Eberflus interviewing with Houston

[CanuckColt]

Watson has expressed an interest in going to Miami...the Fins are underwhelmed by Tua's play...Tua could be coming back to Houston along with other considerations.

 

[EastStreet]

19 minutes ago, luv_pony_express said:

If it’s true that Watson is going to ask for a trade regardless who they hire, what’s he waiting for?  Why just the anonymous leaks to the press about what he’s going to do?

 

It seems pretty apparent to me that he’s machinating to impact the hiring process, if not the hire itself.

 

At one point, wasn’t Houston not even going to interview Bieniemy?  Now he’s reportedly a finalist?

 

I could be wrong.  But I think they’re going to hire Bieniemy and Watson will return there next year.

All the leaks and tweets totally turn me off. He should have manned up and talked to the owner, or had his agent do it. I hate that kind of behavior. Totally diva IMO. Lots of bad on both sides of this, but Watson is the one that took the beef public which never ends well.

 

Yup, Houston wasn't going to interview EB. Then the tweets and leaks happened. Then Houston had to go to the league office and get special permission to call/interview EB since they failed to do it during the down week. 

 

IMO, now Watson looks like a diva, Houston FO looks weak and wishy washy. They need to just sit down with each other and decide what the next steps are. 

1 minute ago, LJpalmbeacher2 said:

 

I think they should have offered the GM position to Watson AND make him minority owner of the team.... then maybe, hopefully he be happy and stays in Houston. 

Yea, it's a mess. Coming into the situation, I liked Watson and thought the franchise was a wreck. Then they cleared house admin/staff wise, and now Watson is acting up. Just a total dumpster fire lol... Time to start over. If I were a team trading for Watson, now I have a concern he's going to come in and try to dictate hiring... Never should have gone public.

[luv_pony_express]

7 minutes ago, EastStreet said:

All the leaks and tweets totally turn me off. He should have manned up and talked to the owner, or had his agent do it. I hate that kind of behavior. Totally diva IMO. Lots of bad on both sides of this, but Watson is the one that took the beef public which never ends well.

 

Yup, Houston wasn't going to interview EB. Then the tweets and leaks happened. Then Houston had to go to the league office and get special permission to call/interview EB since they failed to do it during the down week. 

 

IMO, now Watson looks like a diva, Houston FO looks weak and wishy washy. They need to just sit down with each other and decide what the next steps are. 

Yea, it's a mess. Coming into the situation, I liked Watson and thought the franchise was a wreck. Then they cleared house admin/staff wise, and now Watson is acting up. Just a total dumpster fire lol... Time to start over. If I were a team trading for Watson, now I have a concern he's going to come in and try to dictate hiring... Never should have gone public.

I couldn’t agree more.  I totally sympathize with Watson’s frustrations.  And it’s clear he’s not the only one upset by how the franchise has been managed.

 

But the way he’s gone about it is pretty childish.  And it almost certainly isn’t going to help.  It’s pouring fuel on the fire.

[Shive]

13 hours ago, Moosejawcolt said:

If the only hold uo is Eberflus being able to get a ride to Houston. I will pick him up and I wont even charge him for gas!!!!

Since you've been a vocal proponent of jettisoning Flus, and are again advocating for him leaving, who do you propose replaces him?

[OffensivelyPC]

On 1/17/2021 at 4:03 PM, Fluke_33 said:

What is the difference between least desirable and most undesirable?  I don’t get it. 

 

On 1/18/2021 at 12:00 PM, stitches said:

The least desireable is one that you still desire but would take reluctantly and as a last resort after all other options have failed. The most undesireable is... you actively don't want anything to do with it.  I think...

It's like dating.  In college there was a girl in my group of friends I wouldn't (and didn't ever) touch in my drunkest state no matter how hard she tried.  Undesirable.  There were others where I thought, this might be a mistake, but the hell with it.  Desirable.  Just so I don't sound like too much of a *, it's worth noting that I ended up marrying one of them.  Wejust celebrated our 10 year anniversary this past October.

