When Bill Parcells was the head coach and general manager of the New York Jets in 1999, Dick Haley, his director of player personnel, gave a young scouting assistant his first NFL job.

Nineteen years later, that scouting assistant was hired as the Texans' new general manager.

Brian Gaine, 44, made a positive impression on Parcells. Through the years, Parcells became a mentor and a positive influence on Gaine as he worked his way up in personnel departments with five teams.

Parcells liked what he saw of Gaine and hired him to work in the pro personnel departments with Dallas and Miami. Gaine earned promotions with each organization.

During their six years together, Gaine earned Parcells' respect, trust and endorsement as the Texans' general manager.

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"Brian's a smart guy who's paid his dues," Parcells said this week from his home in Florida. "He's got a lot of experience, and I think he'll do real well.

"He's got the background that should allow him to make the kind of decisions that'll need to be made."

After Gaine spent six years with the Jets, Parcells offered him a job with the Cowboys.

"We were looking for a pro (personnel) guy, and Brian became available, so we reached out to him," Parcells said. "I knew he could do the pro end, and that's what we really needed at the time.

"We needed someone to organize the pro department and evaluate players around the league as free agency got more and more important."

Gaine spent three seasons with the Cowboys before Parcells hired him to join the Dolphins. In six years with Miami, Gaine was assistant director of pro personnel, director of player personnel and assistant general manager.

"By the time we got to Miami, you didn't have to tell Brian what to do because he knew what to do and how to do it," Parcells said. "He knew what we wanted and how to go about it. And I knew I could communicate with him."

Parcells won two Super Bowls as a head coach and also served as a general manager and executive vice president of football operations during his distinguished career.

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Parcells believes that communication, especially between the general manager and head coach, is paramount for any organization that hopes to build a consistent winner.

"Communication (with the head coach) is so important," he said. "You've got to have it."

Coach-GM dynamic key

Parcells knows Gaine developed a good relationship with Bill O'Brien when they worked together with the Texans (2014-16). Gaine and O'Brien worked together on four drafts and four free-agent periods.

"The head coach has to have someone he can talk to," Parcells said. "They've got to be able to vent to one another, to question one another and to use each other as a sounding board."

Gaine will work closely with O'Brien and the assistant coaches and have control of personnel and football operations. He will answer to owner Bob McNair and vice chairman Cal McNair.

"You have to have a philosophy on personnel that's in concert with the offensive and defensive systems you're employing," Parcells said. "That philosophy on personnel has to be coordinated, understood and implemented by the GM, the scouting department and the coaching staff."

Gaine knows what O'Brien and his staff want because he worked well with them and earned their respect with his opinions on players.

"You need to know exactly what you're looking for," Parcells said. "There may be players that are good players, but they don't fit with what you do. You have to be able to identify, 'They're good, but they're not for us.' There are others that may not fit other systems, but they'll fit yours. You have to decide who you're going to pick, how you're going to develop them and how you're going to pay them if you have a second contract with them."

First time for final say

This is the first time in his career that Gaine will have final say on personnel. Even though he has been with five organizations - most recently with Buffalo as vice president of player personnel - there is no guarantee that he will be successful.

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Only time will tell.

"It's not an easy job picking players," Parcells said. "If you get half of them right, you're doing pretty good.

"Sometimes you know what you want to do, but the opportunity doesn't allow you to do it. The availability of players and what you want to do doesn't exist sometimes. That's the hard part."

Parcells believes Gaine has the experience, work ethic and organizational skills to be successful as a general manager, but he provides some words of caution.

"You never know what's really going to happen with a GM until he's in the decision-making position," he said. "There's a lot of responsibility that goes with that role - when you've got the head that wears the crown."