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August 7, 2025 • 12 mins
Houston Texans General Manager Nick Caserio joins Wex and AC to talk about the C.J. Gardner-Johnson injury, the status of offensive line, his relationship with DeMeco Ryans and more! Plus, does the Texans GM have a favorite Wrestlemania moment with the G.O.A.T. Hulk Hogan?
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Episode Transcript

Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:01):
Eighteen continues here on a Thursday afternoon. Adam Wexley, Adam
Clanton here with you, and a real pleasure for both
of us to bring in the Texans general manager here
to the program, Nick Cassario, as the team wraps up
their fourth day of practice at the Greenbrier, the resort
there and sul For Springs, West Virginia. Nick, really appreciate
you taking a little bit of time to spend here
with us and our listeners, and unfortunately, with what happened

(00:25):
in practice today, that is where we will begin. It's
not what anybody wants to see. Demiko obviously addressed it
a little bit with the media that was there earlier today.
But just some thoughts from you on CJ. Gardner Johnson
and the injury today at practice.

Speaker 2 (00:39):
Yeah, first off, appreciate you guys having us great to
be here. Yeah, as far as practice is concerned, I
would say with CD, we're still working through that here
a little bit. I mean, anything once that happens in practice,
something like that happens in practice, everybody, you know, kind
of assumes the worst, and you know your thoughts are
with the player, and you know, I think our team

(01:00):
is a very connected team, and you saw that, and
everybody is concerned. So you know, we'll get through the
afternoon here, try to give them more information. Don't necessarily
have anything to confirm right now, but you know, we'll
see what the outcome is. I mean, hopefully it's positive,
and whatever the situation is, we'll deal with it accordingly.
But you know, Seedy has been great to have with

(01:21):
the team, and you know, hopefully we're moving in the
right direction here. You know, well, we'll get more information
here from our medical folks over the next you know,
twenty four hours or so.

Speaker 3 (01:30):
Well, and obviously the individual is of the utmost concern,
But then just the fact that if you have if
you have him out for any significant period of time,
you're talking about a blow to a defense that was
already going to be fantastic. And I know you guys
were dying to see what he could add to what
was already an elite level side of the football.

Speaker 2 (01:50):
Yeah, I mean, we feel like we have a number
of players in that side of the ball that can
help us, a number of players that have experienced in
the system, number of players that we added back to
the team that we're here previously, someone like Rank added
a player like CD, So we feel like we have
a decent amount of depth on that side of the ball.
So training camp is about building your team, and we've

(02:11):
shown the ability. You guys have kind of seen how
we operate. If there is an opportunity to or situation
out there that makes sense for us to improve our
team or grab a player that we feel can help
us in some capacity, then we'll certainly entertain and be
open minded. But Steve, he's had a great attitude. He's
kind of blended with our group. I think the one
thing about our secondary specifically, we have a number of

(02:33):
players that have a degree of versatility that have played
multiple spots, Guys that play corner and nickel. We had
some nickels that played safety. So I think the one
thing you want to try to do is build as
much depth as possible on that side of the ball. Chuwaite,
Deniko and coach Birth want to play defense. So you know,
we feel like whoever is on the field is going
to give us a good level of play, and you know,

(02:54):
we'll adjust how we're necessary whatever the outcome is.

Speaker 1 (02:57):
Well, Nick, one thing you've talked about since Miko's higher
and both of you actually said the same thing about
how well you believe the two of you have worked
together and putting together the culture of this team, but
most obviously the roster of this team. I think I've
asked you this before, and I'm curious how how it stands,
maybe a couple more years in. Why do you think
that is? Why do you and Dimico seem to work

(03:18):
so well together and putting this team together? And you
and everybody there obviously.

Speaker 2 (03:23):
Yeah, I mean I've said it publicly and my respected
admiration I have for Dimiko as a person and as
a football coach, and I think the reality is we
have a very mutual respect for one another. The one
thing I think the two of us people would say
is we're pretty open minded. Neither one of us have
an ego. And when you're building a team, when you're
putting something together, it takes a collective effort. It's not

(03:46):
about one individual voice, one individual player. It's about seeing
the other side of it. If we have differing opinions
or viewpoints, but we try to arrive at an endpoint
whatever it is that we feel is best for the
Houston texans An organization. That's how we've operated. We talk
every day. We talk about the team, we talk about
the players. He's very open minded, We take feedback from

(04:09):
one another, so I think it all starts. It's rooted
in respect, and I've said publicly just how much I
think of him as a person, you know, and professionally
as well. So very grateful and honored to be able
to work with him on a day to day basis.
He's probably one of the few people that can put
up with me in this building. I'm kidding, but no.