[Fluke_33]

3 hours ago, OffensivelyPC said:

 

It's like dating.  In college there was a girl in my group of friends I wouldn't (and didn't ever) touch in my drunkest state no matter how hard she tried.  Undesirable.  There were others where I thought, this might be a mistake, but the hell with it.  Desirable.  Just so I don't sound like too much of a *, it's worth noting that I ended up marrying one of them.  Wejust celebrated our 10 year anniversary this past October.

I can't give a like, a thanks, and a laughing emoji at the same time so i chose the laughing one but thanks, and i like it a lot.

[Moosejawcolt]

8 hours ago, Shive said:

Since you've been a vocal proponent of jettisoning Flus, and are again advocating for him leaving, who do you propose replaces him?

Oh its just not him. He can take this defensive philosophy with him. 

[Moosejawcolt]

21 hours ago, w87r said:

Wins and losses don't dictate being smart or not. Decisions do, and they have made bad decision after bad decision. Firing GM, not replacing him, giving GM spot to BOB, BOB trading Hop....

 

Way to show your continued support at the Colts though. 

Was listening to a previous GM this aft. He said because of the cap and each teams qb situations. There are only 3 teams in the Stafford hunt. Indy, NE and Denver. They feel that Detroit may tru to accomodate him. If I was Stafford would probably be the best choice.

[chad72]

7 minutes ago, Moosejawcolt said:

Oh its just not him. He can take this defensive philosophy with him. 

 

Spags with the Chiefs is known for getting good safeties and generating pressure with a good DL and good blanket coverage from lesser known corners.

 

Josh Allen looked like the early days Peyton Manning (except for his legs) trying to win it on his arm more often without a solid running game to keep Mahomes on the sidelines. The Bills' zone D also looked like the Dungy/Meeks/Frazier (oh well, we know who Frazier learned it from) against an elite QB being picked apart methodically. Just like we used to wait for Rivers or Brady to make that fatal mistake with our bend-AND-break-D in the playoffs against them.  

[Shive]

3 hours ago, Moosejawcolt said:

Oh its just not him. He can take this defensive philosophy with him. 

If Flus left for Houston, there would be a vacancy at DC. I didn't say anything about keeping the scheme. I'm just curious who, that's available, you would pick as our next DC.

[IinD]

3 hours ago, chad72 said:

 

Spags with the Chiefs is known for getting good safeties and generating pressure with a good DL and good blanket coverage from lesser known corners.

 

Josh Allen looked like the early days Peyton Manning (except for his legs) trying to win it on his arm more often without a solid running game to keep Mahomes on the sidelines. The Bills' zone D also looked like the Dungy/Meeks/Frazier (oh well, we know who Frazier learned it from) against an elite QB being picked apart methodically. Just like we used to wait for Rivers or Brady to make that fatal mistake with our bend-AND-break-D in the playoffs against them.  

I was thinking the same thing while watching. The Bills played very Colt like circa early/mid 00's.

 

Side note: One thing I have to throw out there about the game was how the # did Allen toss it out of the back of the endzone while falling out of bounds from MIDFIELD?? Not sure anyone remembers the play. I literally was like WOW..

[GoColts8818]

 

[GoColts8818]

And just like that ESPN is reporting they have hired Culley.  Flus stays.  

[John Waylon]

The Texans continue to be one of the most fascinating stories in all of sports. 
 

And not in a good way. Whatever is going on down there is out of the ordinary. 

[EastStreet]

6 minutes ago, John Waylon said:

The Texans continue to be one of the most fascinating stories in all of sports. 
 

And not in a good way. Whatever is going on down there is out of the ordinary. 

Why does this move continue to the "bad"?

I think this was a good strategic move by Caserio. 

 

[John Waylon]

52 minutes ago, EastStreet said:

Why does this move continue to the "bad"?

I think this was a good strategic move by Caserio. 

 

I’ve been reading these SI pieces on Easterby and his rise to power down there and something is just off about it. 
 

Easterby is a really strange figure. He’s cropped up through the years and there’s like a collective negative reaction from everyone. When the chatter of Brady and Bill breaking up started out for the very first time his name would come up and pretty much always suggested he was pushing Brady out. I saw it a ton on Twitter and Reddit which is where I first picked up on him. 
 

