On Thursday, the Houston Texans announced the signing of their fifth general manager in franchise history, Nick Caserio.
After 20 seasons in New England, Caserio brings his versatility and mix of front office and coaching experience to the Texans organization. He served a number of roles for Bill Belichick and the Patriots and is credited as being "one of the architects of the Super Bowl XLIX, Super Bowl LI and Super Bowl LIII Champion New England Patriots." Since 2008, he's been New England's Director of Player Personnel.
"There's no question this is a really big loss for the Patriots," Boston Globe writer Ben Volin said in an interview with Texans Radio. "And I would argue, as big of a loss as they've had over the years of all their coaches and executives that have gone on to other teams. Bill O'Brien, Matt Patricia, Brian Flores, they've been able to replace these guys and still win championships. But Nick Caserio is a really integral part of the operation as Bill Belichick's right-hand man. This is a guy that really runs the front office. He's the director of player personnel, but he's basically the de facto GM. Bill Belichick is still the man in charge."
Caserio was an integral part of the NFL Draft process for the Patriots, from running the draft to addressing the media afterwards. In free agency, Caserio did a lot of the negotiating, particularly for "mid-tier level guys," according to Volin. And, it was Caserio's signature on many of the player contracts.
In 2007, Caserio stepped in as the Patriots wide receivers coach after a three-year stint as the team's director of pro personnel (2004-06). As a former four-year starting quarterback at John Carroll University, Caserio could often be seen throwing the ball at Patriots practice, during Tuesday free agent tryouts or even during college pre-draft workouts.
Most intriguing of all might be Caserio's role on game days in New England, adding another level of versatility to his background and how he worked with his former coaching staff.
"He would sit in the coach's press box and be the spotter for (offensive coordinator) Josh McDaniels, telling him, 'It's second-and-7, ball is on the thirty-six. Defense is bringing in an extra nickel defender,'" Volin said. "So he's just done a little bit of everything for them and it's such a valuable piece of the organization. We talk here about how are the Patriots going to replace him? They're going to need to hire three or four different guys because he just did so many different things with Patriots."
The Houston Texans have hired Nick Caserio as the team's fifth general manager.
