It’s the Hard Knocks life for coaches, club
Team owner Bob McNair and general manager Rick Smith seemed in full agreement that the Texans’ playing a starring role in this summer’s “Hard Knocks” series — produced by NFL Films and shown on HBO — can actually benefit the franchise without harming the team’s prospects for returning to the playoffs.
“We’ll function as we always do,” Smith promised, saying the Texans “trust (HBO and NFL Films) implicitly that we’ll be well-represented.”
Ken Rodgers, supervising producer for NFL Films, said the show’s “first goal is to deliver great television, and the second is to stay out of the way.” He called the show’s footprint “super small” and said, “We’re interested in documentary truth. We’ll show what happens honestly and fully. The teams that have been on the show in the past have been happy because it’s the truth. It’s about what happened in camp.”
The popular prime-time show debuted in 2001 and has aired every summer since 2007, except for the lockout year in 2011.
The teams that have previously been the focus of “Hard Knocks” went on to post a combined 73-71 record. Four reached the playoffs — the Cincinnati Bengals did so twice — and five didn’t. The most recent five teams all improved their records from the previous season.
Still, it’s unclear whether Bill O’Brien is fully on board with the project. O’Brien loathes intrusions and distractions even more than most coaches.
McNair and Smith held a news conference with Rodgers and NFL Films director Matt Dissinger to explain the decision to grant HBO inside access to the triumphs, trials and tribulations of the upcoming training camp. O’Brien unavailable to media
Could O’Brien have been “voicing” his displeasure by declining to make himself available to the media following the Texans’ first day of offseason practice Wednesday?
McNair deftly dodged the question, saying, “We had discussions about it. The main thing is that we’re not going to be doing anything that’s going to give any of our opponents a competitive advantage, and NFL Films understands this. I think we’re all comfortable with (the decision).”
He predicted the emotive, salty-tongued O’Brien will be right in his element when the tape is rolling.
“Bill’s a great coach,” McNair said, “and a great personality.”
Further, McNair believes putting the Texans on center stage will benefit not only his franchise but also the NFL at large, given all the negatives the league has confronted of late, from the Ray Rice and Adrian Peterson black eyes through “Deflategate” and, most recently, Ray McDonald’s latest arrest.
“The last year has not been the best year for public relations for the NFL,” McNair said. “Our team has not had the kind of problems that have existed with many teams. I think it’s a wonderful opportunity for the rest of the country to see that we’ve got a first-class group of players and coaches. This is the way we’d like to see the game presented. I think it’s something that will be very positive — and not just for us, but for the league. I’m quite proud of our players and the way they do represent us.”
McNair added that he believes the timing is especially good for the Texans.
“I think our franchise is ready to make a big move,” he said. “I think it’s an interesting (way) for people around the country to see what’s happening with our franchise.”
The series debuts Tuesday, Aug. 11, at 9 p.m. Watt a star attraction
The star attraction from the get-go figures to be reigning Defensive Player of the Year J.J. Watt, whom McNair called “almost the face of the league and definitely the face of our franchise.”
Watt reacted positively to the news but sounded nonplussed about becoming an even larger multimedia celebrity than he is.
“We’ll use it as an opportunity to show what our team is about, the hardworking guys that we have and some of the great personalities,” he said. “It’s happening, so we’ll handle it.”
Rodgers said the positive experience of following the Atlanta Falcons to Houston during the 2014 training camp influenced the network’s decision to chronicle the Texans this summer. He recalled “the energy” of the fans who attended the open workouts, saying: “You can feel it through the microphones and cameras. You can feel that the players are amped up with the fans out there.
“We’ve rarely seen a camp as exciting as the one when we came last year. Our couple days here really helped cement the fact that this is a great city and a great franchise to cover.”
Dissinger will head up a crew of about 30, broken into “five or six groups of two or three people. We also have up to eight robotic cameras that we place in the coaches’ offices. What eventually happens inevitably in every one of these camps is that we blend into the background, and at some point between weeks one and two, inevitably a coach or player will say, ‘Man, I don’t even notice you guys are around anymore.’
“Once you get to that level of comfort and relaxation and trust, I think that’s when people let their guard down and can’t help but act naturally.”
Left tackle Duane Brown admitted he’s curious to see how the filming impacts practices and meetings. But he also said emphatically: “We’re not here to put on a show or be entertainers. We’re here to win football games.”