The Texans' current division of power -- in which coach Bill O'Brien and general manager Rick Smith each share duties of overseeing the roster and report to owner Bob McNair separately -- is virtually certain to change next season. The current setup is seen as flawed and untenable and has led to growing fractions within the team's headquarters, sources said, and while it's possible both men remain with the floundering franchise next season, doing so in their current capacities is remote at best.
While much has been made over a recent roster situation with since-released backup quarterback Ryan Mallett, that situation was relatively minor in scope and did not involve any significant issues between O'Brien and Smith.
However, O'Brien is used to a model from New England in which the coach expects to control much of what goes on in the building, and while O'Brien currently carries a great degree of say in personnel matters, numerous sources with knowledge of the dynamics at play in this front office have believed it was only a matter of time before changes occurred in how decisions are made for the Texans. Their disastrous start to the season has only intensified the friction, and McNair will have a decision to make for 2016 about their duties and roles for next season.
Smith is beloved within the organization -- McNair thinks very highly of him and has been one of his strongest supporters through a long tenure with Houston. In situations similar to this in the past (like recently with the Eagles and Chip Kelly) it is not uncommon to see a general manager remain with the team but with a different role as a team president, etc. O'Brien is among the higher-paid coaches in the NFL; parting with him after just two years might not be palatable to the owner. Continuing to operate as they currently are might not make sense given the dire situation in which this team finds itself just halfway into the season.
"It's gone from a slow drip to a water fall," said one source of the divide between coach and general manager.
Some form of change is inevitable, and there are already split allegiances in the team facility between some who are closer to O'Brien and many who predate him there and have worked closely with Smith. O'Brien is a proponent of Texans director of player personnel Brian Gaine, and also thinks highly of Tampa personnel exec Jon Robinson, whom he worked with in New England. If given the opportunity to chose a general manager, those two would be considered strong candidates.
Opening the season on Hard Knocks and stumbling out of the gate -- with O'Brien's curious decision to bench Hoyer prior to the fourth quarter of the opening game raising eyebrows in other corridors of the organization -- have only heightened an awkward situation. "It's become a highly political landscape," is how one source described it.
McNair's discontent has grown by the week, with this team harboring playoff ambitions this season and buttressed by playing in the worst division in football. The embarrassing actions of Mallett again last week, missing the charter flight this time, have focused even more attention on the inner workings of this organization.
O'Brien, who was responsible for bringing the troubled quarterback to Houston in the first place (O'Brien has had a strong voice in player acquisitions since arriving and even more so on the offensive side of the ball) and who coached Mallett in New England, wanted to cut him after learning he has missed the flight, as reported in the Houston Chronicle.
However, sources said Smith, when alerted to the situation, did not argue with the coach over the matter, and there was no clash, but Smith explained that the deadline to add a quarterback to the roster -- 4 pm ET Saturday -- made it impossible to complete a corresponding transaction, and Houston would be left with just Brian Hoyer for Sunday's game at Miami.
After grousing about going to a single-wing formation or using a receiver as a back-up quarterback, O'Brien quickly agreed that releasing Mallett at that time would be counterproductive. More divisive would be the matter of why Mallett was signed in the first place given all of his red flags going back to college, and then quickly re-handed the starting job so soon into the season. And regardless, the Mallett release becoming a national story has only added to the turmoil, thrusting McNair into a position of likely having to chose this offseason.
