Gaine follows the book when it comes to personnel
General manager learned plenty under Parcell’s guidance
Bill Parcells was a true believer in his personal scouting blueprint, a manual derived from many sources of information and experiences.
It didn’t leave a lot of wiggle room in his evaluation of football talent.
His ideal player: game-wrecking, ferociously dominant, Hall of Fame New York Giants outside linebacker Lawrence Taylor.
Parcells wanted his players to be bigger, stronger, faster and tougher than the competition. He sought a marriage between instincts and ability. He made a few exceptions for wild cards in terms of off-field character like Taylor, but only if they gave everything they had on the field.
A legendary scout, Bucko Kilroy, once instructed Parcells to eliminate from consideration players who didn’t fit the mold, saying, “Well, they’re good but they’re not good for us.”
In the biography, “Parcells: A Football Life” Parcells recalled a reminder from the late Dallas Cowboys coach Tom Landry: “Bill, do not draft exceptions, or pretty soon, you’re going to have a team of exceptions.”
Meaning, too many overachievers or players who are undersized or slower than ideal or poorly behaved will eventually lead to losing.
An overachiever
The Parcells book of scouting is instructive background about the Texans as they enter their first draft under the direction of new general manager Brian Gaine.
Gaine is a devoted Parcells disciple who learned under the retired head coach and personnel boss with the New York Jets, Dallas Cowboys and Miami Dolphins. Gaine was a practice squad tight end in the NFL after a standout small-school career at Maine who bulked up to 250 pounds playing for future Iowa coach Kirk Ferentz after arriving on campus at roughly 6-4 and 200 pounds.
“I would use the word ‘overachievement,’ No. 1,” Gaine said at the NFL scouting combine when asked for his personal scouting report.
It’s an extremely safe bet that Gaine won’t be seeking too many overachievers like himself as he oversees his first draft as a rookie personnel boss. After many years in draft rooms operating in a lieutenant capacity, Gaine is now in charge working in tandem with coach Bill O’Brien.
Gaine’s playing career was based largely on his blue-collar work ethic. As a scouting executive, the New Jersey native is the same way.
He absorbed a ton of knowledge from Parcells.
“Just having the opportunity to work under Bill was a great opportunity and I learned a ton from Bill about how the coaches mesh with the scouting end, how coaching meshes with the personnel end, how to build a championship roster, what those core positions are, how to evaluate through the eyes of what the coaches are looking for,” Gaine said. “But the most important thing I would say was learning about football program, football culture and what that looks like.”
Gaine drew heavy praise from Parcells when he got the job. Parcells is a gruff, blunt-spoken type who isn’t loose with his compliments.
“Brian’s a smart guy who’s paid his dues,” Parcells said this week from his home in Florida. “He’s got a lot of experience, and I think he’ll do real well. He’s got the background that should allow him to make the kind of decisions that’ll need to be made.”
The Parcells philosophy is built around taking the best player available, even at a seemingly stacked position.
Years ago when Parcells was coaching the New York Giants, they drafted Michigan State linebacker Carl Banks third overall even though they already had Lawrence Taylor and Brad Van Pelt on the roster.
Banks eventually emerged as a foundation of the Giants’ defense.
A good plan
“Sometimes, you think you have more than what you need at a certain position, but usually that stuff works itself out one way or the other,” New England Patriots coach Bill Belichick told New England reporters several years ago in discussing Parcells’ scouting adages. “If you get an injury or two, which inevitably happens in this sport, it looks like an extra guy that you don’t need ends up being a valuable guy. I learned that at the Giants. We had drafted Lawrence Taylor. We had Brad Van Pelt, and we took Carl Banks And that pick was crucified. ‘What a stupid pick.
“Why would you take Carl Banks? What could you do with him? Just sit there and watch while the other two guys play?’ Carl Banks and Lawrence Taylor were really the two bookends to that defense all through the ’80s and took us to a lot of victories and two Super Bowl championships.”
Although the Texans have glaring needs at tight end, offensive line and, to a lesser extent, safety and wide receiver, it’s doubtful that Gaine would pass on a gifted, big, tough athlete regardless of position.
“The most important ingredient is as a team, we want to get bigger, longer and stronger, and that’s our intent here in how we’re going to build our business model and the types of players and the body types that we want to add to our football team,” Gaine said.