The Houston Texans fired head coach Bill O’Brien on Monday afternoon after a disastrous 0-4 start to the season. Throughout his time in Houston he amassed a record of 52-48, reached the playoffs four times, and won two postseason outings.
Unfortunately, despite him gaining additional responsibilities on a seemingly annual basis, the Texans appeared to be on the wrong trajectory. Plus, O’Brien was very clearly losing the locker room.
“There’s actually a feeling of relief in Houston,” one player told ESPN’s Dianna Russini. “Not that O’Brien is not a great guy, he was losing our trust and confidence…maybe even lost all of it.”
And so, a firing that seemed more or less inevitable after the Texans fell to the Minnesota Vikings this past Sunday, finally happened.
Poor Kyle Kuzma is out here catching strays left and right. https://t.co/fxD23GLi4L
— Game 7 (@game7__) October 5, 2020
So what happens next?
According to NFL Network Ian Rapoport, now Houston may pursue New England Patriots offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels.
“Texans Executive VP of Football Operations Jack Easterby, on a very long-term contract, is close with Patriots OC Josh McDaniels, as well as de facto GM Nick Caserio,” he tweeted. “Both clearly names to watch in Houston.”
McDaniels is an intriguing option. He came very close to being named the head coach of the Cleveland Browns this past offseason, before ultimately losing the job to Kevin Stefanski.
A combination of McDaniels and quarterback Deshaun Watson is interesting on a number of levels, obviously.
Nikki immediately reacted to the big night. https://t.co/88VaRXJzpt
— Game 7 (@game7__) October 5, 2020
For now Romeo Crennel has been named the interim Texans head coach, but nobody expects the job will be his on a permanent basis. He is very clearly a stopgap.
As far as O’Brien’s next move, that is a little less certain. He really came off badly throughout his time in Houston, on a number of a different levels.
First and foremost, there was the 0-4 start to this season and lack of postseason success.
Beyond that, according to Aaron Wilson of the Houston Chronicle, whenever O’Brien would fire people during his tenure with the Texans, “he did so with a lot of F bombs and orders to get the F out of the building immediately.” He was afforded more respect than that by owner Cal McNair, though.
What a mess. https://t.co/zyZmAL1wOY
— Game 7 (@game7__) October 5, 2020
Also, he was a terrible general manager. This is a guy who traded DeAndre Hopkins for David Johnson and a second rounder, moved Jadeveon Clowney for a third rounder, threw away first and second rounders for Laremy Tunsil and Kenny Stills, and traded away a second rounder for Brandin Cooks.
It is hard to see someone giving him an immediate shot in a head coaching or GM capacity any time soon.
Fans reacted with absolute glee upon news of O’Brien’s termination.
Bill O’Brien traded the best receiver in the NFL because of a personal feud and then started the season 0-4 and got fired. So Houston lost Deandre Hopkins for personal embarrassment and nothing else.
Being a Texans “fan” is an elite level of pain.
— Roosh (@RooshWilliams) October 5, 2020
Texans fans sitting at 0-4 but Bill O’Brien is finally gone… pic.twitter.com/U6eSjrEMRb
— NFL Memes (@NFL_Memes) October 5, 2020
Deshaun Watson when he runs into Bill O’Brien leaving the Texans facilitypic.twitter.com/V9vyYuXY4m
— Ian Hartitz (@Ihartitz) October 5, 2020
Bill O’Brien: “We’re 0-4, but we’re gonna fix this!”
Texans: pic.twitter.com/QMutvTKnKO
— Emmanuel Acho (@EmmanuelAcho) October 5, 2020
BILL O’BRIEN HAS BEEN FIRED pic.twitter.com/7URhnokly3
— Adam Abramson (@Adam_Abramson1) October 5, 2020
Over the past 16 months, the Texans gave Bill O’Brien power to:
– Trade away most of their draft picks
– Hand out a bunch of bad extensions and free-agent deals
– Give away the best WR in the NFLAll to fire him 4 games into the season. That is incredible.
— Robert Mays (@robertmays) October 5, 2020
Over the next eight weeks, Houston has two games against the Jacksonville Jaguars, and then one against the Tennessee Titans, Green Bay Packers, Cleveland Browns, New England Patriots, Detroit Lions and Indianapolis Colts.
There is a very easy path there for at least five victories, if the Texans can get their act together. From that point on, the final four weeks of the season would feature showdowns against the Chicago Bears, Colts, Cincinnati Bengals and Titans.
The Dodgers have not forgiven or forgotten. https://t.co/yuxb5nE4kL
— Game 7 (@game7__) October 5, 2020
An 8-8 mark is not out of the question – but it is predicated on O’Brien having been the thing holding this group back.
Will the Texans be able to bounce back now that they’ve shed the dead weight that was their head coach-slash-GM-slash-offensive coordinator? We’ll find out soon enough.
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