Tag: Texans front office

Cal McNair wants Houston Texans fans back

Houston Texans chairman and CEO Cal McNair joined @sportsradio610 and shared that the franchise wants to win the fans back.

Cal McNair knows what the fans want.

The Houston Texans chairman and CEO stopped by “Payne & Pendergast” on Sports Radio 610 [KILT-AM] to discuss his experience operating the franchise and expectations for the 2022 season.

Since 2018, McNair has had the reins of the franchise since the passing of his father, Bob McNair, the team’s founder, in November 2018.

The father built the franchise from the ground up starting in 2002. In 2022, the son is overseeing a rebuild wherein the team hit rock bottom with four-win finishes over the past two seasons.

“We want to be fearless and try new things and listen to the fans,” McNair said. “We want to respond to them… What we hear most from the fans is they want to win.”

In addition to the losses, Houston also said goodbye to franchise cornerstones. DeAndre Hopkins was traded away in an ill-advised move by former coach and general manager Bill O’Brien. J.J. Watt asked for his release from the franchise after 2020 and followed Hopkins to Arizona. That isn’t even to mention to fiasco at starting quarterback.

This period in the franchise has left many fans feeling disconnected and searching for other sports outlets to cheer on the city. McNair and coach Lovie Smith have made a pointed emphasis to try to bring fans back this offseason.

In regards to the new efforts to re-engage the fanbase, McNair highlighted several things the team is trying this off-season.

“We’ve got these H-Town shirts, we’ve got the red helmets,” said McNair. “We’re reaching out to the fans, we’re trying new things. Some will work, some may not work and that’s going to be the nature of it. We want to be aggressive”

McNair hit the nail on the head acknowledging that the team will have to win more in 2022 to truly win fans back to the franchise. Consecutive finishes in the league’s bottom three teams are unacceptable in a city that features the incredibly well run Houston Astros and the rebuild darling Houston Rockets.

The red helmets and improved aesthetic of the team on the field is a good start. Additionally, McNair hosted “Cal’s Cookout” following training camp practice that featured him joking with the media about how they liked their burgers and and grilling for all fans who came out on Wednesday. These efforts can only help the Texans rebuild trust among the fanbase.

Although merely a preseason game, the Texans can keep the optimism going with a win over the New Orleans Saints Aug. 13 at NRG Stadium.

WATCH: Texans chairman and CEO Cal McNair hands out shirts, signs autographs at training camp

Houston Texans chairman and CEO Cal McNair was at Houston Methodist Training Center signing autographs and giving out shirts at training camp.

The excitement of Houston Texans training camp is contagious.

The fans are back in greater numbers than they were in 2021, and it didn’t have as much to do with the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic as it did the pessimism surrounding the team. The Texans weren’t going to have a franchise quarterback on the field — but taking up salary cap space and a roster spot — the roster was bottom tier, and their solution at coach was a 65-year-old rookie who had never been as much as a coordinator in his nearly 30 years prior.

With the promotion of defensive coordinator and associate head coach Lovie Smith to the big role, the optimism has been spreading.

Chairman and CEO Cal McNair and his wife, Hannah McNair, took part in the fun on the sixth day of training camp at Houston Methodist Training Center by giving away shirts to the fans in the stands and also signing autographs.

 

The reality is the Texans haven’t won four games since 2019 and there are a bevy of question marks across the roster and coaching staff. Nevertheless the McNairs, team president Greg Grissom, and general manager Nick Caserio have done a magnificent job of generating energy and positivity surrounding the club as it carries on throughout its 20th year as the Texans.

Will Jack Easterby leave the Texans after the 2022 season?

The influence of EVP Jack Easterby has lessened throughout the GM Nick Caserio era. Will Easterby leave the Houston Texans after 2022?

Jack Easterby has had quite the ride with the Houston Texans since 2019.

