. 23. “They have been looking at college guys, and I know that’s a little bit different this year, but they’re there looking at college guys for the draft. So, there’s still a lot going on even though the season is beginning to wind down.”

Report: Texans ask Patriots’ permission to interview Nick Caserio

The Houston Texans have asked permission to interview New England Patriots director of player personnel Nick Caserio.

The Patriot-ification of the Houston Texans may continue even after the Oct. 5, 2020, firing of coach and general manager Bill O’Brien.

According to Aaron Wilson of the Houston Chronicle, the Texans have requested permission from the New England Patriots to interview their director of player personnel, Nick Caserio, for their general manager vacancy.

The Texans almost got in trouble in the 2019 offseason trying to lure Caserio away from the Patriots. After hiring Jack Easterby as the team’s new character coach, the former Patriots staffer went back to a Super Bowl ring ceremony and allegedly pitched Caserio on the concept of coming to the Texans, which was already a strange move given Houston had a general manager at the time in Brian Gaine, who ended up getting fired on June 7, 2019, three days before mandatory minicamps began.

If Houston goes in the direction of Caserio, it could mean Easterby’s job is safe as executive vice president of football operations, and the Patriot Way will continue to be the status quo in the Bayou City.

Report: Panthers request to interview Patriots’ Nick Caserio

The Patriots’ director of personnel could be the Panthers’ GM.

The New England Patriots’ disappointing 2020 season has finally come to an end. Bill Belichick’s team finished the year with a 7-9 record and in third place in the AFC East.

With nothing but the future in sight for New England, the team will have a lot of decisions to make. Will they bring back key players like Joe Thuney or David Andrews? What will happen with Stephon Gilmore? Who will be under center for the season opener of 2021?

There are a lot of questions to answer in New England. However, one more may have been added to the list, as ESPN’s Adam Schefter has reported that the Carolina Panthers have requested to interview Nick Caserio for their open general manager position.

Caserio’s position was in question last season when he was being reportedly pursued by the Houston Texans. With Caserio still under contract after signing in the offseason, the Patriots must grant position for this interview to take place.

It’s unknown whether or not Caserio would be interested in leaving New England, but Carolina could be an interesting landing spot for him. It’s evident that he’ll never have complete control over roster decisions while Belichick is the head coach. If Carolina offers that, the deal may be more enticing.

With all of the uncertainty for the future of New England, there will be more than a few looking to move on to new opportunities, and Caserio could be one of them.

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Report: Panthers requested permission to interview Patriots executive Nick Caserio

Caserio has been with the organization since 2001, when he was hired as a Personnel assistant.

Bill Belichick’s Patriots had a rough year, finishing the season 7-9 and missing the playoffs for the first time since 2008. Two decades of dominance doesn’t get forgotten easily, though and NFL teams are still going to try to get a taste of that success, including the Panthers.

According to a report by Adam Schefter at ESPN, the Panthers have requested permission to interview New England’s director of player personnel, Nick Caserio.

Caserio has been with the organization since 2001, when he was hired as a Personnel assistant. He’s been in his current position since 2008.

It may be hard to pry Caserio away from the Pats, but he’s not the only candidate to replace Marty Hurney. The team is also reportedly lining up an interview with former Giants general manager Jerry Reese.

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Nick Caserio explains what it’s like trading in the virtual draft

Nick Caserio talks about being prepared for a virtual draft.

The NFL draft presents challenges every single year. There are new ways to evaluate players, multiple teams trying to move up to get their guy, and ever-changing values of draft picks.

This year, the draft is more challenging than ever, as all of it has to be done virtually. Instead of a team gathering their coaches, owners, scouts, and general managers in one room, they are spread out across the country in different areas due to the quarantine regulations put in place to prevent the spread of COVID-19.

Many teams, analysts, and fans were worried about just how this would affect the draft process. Would it create enough chaos to throw teams off their game? Luckily, the Patriots were prepared for this scenario. Director of player personnel Nick Caserio and coach Bill Belichick were ready to draft virtually.

Caserio was asked about the first-round virtual draft experience on his post-draft video conference call with the media. Specifically, he was asked about the logistics of using technology and how it all worked with the trade that they made to move out of the first round.

