As noted in this post from over a month ago, one of the worse-kept secrets in Houston sports circles over the past several months is that Houston Texans General Manager Charlie Casserly would — take your pick — either resign or be fired after the completion of the annual NFL Draft of college players in April. This Megan Manfull/Chronicle article today confirms that Casserly is gone.
Inasmuch as the Texans on-field performance over the club’s first four seasons has been the poorest of any recent NFL expansion franchise, the fact that Casserly is being shown the door is not a surprise to anyone except the Chronicle. For some reason, Chronicle NFL columnist John McClain has been maintaining the facade that Casserly’s leaving is voluntary when there is a strong probability that it is not. “There have been reports that Casserly will be fired, which isn’t true,” writes McClain. “If he leaves, it will be his decision.”
H’mm. Apparently it never occurred to McClain that the eminently classy Texans owner Bob McNair might be willing to throw Casserly a bone by allowing him to say that his leaving is voluntary rather than a firing. The fact that McClain’s relationship with Casserly apparently does not allow him even to acknowledge that possibility reveals that he really shouldn’t be writing about the matter in the first place.
Update: McClain won’t give up on his theory that Casserly was not pushed out, even though there is little question that Casserly’s contract — which had only a year left on it — would not have been renewed.