(04:30):
We get along well, and in the end, we're just
trying to do what we feel is best for the
organization and the team at all costs.

Speaker 1 (04:36):
You definitely set me up with the follow up for
that question, Nick Nick Cassario joining us here on Sports
Talk seven nine.

Speaker 2 (04:41):
You may or may not know this.

Speaker 1 (04:42):
I do the same thing with my codes that you
do with the MEI can we talk every day, We
get together every day. We do not necessarily see things
the same way. We disagree on nearly everything. Is there
an instant, Hey.

Speaker 2 (04:54):
You guys have a great show. I certainly appreciate that.

Speaker 1 (04:57):
Is there an instance, even if you're not going to
go into full details of the story where you just
simply didn't see things the same way, and you really
were convicted and he was really convicted. And ultimately I'm
sure you met a resolution, but that has to have happened, right, Uh.

Speaker 2 (05:12):
Yeah, I would say, like neither one of us are stubborn,
and I would I would say, just whatever side you're on,
it comes with player evaluation. There's a subject development of player.
How you see the player, what his strengths, what our
weaknesses are. I think anytime you evaluate a player or
look at a player, it's how do we see the role,
how do we think we're gonna be able to utilize
that player? And here's the reason why. And if we

(05:34):
get to a point where we can't maybe arrive at
an endpoint, then we might say, you know what, let's
just pivot, go another direction. And I think that's what
you know football is about, and team building is about.
You got to be ready to pivot, you got to
be ready to adjust, and you can't be too stubborn
and so fixated on one particular thing, one particular player,
one particular topic, because in the end, whatever the decision is,

(05:56):
we make the decision, and then when it's done, it's done.
Then we move forward. And then we're gonna support one another.
We're gonna support each other, We're gonna support the staff.
I've said this publicly as well. My job is to
kind of be a fiduciary to the entire organization, support
the coaching staff, support the football operations staff, support ownership,
kind of be a point guard get things moving in
the right direction, and just kind of fill gaps as needed.

(06:17):
So again, we've always had constructive discussions, nothing to the
point where it's confrontational, because quite frankly, there's no benefit
to get into that point. Texans FI anyway, we had
a confrontation, So I'm not gonna win now.

Speaker 3 (06:32):
One you said it, I saw I didn't have to
Texans fiduciary Nick Cassario joining us here on Sports Talk
seven ninety Yeah, and not somebody i'd wanted to get
into a physical altercation with because he looks like he
could put on the pads right now and be very effective.

Speaker 2 (06:44):
Still, he definitely could, absolutely could. Yeah.

Speaker 3 (06:48):
Yeah, I look you I'll put it. I'll phrase it
this way, because I think you've done a phenomenal job
building out this roster, particularly on the defensive side, particularly
with later draft picks that kind of thing. I know.
I know that you have heard the clamoring from the
fan base, from everybody in town. Why can't you fix
the offensive line? What's wrong with the offensive line? So

(07:11):
tell me why the Houston Texans fan base, everybody in
this city that wants to see this team succeed and
specifically wants to see CJ. Stroud succeed. And in my case,
I thought he was unfairly criticized for the quote unquote
sophomore slump last year. Why we should look forward to
improved offensive line play this upcoming year.

Speaker 2 (07:33):
Yeah, I think the point that you made there right
wrong or in different and different. The quarterback is always
going to get more of the blame or more of
a credit. That's just the nature of the position and
everything that comes along with it. But the reality is,
like we play a team sport, so look really on
fifty three players, however many we have on each side
of the ball, specifically on the offensive line offensive line play,
it's about a group of five kind of playing as one.

(07:56):
And I think when you look across the league, I
mean players come in all different shapes and sizes. I
think the big thing is just getting the group that
play with a certain level of consistency and just avoid
any just some of the mental areas you're gonna get
beat physically. I mean that happens everybody. I mean, our
defense is as good as any defense in the league,
and we're gonna see a lot of good defenses this year.

