It’s hard to believe in Texans. And Texans don’t make it easy to buy.
Texans are hard to trust. Firing David Culley as head coach of a rebuilding team, after less than a year of work, is not helping to spread local faith.
It’s hard to fathom how all of this — internal drama, layoffs, national media leaks, constant roster rotation, restarting the sophomore system immediately after freshman — will ultimately lead Houston’s NFL team to its first Super Bowl trophy.
Do you know the plan of the Texans?
Does your soccer best friend understand the Texans’ plan?
I still do not know. And I spend a lot of time on this planet writing, discussing, analyzing and sometimes criticizing an organization that just completed its 20th year of existence but still hasn’t won an AFC Divisional Round playoff game.
It’s hard to believe the Texans’ plan when no one but Nick Caserio and Jack Easterby knows what the real plan is.
It’s also hard to accept what Texans are trying to sell when they constantly make us question our faith and constantly struggle to deliver their own message.
Caserio spoke for nearly 30 minutes on Friday, the day after Culley was canned and re-entered the workforce with $17 million already pledged for the next three years.
The Texans’ rookie general manager mentioned Google, Goldman Sachs, JP Morgan and a “global outlook.” If you had crashed the dimmed NRG stadium party and hovered in the background in the middle of the press conference, you could have easily been convinced that Caserio was discussing inflation, the housing market, Bitcoin, NFTs or the latest popular hedge fund.
Houston Chronicle writers Jerome Solomon, John McClain, Brooks Kubena and Brian T. Smith discuss Texans shooting coach David Culley. Video: Houston Chronicle
Jeff Luhnow made an art of injecting science and math into baseball while rebuilding the Astros. Daryl Morey often treated the Rockets like chess pieces (or checkers) when reconfiguring Houston’s NBA team.
Applying contemporary trading principles to the world of modern athletics has been all the rage for some time now, so I technically don’t have a problem with Caserio looking like a day trader while overseeing a 4-13 roster that has produces a 4-13 head coach.
But Caserio spent the first day after the Texans’ Culley era talking in circles while only creating more confusion about what’s to come in 2022.
He could have supported Lovie Smith as a defensive coordinator. But that didn’t happen.
“We’re going to have to take it one day at a time and see where we end up on the coaching front,” Caserio said.
He could have declared that Davis Mills, the first draft pick of the Caserio era, will be the team’s starting quarterback in training camp. Ou responded with the general idea that, if all goes well this offseason, Mills will be allowed to compete for the first gig. Caserio did neither.
“When you look at (Mills) compared to some of the other rookie quarterbacks that played last season, you can argue he was as good or better than any of them,” he said. declared. “What does this mean for next year? It really doesn’t mean anything. We thought Davis was a good player when we drafted him and some of the things you’ve seen from him this season confirm that. He also has a long way to go, and he would be the first to tell you.
More importantly, Caserio got another chance to say something definitive about Deshaun Watson. The GM passed again. To date, Caserio has yet to say that Watson will be permanently traded and will not play for the Texans again.
“There are going to be a number of things that we will talk about in the offseason,” Caserio said. “This particular situation, I don’t think there’s any more clarity today than there was here before, but we’re going to work on it. At the end of the day, we’re going to do what we think is best. for the organization.
What about the next No. 3 overall pick in the NFL Draft, who could become the first major for the rebuilt Texans?
Caserio was not asked about this selection, but he still created ambiguity.
“We have third choice overall or whatever it is,” he said. “Whether or not we stay at three is a discussion in its own right.”
The only thing that’s crystal clear about the Texans right now is that CEO Cal McNair has 100% bought GM Caserio, and GM Caserio is proud to be Coach Caserio as well.
The only problem with that?
McNair also bought out GM/HC/offensive player Bill O’Brien hard, gave O’Brien unprecedented power on Kirby Drive, then pulled the plug after just four games in a heavily battered 2020 season. first year of the coronavirus pandemic. .
O’Brien was allowed to coach, build and mold Texans in his image. He went 2-4 in the playoffs and the bad and painful losses stand out more than his 52-48 overall record and four division titles.
Caserio obviously runs NRG in his own way. But the Texans started 4-13 in the freshman year, and the inexperienced head coach Caserio had originally chosen was coldly fired.
Did Caserio hire Culley well? Wrong?
The Texans GM has deviated again.
“It’s not for me to judge,” Caserio said. “I would say we hired David because we believed in him, I believed in him. When you look at some of the things that we’ve been able to put in place in the building and where the program is right now, I’d say it deserves a lot of credit for that.
“Again, I think it’s important to have a global vision every year. Unfortunately, this is an annual activity, so it’s like when people have a one-year, three-year, five-year plan, or even when someone takes on a new job.
Thirty-one other NFL teams have their own master plan. Will the Caserio-led Texans end up outsmarting everyone in the league and giving Houston what it hasn’t received in 20 seasons of Texas football?
New England has been ruled for more than two decades by Bill Belichick.
Andy Reid got even smarter when Kansas City traded for Patrick Mahomes.
Aaron Rodgers had some serious drama in Green Bay. But the Packers are still the Packers and they have this weekend off while they wait for the next round of the playoffs to start.
None of the above started their current runs the way the Texans did under Caserio.
“That’s who we’re chasing,” Caserio said. “They are some of the best sports organizations and we try to put ourselves on a similar level. Are we already there? Not even close. Do we have a lot of work to get there? Absoutely.”
Whatever Caserio’s master plan is, it better work. He’s already in the hole and it’s harder than ever to believe the Texans.
brian.smith@chron.com
twitter: ChronBrianSmith