Once he went to the Texans and tried to hire Caserio the first time the Patriots took that personally. They filed tampering charges. To appease the Pats the Texans specifically agreed to stop trying to hire him. Now, they’ve hired him anyways.

 

Look at the way they’ve done Watson this offseason. They reportedly told him that his opinions would be factored into the big decisions. Only for that to just days later not happen. You don’t do that to your star quarterback. But they did. Why? Behind all the changes and all the drama what has been the one constant? Easterby. In his role to Cal McNair as a highly trusted advisor who is very involved in the organization. 
 

I believe Easterby is the one behind the Hopkins, and upcoming Watson deals because those two weren’t onboard with whatever it is he is. Those guys just got plucked and replaced bang-bang. 
 

It’s just curious all around. No other team has an executive that isn’t a GM that comes up as often in all of the big decisions. 
 

If it’s not bad it’s highly peculiar at best. Carelessly discarding guys like Hopkins and Watson isn’t how many would build a franchise.  

[crazycolt1]

4 minutes ago, John Waylon said:

I’ve been reading these SI pieces on Easterby and his rise to power down there and something is just off about it. 
 

Easterby is a really strange figure. He’s cropped up through the years and there’s like a collective negative reaction from everyone. When the chatter of Brady and Bill breaking up started out for the very first time his name would come up and pretty much always suggested he was pushing Brady out. I saw it a ton on Twitter and Reddit which is where I first picked up on him. 
 

Once he went to the Texans and tried to hire Caserio the first time the Patriots took that personally. They filed tampering charges. To appease the Pats the Texans specifically agreed to stop trying to hire him. Now, they’ve hired him anyways.

 

Look at the way they’ve done Watson this offseason. They reportedly told him that his opinions would be factored into the big decisions. Only for that to just days later not happen. You don’t do that to your star quarterback. But they did. Why? Behind all the changes and all the drama what has been the one constant? Easterby. In his role to Cal McNair as a highly trusted advisor who is very involved in the organization. 
 

I believe Easterby is the one behind the Hopkins, and upcoming Watson deals because those two weren’t onboard with whatever it is he is. Those guys just got plucked and replaced bang-bang. 
 

It’s just curious all around. No other team has an executive that isn’t a GM that comes up as often in all of the big decisions. 
 

If it’s not bad it’s highly peculiar at best. Carelessly discarding guys like Hopkins and Watson isn’t how many would build a franchise.  

If you are correct good for us. 

But cutting out O'Brian was start of cutting the cancer out. 

The rest is yet to be seen. 

[John Waylon]

8 minutes ago, crazycolt1 said:

If you are correct good for us. 

But cutting out O'Brian was start of cutting the cancer out. 

The rest is yet to be seen. 

I mean O’Brien was the last hurdle for him to clear, right? When he was hired he was given the reign. But as Easteby became more and more engrained to McNair it was clear that despite all of that the balance of power was shifting. I’m sure O’Brien was given a chance to be the head coach under Easterby, and that is ultimately why he signed on for the Hopkins trade, even though the writing was already on the wall. As soon as the season ended and the dominoes started falling who was pushing them? It’s not McNair... He’s just along for the ride. I think Easterby is giving him the instructions. 
 

Whatever it is down there, it’s out of the ordinary. 

[EastStreet]

27 minutes ago, John Waylon said:

I’ve been reading these SI pieces on Easterby and his rise to power down there and something is just off about it. 
 

Easterby is a really strange figure. He’s cropped up through the years and there’s like a collective negative reaction from everyone. When the chatter of Brady and Bill breaking up started out for the very first time his name would come up and pretty much always suggested he was pushing Brady out. I saw it a ton on Twitter and Reddit which is where I first picked up on him. 
 

Once he went to the Texans and tried to hire Caserio the first time the Patriots took that personally. They filed tampering charges. To appease the Pats the Texans specifically agreed to stop trying to hire him. Now, they’ve hired him anyways.

