If the Houston Texans had continued the course and followed the recommendation of search engine Korn Ferry, they would probably have hired Pittsburgh Steelers vice president of football and business administration Omar Khan as their next CEO, they told ESPN league sources.
Khan and ESPN Monday Night Football analyst Louis Riddick, both minority candidates, were the two finalists before Texan owner Cal McNair changed his mind, ignoring the search company’s recommendation that he paid hundreds of thousands of dollars to do weeks of work. and hired former New England Patriots player director Nick Caserio, sources said.
Several people in the Texan organization, including quarterback Deshaun Watson, were upset by the way Houston’s search took a sudden and unexpected turn, hiring a man whom Korn Ferry did not include on his list of candidates.
Watson is said to be angry about the decision, and others are just as well, with some saying there will be employees leaving the organization during the season.
Watson is on vacation, and McNair said he expects to talk to the defender after he returns. But how it will work, if it happens, remains uncertain. Some in the entire league believe that Watson may choose to retain his services this season. Watson has not commented on this option, but others insist he will be in the game.
A person who knows Watson said this week that after the Texans traded Pro Bowl receiver DeAndre Hopkins out of last season, the defender’s level of anger was “a 2. … This time, it’s a 10. “