The organization hired Easterby as executive vice president of team development on April 2, 2019. The club later promoted Easterby to executive vice president of football operations on Jan. 28, 2020. Even before Easterby had to be the club’s interim general manager after the firing of coach and general manager Bill O’Brien on Oct. 5, 2020, Easterby played a part in negotiating contracts in 2020.

With the hiring of former New England Patriots director of player personnel Nick Caserio as general manager on Jan. 7, 2020, Easterby’s influence throughout the Texans has waned.

According to John McClain, who has been as much a staple of the NFL scene in Houston as any franchise, Easterby could be through with the Texans after the 2022 campaign.

“I think Jack Easterby will be gone after this season,” McClain told “In The Loop” on Sports Radio 610 [KILT-AM] June 28. “That’s just my opinion.”

McClain’s opinion wasn’t merely a hunch as it was rooted in observations and conversations with individuals inside the organization.

Said McClain: “Based on some things that he did that they’re not doing anymore — roster with no numbers. And one of the things that he did last year that I just noticed is he scrubbed their website, made it like the Patriots, the worst in the league. And I had several people in that organization tell me how unhappy they were that they were no longer on the website. And they like to show their grandpa and their grandpa liked to show people, ‘Here’s my son or daughter.’ And it was like they were wiped from the face of the Earth. They now put it back. So, that comes under the auspices of president Greg Grissom. So, congratulations to Greg Grissom or whoever did that because there’s a lot of people that are happy now that what Easterby did last year is no longer. Now, I can’t wait to see if other things that happened, like in training camp and stuff, if they’ll get away from that as well.”

The decline of Easterby’s presence throughout the organization is identifiable. Even Easterby clarified his role as being more of a support role than anything related directly to football.

McClain reiterated it is simply his prediction that Easterby will be gone.

“He may get a contract extension,” said McClain. “I’m just saying I think he will be gone after this season. He will ‘resign to pursue other opportunities.'”

Easterby has been a lightning rod since the 2020 offseason. Caserio has found the scrutiny Easterby has been under curious.

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GM Nick Caserio details how Texans handle players on expiring rookie contracts

Houston Texans general manager Nick Caserio talked about how the organization approaches players who nearing the end of their rookie contracts.

Houston Texans general manager Nick Caserio is still working through the draft classes from the Brian Gaine era (2018-19). Caserio let the only player from Gaine’s first draft walk in free agency in safety Justin Reid.

The Texans’ 2019 draft class is now under the microscope throughout the 2022 season. The club picked up the fifth-year option for right tackle Tytus Howard, which buys them some time. However, guard Max Scharping, the last remaining player on the roster from the 2019 draft, is entering the final year of his deal.

Caserio joined “Payne & Pendergast” on Sports Radio 610 [KILT-AM] June 16 to talk about how the club handles players who are starting to round the corner into their contracts being expired.

“I think really after a couple years you might start to think, all right, what makes the most sense, how we’re going to handle it,” Caserio said. “But I would say the CBA has been agreed and the way the contracts are structured, there are certain parameters and limitations in place in terms of when you can actually have a negotiation with that player about a contract. Everything will kind of come in due time, but ideally with younger players, you’d like to have after a couple of years you hope, whatever you think you have in that player, hopefully you have a pretty good sense and an idea.”

Caserio noted that the organization looks at the cost associated with the position, and that the team works within the framework of two-year windows.

Said Caserio: “I would say from our perspective, from the Texans’ perspective, we try to look at things sort of two-year windows and two-year increments. So, we’re in the 2022 season. So, 2022, 2023, look at our team, look at our salary cap, look at where are we positioned because if you get too too far ahead, there’s too many moving parts. You start to talk yourself in circles if you’re not careful. So, just look at it in a two-year window, worry about this year.”

The tale of the 2022 season will help the Texans determine who needs to be a a part of the team’s future beyond the current two-year window.

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Texans EVP Jack Easterby clarifies his role within the organization

Houston Texans executive vice president of football operations Jack Easterby defined his role within the organization.

Houston Texans fans know what Jack Easterby’s title is: executive vice president of football operations.