 

Look at the way they’ve done Watson this offseason. They reportedly told him that his opinions would be factored into the big decisions. Only for that to just days later not happen. You don’t do that to your star quarterback. But they did. Why? Behind all the changes and all the drama what has been the one constant? Easterby. In his role to Cal McNair as a highly trusted advisor who is very involved in the organization. 
 

I believe Easterby is the one behind the Hopkins, and upcoming Watson deals because those two weren’t onboard with whatever it is he is. Those guys just got plucked and replaced bang-bang. 
 

It’s just curious all around. No other team has an executive that isn’t a GM that comes up as often in all of the big decisions. 
 

If it’s not bad it’s highly peculiar at best. Carelessly discarding guys like Hopkins and Watson isn’t how many would build a franchise.  

IDK. Sounds like some folks are trying to create a boogie man. First it was O'Brien, now it's Easterby lol... 

 

And I don't think Houston treated DW bad. Allowing him to be part of the process, or weighing his input, doesn't automatically equate to doing what he says, or taking his suggestions. He's an employee, not the owner, and not part of FO management. We'll never know exactly what words were used, or what exactly the agreement was. Houston FO's intent may have been to simply keep him informed and allow him to give input. And honestly, a player shouldn't have more than that. To me, sound like he was kept informed, and was allowed to provide input. He was just unhappy when they hired the GM he didn't pick.

 

Anyway, it was Watson that went outside of the team and leaked and tweeted. That's diva behavior to me. Houston FO may have been bad, but DW wasn't in the right either. They just purged the FO, and have a new GM and HC. They should now cleanse the locker room too and use the picks to start fresh.

[crazycolt1]

5 hours ago, EastStreet said:

IDK. Sounds like some folks are trying to create a boogie man. First it was O'Brien, now it's Easterby lol... 

 

And I don't think Houston treated DW bad. Allowing him to be part of the process, or weighing his input, doesn't automatically equate to doing what he says, or taking his suggestions. He's an employee, not the owner, and not part of FO management. We'll never know exactly what words were used, or what exactly the agreement was. Houston FO's intent may have been to simply keep him informed and allow him to give input. And honestly, a player shouldn't have more than that. To me, sound like he was kept informed, and was allowed to provide input. He was just unhappy when they hired the GM he didn't pick.

 

Anyway, it was Watson that went outside of the team and leaked and tweeted. That's diva behavior to me. Houston FO may have been bad, but DW wasn't in the right either. They just purged the FO, and have a new GM and HC. They should now cleanse the locker room too and use the picks to start fresh.

This is what I was referring to with an earlier opinion.

The Texan's are Watson's team. He can either run, or he can lead. 

 

[Shive]

8 hours ago, John Waylon said:

I’ve been reading these SI pieces on Easterby and his rise to power down there and something is just off about it. 

From everything I've read about him, he's viewed as essentially a snake-oil salesman. He was a team chaplain, then a "character coach" for the Patriots, and now he's the Texans' VP Of Football Operations. Not to steer the discussion towards religion, but it seems as though he wields his faith as a tool to manipulate, very similar to how a cult leader does. Here's an SI piece on him that does a good job illustrating how this guy works: https://www.si.com/nfl/2021/01/16/texans-chaos-deshaun-watson-unhappy-how-jack-easterby-kept-his-job

 

8 hours ago, EastStreet said:

IDK. Sounds like some folks are trying to create a boogie man. First it was O'Brien, now it's Easterby lol... 

I think BoB was the face of the disfunction that we saw, but I don't know that he was the driving force behind it. There's no way you have a guy like Andre Johnson come out and say the things he's said about Easterby if there's not something there. One of the quietest, keeps to himself star WR's ever...

 

Quote

And I don't think Houston treated DW bad. Allowing him to be part of the process, or weighing his input, doesn't automatically equate to doing what he says, or taking his suggestions. He's an employee, not the owner, and not part of FO management. We'll never know exactly what words were used, or what exactly the agreement was. Houston FO's intent may have been to simply keep him informed and allow him to give input. And honestly, a player shouldn't have more than that. To me, sound like he was kept informed, and was allowed to provide input. He was just unhappy when they hired the GM he didn't pick.

