Brian Gaine is an

American football American football (referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada), also known as gridiron, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular field with goalposts at each end. The offense, the team wi ...

executive who works as the assistant general manager for the

Buffalo Bills The Buffalo Bills are a professional American football team based in the Buffalo metropolitan area. The Bills compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) East division ...

of the

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league that consists of 32 teams, divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The NFL is one of the majo ...

(NFL). He served as the

general manager A general manager (GM) is an executive who has overall responsibility for managing both the revenue and cost elements of a company's income statement, known as profit & loss (P&L) responsibility. A general manager usually oversees most or all of ...

of the

Houston Texans The Houston Texans are a professional American football team based in Houston. The Texans compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the American Football Conference (AFC) South division, and play their home games at NR ...

from 2018 to 2019. Gaine began his executive career in 1999 with the

New York Jets The New York Jets are a professional American football team based in the New York metropolitan area. The Jets compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) East division. The ...

as a scout and worked in the scouting departments of the Bills, Texans,

Miami Dolphins The Miami Dolphins are a professional American football team based in the Miami metropolitan area. They compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member team of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) East division. The team p ...

and

Dallas Cowboys The Dallas Cowboys are a professional American football team based in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex. The Cowboys compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) East divis ...

Early life and education

Gaine was born to Jim and Alice Gaine, both immigrants from

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel, the Irish Sea, and St George's Channel. Ireland is the s ...

, and is the youngest of five brothers. Raised in

Pearl River, New York Pearl River is a Hamlet (New York), hamlet and census-designated place in the town of Orangetown, New York, Orangetown, Rockland County, New York, Rockland County, New York (state), New York, United States. It is east of Chestnut Ridge, New York, ...

, he attended Don Bosco Preparatory High School in

Ramsey, New Jersey Ramsey is a borough in Bergen County, New Jersey, United States. It is a suburb of New York City, located northwest of Midtown Manhattan. As of the 2010 United States Census, the borough's population was 14,473,tight end The tight end (TE) is a position in American football, arena football, and Canadian football, on the offense. The tight end is often a hybrid position with the characteristics and roles of both an offensive lineman and a wide receiver. Lik ...

on football team. He is a member of the school's Hall of Fame. Gaine attended college at the

University of Maine The University of Maine (UMaine or UMO) is a public land-grant research university in Orono, Maine. It was established in 1865 as the land-grant college of Maine and is the flagship university of the University of Maine System. It is classifie ...

, and played for the

Maine Black Bears football : ''For information on all University of Maine sports, see Maine Black Bears.'' The Maine Black Bears football program is the intercollegiate American football team for the University of Maine located in the U.S. state of Maine. The team compete ...

team.

Playing career

After going undrafted in the

1995 NFL Draft The 1995 NFL draft was the procedure by which National Football League teams selected amateur college football players. It is officially known as the NFL Annual Player Selection Meeting. The draft was held April 22–23, 1995 at the Paramount ...

, Gaine signed with the

and spent time on the team's practice squad throughout the season. Gaine also spent time with the

New York Giants The New York Giants are a professional American football team based in the New York metropolitan area. The Giants compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) East divisio ...

in 1996, and the

Kansas City Chiefs The Kansas City Chiefs are a professional American football team based in Kansas City, Missouri. The Chiefs compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) West division. The t ...

in 1997, but did not appear in a game after spending each year on the practice squad.

Executive career

After Gaine's playing career ended, he was hired as a scout by the

in 1999, and worked in that capacity for the team until 2004. After his tenure with the Jets, Gaine became the assistant director of pro scouting for the

, a role he held from 2005 to 2007. After Cowboys' head coach Bill Parcells, who Gaine has cited as one of his biggest influences, retired from coaching and took an executive position with the

, Gaine followed him and was named the assistant director of pro personnel of the team. While Parcells' left the team after the 2010 season, Gaine stayed with the team until

2013 File:2013 Events Collage V2.png, From left, clockwise: Edward Snowden becomes internationally famous for leaking classified NSA wiretapping information; Typhoon Haiyan kills over 6,000 in the Philippines and Southeast Asia; The Dhaka garment fa ...

, becoming director of player personnel in 2011 and assistant general manager in 2012. Gaine was hired by the

for the first time in 2014, and worked as the team's director of player personnel for three seasons. Prior to the 2017 season, Gaine was hired in the same capacity by the

, and spent one season in Buffalo. Gaine was hired as the Texans's general manager in January 2018 after the previous general manager, Rick Smith, took a leave of absence. On June 7, 2019, Gaine was fired by the Texans after only one season as GM. His firing took place after a former security coordinator filed a complaint with the

Equal Employment Opportunity Commission The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) is a federal agency that was established via the Civil Rights Act of 1964 to administer and enforce civil rights laws against workplace discrimination. The EEOC investigates discrimination ...

which stated that Gaine had targeted African-American employees for dismissal. The Texans organization stated that the complaint was unrelated to the decision to fire Gaine. Later, Buffalo Bills general manager

Brandon Beane Brandon Beane (born July 27, 1976) is an American football executive who is the general manager for the Buffalo Bills of the National Football League (NFL), a position he has held since 2017. Prior to joining the Bills, Beane served in the per ...

, after hiring Gaine in a different capacity, described the allegations as "baseless". On July 23, 2019, Gaine was rehired by the Bills as a senior personnel advisor. On June 7, 2022, he was promoted to assistant general manager of the Bills.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gaine, Brian Living people National Football League general managers New York Jets scouts Dallas Cowboys scouts Miami Dolphins executives Buffalo Bills executives Houston Texans executives New York Jets players New York Giants players Kansas City Chiefs players Year of birth missing (living people) Don Bosco Preparatory High School alumni People from Pearl River, New York University of Maine alumni