If the Houston Texans continued on course and had followed the recommendation of research firm Korn Ferry, they would probably have hired Pittsburgh Steelers vice president of football and business administration Omar Khan as their next CEO, they said. informed league sources on ESPN.
Khan and ESPN Monday Night Football analyst Louis Riddick were the two finalists before Texans owner Cal McNair changed his mind, ignoring the research company’s recommendation that he paid hundreds of thousands of dollars to make weeks of work and hired former New England Patriots player director Nick Caserio staff, sources said.
Several people from the Texan organization, including quarterback Deshaun Watson, were upset about how Houston’s search took a sudden and unexpected turn, hiring a man Korn Ferry did not include in his list of candidates.
Watson is said to be furious at the decision, and so are others, and some say there will be employees who will end up leaving the organization during the off-season.
Watson is on vacation and McNair said he hopes to talk to the quarterback once he returns. But how this will happen, if it happens, remains uncertain. Some in the league believe Watson could choose to retain his services this season. Watson has not commented on that option, but others insist it will be at stake.
A person who knows Watson said this week that after the Texans changed the Pro Bowl receiver to DeAndre Hopkins last season, the quarterback’s level of anger was “a 2. … This time, it’s a 10. “