The problem isn't whether or not he should have input as a player. It's that he was told specifically by the owner Cal McNair that he wanted Watson's input and for him to be involved in the process, just to turn around and completely block him out of the process. Had he not expressly told Watson those things, I don't think it would be much of an issue. You can't solicit the input of your star player, then tell him to kick rocks, because this is the kind of strife that happens as a result.

[John Waylon]

7 hours ago, EastStreet said:

IDK. Sounds like some folks are trying to create a boogie man. First it was O'Brien, now it's Easterby lol... 

 

And I don't think Houston treated DW bad. Allowing him to be part of the process, or weighing his input, doesn't automatically equate to doing what he says, or taking his suggestions. He's an employee, not the owner, and not part of FO management. We'll never know exactly what words were used, or what exactly the agreement was. Houston FO's intent may have been to simply keep him informed and allow him to give input. And honestly, a player shouldn't have more than that. To me, sound like he was kept informed, and was allowed to provide input. He was just unhappy when they hired the GM he didn't pick.

 

Anyway, it was Watson that went outside of the team and leaked and tweeted. That's diva behavior to me. Houston FO may have been bad, but DW wasn't in the right either. They just purged the FO, and have a new GM and HC. They should now cleanse the locker room too and use the picks to start fresh.

I dunno. His rise to power from starting out as a team Chaplin in New England is weird. The way he got to the Texans is weird. He works his way into the inner circle of the ailing owner’s heir, he’s been given a host of titles and promotions all the way up the ladder, but yet when the guy’s name comes up even football writers seem skeptical of him. 
 

Even Andre Johnson has put him direct in the crosshairs, and Hopkins endorsed it just this month. 
 

There is plenty of trepidation around Easterby. 

[Dogg63]

9 hours ago, John Waylon said:

It’s just curious all around. No other team has an executive that isn’t a GM that comes up as often in all of the big decisions. 
 

If it’s not bad it’s highly peculiar at best. Carelessly discarding guys like Hopkins and Watson isn’t how many would build a franchise.  

Easterby was also reported to be the reason the Texans fired their award winning VP of Communications, Amy Palcic last November. 

 

That upset JJ Watt, who voiced his displeasure loudly. There were dozens of incredulous posts, stories, and comments from journalists and players, too. Nobody could understand this crazy move. Then Easterby's name popped up as the driving force. Apparently she wasn't buying his snake oil, so she got fired.

 

I suppose Eaststreet will disparage JJ as just playing the diva too. I disagree.

 

Watson, Watt, Andre, and Amy Palcic all see through the charlatan and have taken their stance against his nonsense. Good for them!

[John Waylon]

1 hour ago, Shive said:

From everything I've read about him, he's viewed as essentially a snake-oil salesman. He was a team chaplain, then a "character coach" for the Patriots, and now he's the Texans' VP Of Football Operations. Not to steer the discussion towards religion, but it seems as though he wields his faith as a tool to manipulate, very similar to how a cult leader does. Here's an SI piece on him that does a good job illustrating how this guy works: https://www.si.com/nfl/2021/01/16/texans-chaos-deshaun-watson-unhappy-how-jack-easterby-kept-his-job

 

I think BoB was the face of the disfunction that we saw, but I don't know that he was the driving force behind it. There's no way you have a guy like Andre Johnson come out and say the things he's said about Easterby if there's not something there. One of the quietest, keeps to himself star WR's ever...

 

The problem isn't whether or not he should have input as a player. It's that he was told specifically by the owner Cal McNair that he wanted Watson's input and for him to be involved in the process, just to turn around and completely block him out of the process. Had he not expressly told Watson those things, I don't think it would be much of an issue. You can't solicit the input of your star player, then tell him to kick rocks, because this is the kind of strife that happens as a result.

Oh yeah, I’ve read both of the SI Easterby features. More than once lol. Like I said, this is a guy I was hearing about 5 years ago or so when the Brady breakup rumors first started as a source of division in the Patriots organization. I thought that was so out of the ordinary for the Patriots to have a guy who wasn’t a coach or an executive whose name kept popping up when describing the growing rift(s) within the organization. 
 

