Predictably, the NFL community has spent the past 24 hours processing the news of Bill O’Brien’s long overdue firing (ironically, BOB’s dismissal came shortly after announcing he would serve as the Texans’ offensive play-caller for the remainder of 2020). As is usually the case when a coach gets shown the door, we’ve seen plenty of dot-connecting during that time with football scribes searching high and low for candidates to replace O’Brien in Houston (our own Tim Kelly took a stab at this particular exercise yesterday). One name that has already gained traction is Patriots offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels, who has ties to Texans executive VP of football operations Jack Easterby, a former character coach in New England.
“The easy connection is Josh McDaniels,” ESPN’s Dan Graziano said during a segment on Tuesday’s Get Up. “We’ll hear the names of Eric Bieniemy, the offensive coordinator in Kansas City, and Brian Daboll, the offensive coordinator in Buffalo. It will be a wide-net search. But the connection a lot of people around the league are making is McDaniels, so that’s a name to watch.” Graziano also mentioned current Texans coordinators Tim Kelly and Anthony Weaver as in-house possibilities.
McDaniels’ name seems to come up in coaching rumors every year, though with the exception of his ill-fated stint in Denver and the time he famously left Indy at the altar, the 44-year-old hasn’t shown much eagerness to leave New England. The long-held assumption is that he’ll eventually inherit Bill Belichick’s role when the legendary coach inevitably vacates his Patriots throne, but what if McDaniels doesn’t want to wait that long?
Even with Easterby working in the front office, would Houston really be the right place for McDaniels with other jobs likely to open up in Atlanta, Detroit and New York, among other expected vacancies? Some are also skeptical of McDaniels, who first joined New England’s staff as an assistant in 2001, uprooting his family including four children to coach elsewhere.
Needless to say, there are many factors at play and even if McDaniels wanted the job, there’s no guarantee he’d be the Texans’ first choice. McDaniels’ past track record with Denver, the bridges he burned following his Colts debacle and the middling success other Belichick protégés have seen outside the relative safety net of Foxboro (including the coach he’d be replacing in Houston) all warrant consideration.
Another candidate that’s been mentioned in connection to the Texans is longtime Clemson coach Dabo Swinney, who may be ready to make the NFL leap after leading the Tigers to a pair of National Championships. While former pro Greg McElroy endorsed Oklahoma coach Lincoln Riley for the Texans’ job (Riley was also linked to openings in Dallas and Cleveland last offseason), the ESPN analyst doesn’t see Swinney being a fit for Houston. “The guy is a figurehead, he’s not a tactician,” said McElroy, expressing his belief that Swinney isn’t ready to coach on the pro level. “Dabo Swinney is a rah-rah coach that is more of a politician than he is a down-in, down-out, offensive or defensive mind.”
Interim coach Romeo Crennel will helm Houston until further notice, though at 73, he’s not the Texans’ long-term solution. It also stands to reason that Houston would pursue a coach with an offensive background who could further the development of Deshaun Watson, the recent recipient of a four-year, $160-million extension. A longtime defensive coordinator, Crennel doesn’t fit that criteria.
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