Although the title seemingly defines that Easterby runs the football ops, there is some ambiguity as to what he exactly does. Houston fans may not hear from him during the week, but can catch glimpses of him on the sidelines of Texans games.

Easterby joined Jacob Erlbaum and Jacob Hare on the “Jacob and Jacob Podcast” and outlined what exactly his role is within the Texans organization.

“Obviously in an NFL organization there’s tons of different roles and things that are given,” Easterby said. “We’re organized in a very unique way. Nick Caserio, who is our general manager, does an awesome job with the roster and the football operation in relation to specific roster transactions, building our team, our personnel, and then our football performance on the field.”

Easterby was hired as the vice president of team development in April of 2019. After the firing of general manager Brian Gaine on June 7, 2019, and coach Bill O’Brien being named general manager in January 2020, Easterby similarly received a promotion to his current position. When O’Brien was fired on Oct. 5, 2020, Easterby was promoted to interim general manager, a role he vacated once the Texans hired Caserio as general manager at the end of the 2020 season.

With Easterby back in a football ops role, and not having to help out a coach doubling up as general manager, he can get back to serving the team.

“Then what I try to do is serve the rest of the building through what we call our SPT programs, which are our sports performance teams and the onboarding efforts of our team and then also the logistical components and the data and technology components that support the team,” said Easterby. “So, it’s a support role that really, hopefully drives the innovation and hopefully the efficiency of the operation to give the coaches and the players and the general manager what they need to do their job well.”

The Texans had one winning year so far since Easterby joined the team. Chairman and CEO Cal McNair and the rest of the organization is hopeful Easterby can take part in rebuilding the Texans and getting them back into playoff contention.

EVP Jack Easterby describes his game day role with the Texans

Houston Texans executive vice president Jack Easterby told the “Jacob and Jacob Podcast” ( @pod_jacob ) what exactly he does on game day.

Houston Texans fans see Jack Easterby on the sidelines at NRG Stadium during game days, and it has generated questions as to what an executive vice president of football operations is doing on the sidelines as opposed to inside the press box.

Easterby took time with “The Jacob and Jacob Podcast” hosted by Jacob Hare and Jacob Erlbaum to talk about what he does for the Texans on game days. Given Easterby’s background as a character coach, the question centered around whether he gave any pep talks.

“On game day, not too many pep talks, but I’m a high-five guy when you’re playing a game you only get to play once a week,” Easterby said. “So, I love high-fiving guys and celebrating with them. It’s obviously a passionate game, and, so, I love to be a part of whether it’s pregame or postgame trying to celebrate with guys when they’re doing well and executing their gifts and what their jobs are.”

Easterby clarified that his role on game day to provide a smooth operation.

Said Easterby: “I try to stay out of the way and make sure our operation is efficient, whether that’s sideline stuff or halftime stuff or just helping the overall operations. So, our goal really during game day is really to serve and make sure the operation runs as smooth as possible.”

Easterby described his role earlier in the interview as a support role to ensure that the sports performance teams, logistics, and data and technology elements support the Texans.

The Texans hired Easterby in April 2019 as the vice president of team development. In Jan. 2020, he was promoted to executive vice president of football operations, his current role. From Oct. 2020 to the end of the regular season, Easterby was the interim general manager until Houston hired Nick Caserio as full-time general manager.

EVP Jack Easterby explains what drew him to the Texans

Houston Texans executive vice president of football operations Jack Easterby told @pod_jacob what attracted him to the AFC South club in 2019.

Jack Easterby was a part of a winning culture with the New England Patriots.

The AFC East club had won three out of four Super Bowl appearances between 2013-18 when Easterby joined the team as a character coach. Easterby was influential behind the scenes to help keep the morale high as New England pursued football immortality.

In 2019, after the Patriots beat the Los Angeles Rams 13-3 in Super Bowl LIII, Easterby was ready to move on.

Easterby joined the “Jacob and Jacob Podcast” hosted by Jacob Hare and Jacob Erlbaum and talked about how he ended up with the Houston Texans as their vice president of team development.