“”I’d say it actually went very similar to how it goes in the draft room. We were able to connect to the league. Essentially what you have to do is just make sure both sides of the trade are coordinated,” Caserio said on a conference call Friday night. “You go through the league office, which you normally do anyways in the draft room. We’re trading with the Chargers; here are the terms. They confirm it on the other side.

“From that perspective, it went pretty smoothly. The league did a great job. We went through some dry runs, a couple. Obviously, Monday we had the league testing a few things, on our own as well, to make sure what this communication would actually look like. Look, the power could go out tomorrow and we could be doing faxes. I would say today was pretty smooth.”

He added: “IT department has done a great job here over the last few weeks just making sure it’s as seamless as possible given the circumstances.”

It’s no surprise that New England was ready for this very moment. Everything that Belichick puts his team through has shown his desire for preparation. The Patriots weren’t going to be the team that got negatively affected by a virtual draft, and Caserio confirmed that.

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Here’s a look inside Patriots’ virtual war room during 1st-round trade

Nick Caserio and Bill Belichick make the call to trade out of the first round.

The New England Patriots did what most fans hoped Bill Belichick would not do. In the biggest sporting event in weeks, the Patriots provided anticlimax. The team traded out of the first round, moving back from 23rd overall and getting the Los Angeles Chargers’ second and third-round picks.

New England was barely on the clock. As soon as the Minnesota Vikings selected LSU receiver Justin Jefferson, the Patriots executed a trade to move out of the first round. They finished the evening with 13 pick in the draft, including five picks on Friday night when they should be in range to pick a number of talented prospects. Here’s a snippet of video from the Patriots’ war room during the trade on Thursday night.

Nick Caserio is quick with the trigger.

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Retaining Josh McDaniels, Nick Caserio will prove essential for Patriots future

Life for the Patriots will go on, with or without Tom Brady. 

Life for the New England Patriots will go on, with or without Tom Brady.

The organization has been built on foundational pieces and it starts with the man who governs every aspect of the team — Bill Belichick. Robert Kraft has given Belichick free rein to make any decision that’s best for the team. Ultimately, making Belichick the head coach, general manager and de facto defensive coordinator.

This isn’t sustainable for one person without reliable counterparts that run autonomously. This is where Nick Caserio and Josh McDaniels come in, both of which have been retained by the Patriots this offseason. McDaniels went out on a head-coaching interview tour for numerous teams, but came up empty. Caserio, who reportedly wanted out of New England last season, agreed to a multi-year contract extension with the team.

The foundational pieces are now set in stone for 2020 at minimum. Belichick will oversee the team and defense primarily. McDaniels will make sure the offense operates optimally and Caserio will find the right pieces to string together a contending team.

So, why are Caserio and McDaniels so important for the team’s future?

Caserio has played an instrumental role in all six of New England’s Super Bowl titles. He’s been with the team since 2001 and has been the director of player personnel since the 2008 season. Similar to the players that come into New England, Caserio has become a versatile piece who makes an impact outside of his job title. He’s been Belichick’s sidekick at the general manager position and he’ll be the key to a potential future without Brady.

Brady, 42, is set to hit free agency this offseason and it’s very possible that he ends up in a different uniform. If this is the case, Caserio will be the man in charge of replacing the greatest quarterback to ever play the game. It will be a daunting task if push comes to shove, but the combination of Belichick and Caserio will be best fit for the job.

NESN’s Doug Kyed summed up Caserio’s significance to the team perfectly.

He oversees the Patriots’ pro and college scouting departments. He sets up signings and trades. He’s in the coaches’ booth during games talking to offensive coordinator — and former college teammate — Josh McDaniels. He’s a coach on the practice field during the week. Oh, and he’s the Patriots’ in-house arm for any free agent wide receiver workouts.

Now for McDaniels, who spent 16 of his 19 years as an NFL coach with the Patriots. He’s the NFL’s highest-paid assistant coach for a reason and the potential departure of Brady could implode this offense without the revered offensive coordinator. Belichick was looking at a potential scenario where he’d have to abruptly get a new quarterback and offensive coordinator up to speed — while filling to role of two NFL greats.