Somehow he got hooked up with McNair and he’s actually had a bunch of different job titles with the Texans, but all indications are that these major decisions are all being influenced by him, and him alone. 
 

The hiring of Culley is definitely curious. The Ravens WR coach. The Ravens aren’t exactly known for having a stellar receiving corps. I talked to a die hard Ravens fan last night about him and he is indifferent to his departure at best. He told me that before coming to Baltimore Culley was in Kansas City in the same role the season the Chiefs went without a WR scoring a TD. 
 

It really feels like this hire, and the Caserio one are because those guys are going to know their roles under him because they’ve bought the snake oil memberships from him. 
 

And you brought up Andre Johnson about the same time I did. He’s been kind of a goodwill ambassador for the Texans in recent years, but even he’s raising the red flags as far as Easterby is concerned. 
 

And you nailed it on Watson. McNair had told him that he would be involved in the process. Right or wrong is for conjecture. But McNair told him that he would be involved. Only to days later start making decisions that were news to Watson when they broke. They literally lied right to his face in real-time. When was the last time a team jerked their legitimate All Pro quarterback around like that? When was the last time a quarterback of Watson’s status went from being the franchise cornerstone at the end of the season to officially requesting a trade less than a month later? (Watson has made it officially official this morning.)

 

And what has been the one thing constantly mentioned in connection with all of it?

 

Easterby. 
 

See? It’s an easily fascinating story once you start peeling the layers of the onion away. 

 

30 minutes ago, Dogg63 said:

Easterby was also reported to be the reason the Texans fired their award winning VP of Communications, Amy Palcic last November. 

 

That upset JJ Watt, who voiced his displeasure loudly. There were dozens of incredulous posts, stories, and comments from journalists and players, too. Nobody could understand this crazy move. Then Easterby's name popped up as the driving force. Apparently she wasn't buying his snake oil, so she got fired.

 

I suppose Eaststreet will disparage JJ as just playing the diva too. I disagree.

 

Watson, Watt, Andre, and Amy Palcic all see through the charlatan and have taken their stance against his nonsense. Good for them!

 

The Palcic case is definitely weird, too. When that happened many in the media who worked with her through the years cited her as one of the better PR folks to deal with in the league.
 

Despite that she was just out of the blue fired one day. Because she was “no longer a cultural fit”. I mean a PR office has a lot of diverse tasks, but I don’t think conforming to a “cultural fit” is one of them. The PR office doesn’t have enough to do with actual football operations to need to fit anything. 
 

Last I heard she was considering legal action over the termination. 
 

It’s just another one of those instances where Easterby’s name comes up, and there’s a negative aura around it. 

[John Waylon]

https://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2021/01/28/some-think-david-culley-is-a-bridge-to-josh-mccown/

 

Interesting take. McCown was a surprising candidate when his name entered the conversation. Maybe he’s bought in, but they’re going to play it slow with him and focus on building him up to speed rather than try to get him to hit the ground running. 
 

I also was not aware that Culley was 65 until seeing that piece, and that got me to finally do a little looking into him of my own. A 65 year old position coach who has no head coaching experience of any kind (I’m not willing to count his stays as an assistant because that’s usually just a title and little else,) who came out of the deep, deep weeds to jump candidates like Eberflus and Bieniemy to the surprise of, well, the entire world. 
 

I’m willing to entertain the idea that he’s just a prop coach for McCown. At this point I feel like anyone who isn’t a prop to Easterby, or at least willing to try to be is getting rooted out of the organization. 
 

Curiouser and curiouser. 

[Shive]

11 minutes ago, John Waylon said:

https://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2021/01/28/some-think-david-culley-is-a-bridge-to-josh-mccown/

 

Interesting take. McCown was a surprising candidate when his name entered the conversation. Maybe he’s bought in, but they’re going to play it slow with him and focus on building him up to speed rather than try to get him to hit the ground running. 
 

I also was not aware that Culley was 65 until seeing that piece, and that got me to finally do a little looking into him of my own. A 65 year old position coach who has no head coaching experience of any kind (I’m not willing to count his stays as an assistant because that’s usually just a title and little else,) who came out of the deep, deep weeds to jump candidates like Eberflus and Bieniemy to the surprise of, well, the entire world. 
 