“My wife and I as we always do try to pray through the different opportunities that we’re given,” Easterby said. “If we have something that we think fits the skill set and just really believed in ownership in Houston, what they’re about, who they are, their passion for the Houston community, their passion to win and to get the football operation up to a championship standard. Really believe in that.”

The McNair family was coming off the death of founder Bob McNair on Nov. 23, 2018. McNair’s widow, Janice, became the owner of the team, but their son, Cal McNair, added another role as the chairman and CEO.

“I was really blessed by those visits and the time they had with the McNairs specifically, and that’s boded true,” said Easterby. “That’s exactly what happened and just got to continue to do the work that it takes to get us there.”

At the end of the 2019 season, coach Bill O’Brien doubled up as the general manager since Brian Gaine was fired on June 7, 2019. Easterby was promoted to his current role, although he served as Houston’s interim general manager from Oct. 5, 2020, to the end of the season after O’Brien was fired following an 0-4 start.

Said Easterby: “Really the people. I come back to the people, Jacob. I appreciate you asking that. I always come back to my feel for people and whether or not the people that you’re with and how you’re navigating things will align with everything that you feel it’s going to take and what you’re about. And we definitely have that here in Houston.”

The Texans have had one winning season since Easterby arrived in 2019. The past two seasons have resulted in double-digit losing campaigns. However, Easterby remains optimistic the Texans are on the right track.

Texans GM Nick Caserio refers to criticism of Jack Easterby as ‘little bit unjust’

Houston Texans general manager Nick Caserio told @sportsradio610 that the criticism of Jack Easterby has been a “little bit unjust” since his arrival.

Houston Texans general manager Nick Caserio believes the criticism of executive vice president of football operations Jack Easterby has been unfair.

Easterby, who was hired in April 2019 as vice president of team development and later promoted to his current role in January 2020, has been the subject of intense criticism from the Houston and national media as the Texans have posted records of 4-12 and 4-13 since his promotion.

The perception is Easterby has too much say in the organization, which has led to bad contracts and other deleterious results.

While that may have been the case when Bill O’Brien was the coach and general manager, Caserio insisted on “Payne & Pendergast” on Sports Radio 610 [KILT-AM] Tuesday that Easterby is not as heavily involved in football decisions any longer.

“Jack has been a hot topic for a lot of people,” said Caserio. “I’d say candidly some of the criticism has been unfair. I think Jack has an important role in the operational and logistics standpoint. That’s what he was brought here to do. That’s his role in football operation. I talked about this last spring. Anything as it pertains to making football decisions, whether it’s players, contract signings, scouting, draft analysis, those all fall under my jurisdiction. So, I would say if you look at a football operation in its entirety, it takes a number of different people.”

Caserio suggested that the collaborative effort to put together a successful football team takes multiple points of input, and that there is a misperception as to Easterby’s role.

Said Caserio: “I would say that I have a lot of respect and appreciation for the job that Jack does, and candidly not a lot of people really understand the nuts and bolts of it. But when you get a chance to spend time with Jack, I mean, you realize it’s probably not as bad as everybody makes it out to be. I’d say from his perspective, it’s always been an operational and kind of a logistics standpoint, and there are certain areas that maybe fall under his jurisdiction that we’ll communicate about, and I can handle the football areas. If there’s something we can talk about collectively as a whole, whether it’s myself, Jack, the head coach, whoever it is, then those lines of communication are open.”

Caserio and Easterby go back to their time with the New England Patriots from 2013-18 when he was a character coach. The Patriots’ last three Super Bowl wins came during that time frame with victories at the end of the 2014, 2016, and 2018 seasons. As winning world championships does, it has fortified the bond between two ex-Patriots.

“Look, Jack’s been a punching bag since he got here,” said Caserio. “Some of it I think quite frankly was a little bit unjust. Everybody has an opinion and they’re certainly entitled to their opinion. We’ll just kind of keep moving forward.”

