NFL News: Houston Texans fire Bill O'Brien
After a 0-4 start to the 2020 NFL season, the Houston Texans have fired head coach and general manager Bill O'Brien.
Bill O'Brien was hired by the Texans in 2014, after firing then head coach Gary Kubiak. In his first season as head coach, he helped the team to a 9-7 record, but missed the playoffs. For the next two seasons after that, the Texans went 9-7 but made it to the playoffs.
The Texans lost to the Kansas City Chiefs in the Wild Card game in 2015, while they lost to the New England Patriots in the Divisional Round of the 2016 playoffs.
After drafting quarterback Deshaun Watson in 2017 and losing him for the season due to an ACL tear, the team seemed to have a good offense moving forward. With Watson under center, the Texans went 11-5 in 2018 but lost to the Indianapolis Colts in the Wild Card.
This was the first time the team had over 10 wins since 2012 and it seemed promising for the young quarterback and Bill O'Brien. History almost repeated itself in 2019, when the Texans went 10-6 this time and lost to the Kansas City Chiefs in the Divisional round.
Houston Texans not a playoff threat under Bill O'Brien
Houston Texans' fans can see a big pattern here with O'Brien as the head coach, producing average seasons for the team but not having enough push in the team to be a true playoff threat.
He was promoted to general manager of the team in January 2020 which prompted several head-scratching trades, including the trade of Pro-Bowl receiver DeAndre Hopkins to the Arizona Cardinals. The Texans also gave up their 2021 first and second round draft picks.
On top of this, the Texans this season have the most expensive roster out of all the other teams at $248 million, but aside from Watson, no other player has played up to expectations so far.
Under this organization, the team has gone through 8 different quarterbacks since the arrival of O'Brien, with the likes of Ryan Fitzpatrick, Ryan Mallet, Case Keenum, Brian Hoyer, Ryan Mallett, T.J. Yates, Brandon Weeden, Brock Osweiler, and Tom Savage all failing to take the Houston Texans to the next level.
Hopefully Houston Texans now understands that Watson requires some much needed help around him and that a rebuild is required around him.
It's important to note that O'Brien was the only member of the coaching staff that was fired today and it is unclear whether any other members of the staff are on the verge of being removed or not. For now, assistant head coach Romeo Crennel will be the interim head coach for the Houston Texans.