Texans fire Bill O’Brien: 5 Head coach replacements Houston should hire
The Texans fired Bill O’Brien and should replace him with one of these head coaches.
Houston Texans fans can breathe a strong, exasperated sigh of relief now. On Monday, the organization made the decision to fire head coach and general manager Bill O’Brien, as first reported by John McClain of the Houston Chronicle. Also per McClain, veteran NFL coach Romeo Crennel will serve as the interim head coach.
After an 0-4 start to the 2020 NFL season, it seemed like only a matter of time before this move was made. O’Brien has drastically altered the roster of the Texans but mortgaged their future to do, trading away numerous draft picks and all-world wide receiver DeAndre Hopkins. And his changes clearly weren’t working, which is why he has to go.
While it will be interesting to see what Crennel does with this team for the remainder of this season, the attention naturally turns to the next full-time head coach of the franchise. So then, who should the Texans hire to replace Bill O’Brien as head coach in 2021? Let’s took a look at five leading candidates.
5. Byron Leftwich, Buccaneers offensive coordinator
Much of the credit for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers high-octane offense goes to head coach Bruce Arians — and rightfully so. However, it often goes forgotten that the longtime coach has worked closely with former NFL quarterback Byron Leftwich, Arians’ offensive coordinator, to design an offense that was prolific (albeit with a ton of turnovers) with Jameis Winston and has been on the rise after the addition of Tom Brady this past offseason.
Leftwich has a good bit of experience already and has learned from one of the best offensive minds in the league with Arians. That alone makes him an enticing head coaching candidate for the Texans. But he also has a vote of confidence from his mentor, who said this in December 2019, via the Tampa Bay Times:
"“To me, for a young coach it’s who you hire. Who are you going to hire? Are you going to run the offense? I think with the right people and the right GM and ownership [Leftwich] is more than ready.”"
As a young coach, who Houston would hire to replace Bill O’Brien as the general manager would be key, as would be the staff brought in around Leftwich. Having said that, he’s a name on the rise and one that could pay off big for Deshaun Watson and Houston.