(08:16):
So at some point, like the offense is gonna win
or the defense is gonna win, and you just want
to make sure that you're working collectively on the offensive
side of the ball, and there's timing, it's understanding where
the issues are. There's there an option on the play.
Do we have a better alternative? So we made a
lot of changes. You know, there's a number of players
that have experience in our system who we feel are

(08:38):
going to be an asset to this team. We've added
some new players. We drafted Ariante in the second round.
Feel like he has an opportunity to help our team
at some point. But you know, guys like Jared Patterson
and Juice Scruggs, like they've had opportunities and they've they've
played well in those opportunities. Is it perfect, No, nobody's perfect.
So we're all just trying to see it we can
improve and get to a point where we just played
good team football and a consistent and has been flashes,

(09:02):
but every year it's a different year, you know, make
them changes offensively, not only personnel, but including on the
coordinator side. So a lot of this takes work. So
again that's what training camp is for. And I'd say
Tamiko has said this publicly. We certainly made progress from
where we started to where we are now, and that's
all you can ask for. And then really once you
get into the season, it's about who are we playing,

(09:23):
what are the issues? What do we have to do
to limit those, limit the problems and mitigate the risk
and then just go out there and most importantly, if
we take care of football, that's a good place to start.
And you got to be able to execute when situation situationally,
when it matters mostly.

Speaker 3 (09:38):
What is the the number one thing you think Nick
Cayley brings to the table that is going to be
different from last year, that's going to help CJ. You know,
put him in that position to succeed. Like you guys
are talking.

Speaker 2 (09:48):
About, well, it's just you got to start with you
put the system in place, and then really every coordinator
is about all right, what are who are players, What
do you have? What do those players do well? How
do we put those players in a position where they
can optimize like their skill. I mean, I think a
lot of people want to get caught up in quote
unquote offensive systems, but offensive football, I mean, we're a

(10:09):
very personnel driven league, and when you get the third down,
you get into the red area. It's really about players.
So can you just position the players and put them
in a position where they can capitalize on the opportunity
and execute when it matters most. But you know, Nick
has a lot of experience in multiple systems. I think
Nick's a really good listener. So Nick has the ideas
of what he wants the offense to look like. But

(10:30):
the reality is it's kind of like we talked about
a little bit earlier. You've got to be ready to
adjust and you got to be ready to pivot. And
I think Nick has the mentality and the mindset to
be able to do it as necessary. So we put
a lot of work here in the spring, put a
lot of work here in training camp. We'll have an
opportunity to go out there and play Saturday night here
against Minnesota. We'll have a few more opportunities with Carolina

(10:50):
next week, coming to practice, play them Detroit, and then
kind of get ready to go for a really good
RAMS team week one. So it's going to take a
lot of work, take a lot of effort. Nick's a
really good coach. He has a variety of experience. He's
worked on the defensive side of the ball and then
he kind of flipped at offense and it's kind of,
you know, learned offense from the ground up. So excited
to have Nick here. You have a good offensive staff

(11:12):
in place. So it's gonna take everybody contributing, and really,
in the end, it's going to come down the consistent
work on a day to day basis and just trying
to put ourselves in the best position. We're having an
opportunity to go out there and connexecute on Sundays when
it matters.

Speaker 3 (11:25):
Ten seconds before I let you go. You and I
have a mutual friend down the dial who is a
wrestling fan. You know who I'm talking about with the recent.

Speaker 2 (11:34):
Pass Yeah, that would be Sean Yeah, I'm aware, Yeah, exactly.

Speaker 3 (11:39):
So with the recent passing of Hulkster, you got a
favorite main event in his illustrious career.

Speaker 2 (11:46):
You know what It's funny you mentioned that I do
have a vivid memory in that picture of him body
slam and Andre the Giant in wrestle Mania. It was like,
oh my gosh, how is that even gonna happen? So
Halts had a lot of good moments, but I would
say when I was a young buck, I was a
young kid at the time, but that one kind of
sticks in my head, and I would say the nWo
heel turn. I was a big fan of that as well,
So that was awesome.

Speaker 3 (12:05):
Good answers both of them. Well, Nick, we appreciate the time,
good luck this season, and we'll have to catch up
again soon.

Speaker 2 (12:11):
I appreciate you guys.

Speaker 3 (12:12):
Thanks Nick Casario, Texans GM here on Sports Talk seven ninety.
We'll discuss all of what he had to say when
we come back the a t on Sports Talk seven
ninety
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