I’m willing to entertain the idea that he’s just a prop coach for McCown. At this point I feel like anyone who isn’t a prop to Easterby, or at least willing to try to be is getting rooted out of the organization. 
 

Curiouser and curiouser. 

It's a very weird move, if true, and I can almost understand such a ridiculous thing to be pulled by someone with no football experience like Easterby. The thing that gets me is Caserio is the GM and by all accounts, an extremely well regarded, intelligent FO guy. Maybe Easterby's influence is just that great? I don't want to delve too deep into conspiracy theory-like territory, but it's just such an odd situation down there...

[krunk]

Looks like Lovie Smith is going to be their DC.

 

So theyll be switching over to Tampa 2 as well im sure.

 

 

https://www.houstonchronicle.com/texas-sports-nation/texans/article/Texans-interview-Lovie-Smith-for-staff-position-15904007.php

[krunk]

And theyve hired Pep Hamilton as QB coach

[EastStreet]

On 1/28/2021 at 6:18 AM, crazycolt1 said:

This is what I was referring to with an earlier opinion.

The Texan's are Watson's team. He can either run, or he can lead. 

 

Sounding more and more like he's not interested in working things out, so sounds like run to me.

This has an NBA feel to it, and IMO, might be cancerous to the NFL. 

If I'm Houston, I play hardball, act like I'm not willing to trade, keep the price up, but in the end, take the best offer. The capital they can get for him makes a rebuild very quick, cleanses the locker room, and give you a lot of key pieces on rook contracts. 

[EastStreet]

On 1/28/2021 at 8:51 AM, Shive said:

From everything I've read about him, he's viewed as essentially a snake-oil salesman. He was a team chaplain, then a "character coach" for the Patriots, and now he's the Texans' VP Of Football Operations. Not to steer the discussion towards religion, but it seems as though he wields his faith as a tool to manipulate, very similar to how a cult leader does. Here's an SI piece on him that does a good job illustrating how this guy works: https://www.si.com/nfl/2021/01/16/texans-chaos-deshaun-watson-unhappy-how-jack-easterby-kept-his-job

LOL, I think the cult leader stuff is over the top. Do you expect a pastor to lose all elements of that life when conducting business. I sure don't. Do you think Kraft and Belichick are dumb enough to be manipulated, or sucked into a cult. I sure don't. 

 

On 1/28/2021 at 8:51 AM, Shive said:

I think BoB was the face of the disfunction that we saw, but I don't know that he was the driving force behind it. There's no way you have a guy like Andre Johnson come out and say the things he's said about Easterby if there's not something there. One of the quietest, keeps to himself star WR's ever...

Johnson has been out of the org for a while, so likely limited to hearing only from players. And like he said, he's friends with Hopkins and Watson, so not shocked at all to see a player supporting a player. IMO, Easterby is likely bringing the Pats personnel management style to Houston, which we all know the Pats personnel system is pure business and less player friendly. Belichick has always been seen to be one of the more ruthless guys in that area, but doesn't get criticized simply because of the success. 

On 1/28/2021 at 8:51 AM, Shive said:

 

The problem isn't whether or not he should have input as a player. It's that he was told specifically by the owner Cal McNair that he wanted Watson's input and for him to be involved in the process, just to turn around and completely block him out of the process. Had he not expressly told Watson those things, I don't think it would be much of an issue. You can't solicit the input of your star player, then tell him to kick rocks, because this is the kind of strife that happens as a result.

But he was allowed to give input. The article you linked even says he had multiple calls with leadership on the topic. To me, sounds like he simply didn't get the output he wanted. And again, input doesn't equate to "decision maker". It mean simply input. He gave input. That's not being told to kick rocks. 

[Shive]

30 minutes ago, EastStreet said:

LOL, I think the cult leader stuff is over the top. Do you expect a pastor to lose all elements of that life when conducting business. I sure don't. Do you think Kraft and Belichick are dumb enough to be manipulated, or sucked into a cult. I sure don't. 