The Texans’ most pressing order of business is to find their fifth full-time coach in team history. Easterby may have input on that decision, but Caserio has tried to make it clear he won’t be a decision-maker on such consequential football moves.

Texans GM Nick Caserio likes the ‘competitive spirit’ of the organization

Houston Texans general manager Nick Caserio is encouraged by the way the organization has developed a “competitive spirit” over the past year.

Nick Caserio has been the Houston Texans general manager for the past calendar year, and the results don’t seem to be too different from what they were when he took over.

After a 4-12 finish in 2020 wherein Romeo Crennel finished out as the interim coach following Bill O’Brien being fired after an 0-4 start, the Texans responded in the first year of the Caserio era with a 4-13 finish under first-year coach David Culley, who was canned at the end of the season.

“We have a lot of work to do,” Caserio acknowledged to reporters on Jan. 14. “This year, I think we put a really good foundation in place. I’d say with the infrastructure and the team and the players, you all talked to the players on a week-to-week basis.”

The Texans had some favorable things happen on an individual level. Receiver Brandin Cooks recorded his second straight 1,000-yard season with Houston — something he did not do with the Los Angeles Rams, for example, from 2018-19 — and notched his sixth 1,000-yard season among his eight played. As a team, the Texans were the only team with a losing record to finish in the top-10 in takeaways with 25.

2022 appears to be better as the Texans will have more salary cap flexibility and draft picks to help complete the rebuild.

“There’s a lot of work to do in front of us and we’re not afraid to roll up our sleeves,” said Caserio. “But I think the competitive spirit and the mindset and the thought process of the people that are here in the building is overall positive.”

Ultimately Caserio knows that positivity inside NRG Stadium and going about the fundamentals correctly is immaterial if it does not lead to wins.

Said Caserio: “Those things have to transfer over into production on the field. Nobody realizes that more than I do. We’re committed to making whatever changes are necessary and trying to put together the best team possible for the 2022 season, whatever the construct looks like.”

The first step to have a successful 2022 is to find Culley’s replacement. The Texans have conducted interviews with Brian Flores, Joe Lombardi, and Hines Ward.

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4 takeaways from the Texans’ statements on the firing of David Culley

The Houston Texans released statements on the firing of coach David Culley. Here are four takeaways from the messaging out of NRG Stadium.

The Houston Texans fired coach David Culley on Thursday, and the search of a fifth full-time coach in team history has commenced.

On Thursday evening, the Texans released statements from general manager Nick Caserio, former coach David Culley, and chairman and CEO Cal McNair on the firing.

“Earlier today, I met with David Culley and Tim Kelly to inform them we will be moving in a different direction at the head coach and offensive coordinator positions,” Caserio said. “I came to this difficult but necessary decision after reviewing our football operation. While a change after one season is unusual, we had philosophical differences over the long-term direction and vision for our program moving forward. We appreciate Coach Culley for helping us navigate through a difficult season, but it is my responsibility to make decisions that I feel are best for our organization. The search for the next coach of the Houston Texans will begin immediately.”

“I loved every minute of being the head coach of the Houston Texans,” Culley said. “I appreciate the players and coaches for staying the course with me through the ups and downs of our season. I’m disappointed we didn’t win more games and I won’t have a chance to improve on the lessons I’ve learned, but I fully understand this is a bottom-line business and I didn’t do enough. I want to thank the McNair Family and Nick Caserio for giving me this opportunity, I am forever grateful for the experience. I wish this team and organization the best, they are building a special program and I truly believe the future is bright for Texans fans.”

“We are grateful for the energy and passion David brought to our organization throughout last season,” said McNair. “We wish him, his wife Carolyn and their entire family nothing but the best moving forward. I have entrusted Nick Caserio to lead football performance and I have complete confidence he will find the best leader for our team. These decisions are difficult, but Nick believed it was necessary for the future of our organization. We look forward to continuing to build our roster and finding the right coach to lead us forward.”

Here are four takeaways from the statements.