It’s easy to say New England is better off with McDaniels around. Similar to both Belichick and Caserio, McDaniels has six Super Bowl titles with the team. He joined the Patriots in 2001 as a personnel assistant and climbed his way up the ladder to become the offensive coordinator in 2006. In 2009, he left for a few years to experiment as a coach outside of New England, but he made a return for the 2012 season.

McDaniels’ tasks go far beyond his position as well and his vast knowledge of the Patriots’ system has been imperative to the team’s success.

The Patriots lost their longest-tenured coach in Dante Scarnecchia this offseason, who did an incredible job of keeping the offensive line intact. In order for the dynasty to continue, they couldn’t afford to lose anymore foundational pieces. They’re off to a great start in terms of the key cogs in the coaching staff — now it’s on to the players.

If the Patriots can retain Brady this offseason, they’ll be right on track for another Super Bowl run in 2020. If not, they’ll have to prove they can keep the ship running without the face of the franchise. With these pieces in play, it’s very likely Belichick will conjure up a winning team going forward regardless of Brady’s decision.

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Report: Nick Caserio, Patriots agree to multi-year contract extension

Nick Caserio is staying put in New England.

The New England Patriots and director of player personnel Nick Caserio have agreed to a multi-year contract extension, according to Ben Volin of The Boston Globe.

The Houston Texans made their attempt at Caserio last offseason, but things got messy and he remained with the Patriots. There was speculation that Houston would try again to attain Caserio, but that was quickly shut down this offseason.

Caserio has been with the organization since 2001 and has remained in his current role since 2008. The return of Caserio and Josh McDaniels will help keep structure and familiarity that will benefit Bill Belichick greatly. With the potential departure of Tom Brady this offseason, the Patriots will need to keep the core intact to remain a contender.

Now that New England’s brought back two of its most important pieces — the focus will be put on its legendary signal-caller.

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5 options to be the next Patriots’ wide receiver coach

Five guys who could be the New England Patriots wide receivers coach in 2020.

Prior to the 2019 season, there had been a lot of consistency in the positional coaching ranks in New England. In one year, a lot of that changed. Defensive line coach Brendan Daly, who had been in New England since 2014, left for Kansas City. Brian Flores, who was in Foxboro since 2004, became the new head coach in Miami. There, he took assistant quarterbacks coach Jerry Schuplinski (2013-18), wide receivers coach Chad O’Shea (2009-18), and cornerbacks coach Josh Boyer (2006-18).

These moves left a lot of openings in New England. Daly was replaced by former Arkansas head coach Bret Bielema. Former Patriots linebacker Jerod Mayo slid in for Flores. Mick Lombardi, son of former Patriots assistant Michael Lombardi, would take over for Schuplinski. Mike Pellegrino, previously an assistant, was promoted to replace Boyer. And, special teams coordinator Joe Judge took on a new role, becoming the wide receivers coach.

For obvious reasons, Judge was one of the coaches in the biggest spotlight. Working with Tom Brady’s weapons is always a job that will attract attention. So, it wasn’t a total surprise when a guy who had been in a successful organization for eight years and was finally getting some media coverage due to the extra duties was getting calls to be a head coach. This off-season, the New York Giants took a swing on Judge, once again leaving the Patriots with a hole in the coaching staff. Who could fill those shoes as the next wide receivers coach?

Chad O’Shea

O’Shea spent 10 seasons as the Patriots wide receivers coach. Last offseason, he left for Miami to make the jump to offensive coordinator for the first time in his career. The move didn’t exactly pan out the way he expected. With less than ideal weapons, the Dolphins would finish 25th in points per game (19.1) and 27th in yards per game (310).

Surprisingly, after only one season, O’Shea was fired. This decision was reportedly made because Flores wanted to separate himself from what he did in New England. If O’Shea wants to continue working and perfecting a Patriots-like system, maybe going back to New England would be best.

The red zone struggles the Patriots had this year could certainly be helped by the man who was “incredibly responsible for any and all of our success in the red zone,” as Josh McDaniels put it in 2018. O’Shea could be used to help guys like N’Keal Harry and Mohamed Sanu find their roles in the scoring offense, and that’s something that would be extremely important to the future success of the team.

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