I'm not saying they were sucked into a cult, nor that he's a cult leader, just that he wields his faith as a tool to manipulate. Think more of a televangelist...

 

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Johnson has been out of the org for a while, so likely limited to hearing only from players. And like he said, he's friends with Hopkins and Watson, so not shocked at all to see a player supporting a player.

Johnson was a special adviser to the general manager, coach, and scouting department in 2019, up until August 2020, and still remains with the Texans as a team ambassador at community outreach events. He's been working closely within the organization and mainly the FO. It's not just hearsay from players.

 

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IMO, Easterby is likely bringing the Pats personnel management style to Houston, which we all know the Pats personnel system is pure business and less player friendly. Belichick has always been seen to be one of the more ruthless guys in that area, but doesn't get criticized simply because of the success. 

I highly doubt that since the guy had never been in any sort of football-related role to even understand the Pats personnel management, it's not him bringing it there that is rubbing people the wrong way. He was elevated from a glorified motivational speaker to VP of Football Operations. By all accounts, he's the sole problem there.

 

To add to this:

 

 

The follow-up in his latest Senior Bowl piece said:

"Easterby is alleged to have sent texts like an abusive lover to this agent’s client but after he got no response Easterby took the time out of his day to then text the player's mother to let her know how concerned he was with the player's life choices. Seriously."

[EastStreet]

16 minutes ago, Shive said:

I'm not saying they were sucked into a cult, nor that he's a cult leader, just that he wields his faith as a tool to manipulate. Think more of a televangelist...

 

Johnson was a special adviser to the general manager, coach, and scouting department in 2019, up until August 2020, and still remains with the Texans as a team ambassador at community outreach events. He's been working closely within the organization and mainly the FO. It's not just hearsay from players.

 

I highly doubt that since the guy had never been in any sort of football-related role to even understand the Pats personnel management, it's not him bringing it there that is rubbing people the wrong way. He was elevated from a glorified motivational speaker to VP of Football Operations. By all accounts, he's the sole problem there.

 

To add to this:

 

 

The follow-up in his latest Senior Bowl piece said:

"Easterby is alleged to have sent texts like an abusive lover to this agent’s client but after he got no response Easterby took the time out of his day to then text the player's mother to let her know how concerned he was with the player's life choices. Seriously."

I've only seen Johnson's involvement be in team outreach. Regardless, doubt he's had involvement at a leadership perspective. It's funny to be honest that he was hired under Easterby's watch.. And Watson got his huge contract under Easterby. And Easterby took the opportunity to overtly oooze about Watson. 

 

Not saying he's good or bad, I'm just not going to put a lot of stock into a few players, nor agents. Or the "anonymous" sources... At the end of the day, Watson going outside the team was uncalled for. Leaking and tweeting is diva-ish to me. He could have kept it inside, and still achieved what he wants (leaving or staying). He chose to air the drama.

 

Overall, I give zero fudges who Houston chooses to have in the FO. At the end of the day, he was part of Kraft and BB's inner circle. As was Caserio. To suggest they are not attempting to bring the Pats brand of team management or model, is ignoring a lot of obvious things. 

[Shive]

25 minutes ago, EastStreet said:

I've only seen Johnson's involvement be in team outreach. Regardless, doubt he's had involvement at a leadership perspective. It's funny to be honest that he was hired under Easterby's watch.. And Watson got his huge contract under Easterby. And Easterby took the opportunity to overtly oooze about Watson. 

 

Not saying he's good or bad, I'm just not going to put a lot of stock into a few players, nor agents. Or the "anonymous" sources... At the end of the day, Watson going outside the team was uncalled for. Leaking and tweeting is diva-ish to me. He could have kept it inside, and still achieved what he wants (leaving or staying). He chose to air the drama.

 

Overall, I give zero fudges who Houston chooses to have in the FO. At the end of the day, he was part of Kraft and BB's inner circle. As was Caserio. To suggest they are not attempting to bring the Pats brand of team management or model, is ignoring a lot of obvious things. 

I think this is something we'll just have to agree to disagree on.