Houston Texans interim coach Romeo Crennel has been around his fair share of great organizations and terrible ones.
The three-time Super Bowl-winning defensive coordinator with the New England Patriots and two-time Super Bowl-winning position coach with the New York Giants provided insight as to what makes for a successful general manager.
“I think a general manager is that,” Crennel said. “He has to be a good manager. He has to be well organized. Have to have a thought process about what he wants the team to be and how he wants the team to operate. If he has that, and then particularly along with that if he’s had some experience. Some experience along the way. Maybe he was an assistant GM somewhere or he was a former head coach somewhere with that management experience.”
The Texans currently have a general manager vacancy due to the firing of coach Bill O’Brien on Oct. 5. The third full-time coach in Texans history also doubled up as the general manager starting in January 2020. Currently, executive vice president of football operations Jack Easterby is the interim general manager.
Crennel doesn’t believe coaching is a prerequisite to being a good general manager.
Said Crennel: “You have to be a good manager. If you can deal with people, manage people and then your vision for what the program is going to be, I think that those things are critical. Now, this is not to say that a former player can’t be a good general manager, or a former coach cannot be a good general manager, all right? But all of those skills that you need to run a program, if you have those skills or have the exposure to those skills, then I think that increases your chances.”
The Texans interviewed a former NFL player in Louis Riddick on Friday. Riddick, who is currently a color commentator for ESPN Monday Night Football, also worked in NFL front offices for Washington and the Philadelphia Eagles.
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