Houston Texans: Best candidates to take over as head coach after firing Bill O’Brien

The Houston Texans have many possible candidates to become their next head coach.

What a wild ride this week has already been for the Houston Texans. On the field they dropped to 0-4 on the season, and off the field on Monday they fired head coach Bill O’Brien from not only that position, but he lost his job as general manager too.

O’Brien coached exactly 100 games with the Houston Texans, finishing at 52-48 overall, and has a playoff record of 2-4 with the franchise. In the parts of seven seasons as the head coach of the Texans, O’Brien’s teams made the playoffs four times, winning the AFC South championship each time they made the playoffs, including the past two seasons.

After making the playoffs the success was limited, and after last seasons all-time epic collapse against the Kansas City Chiefs, the Houston Texans should have made their peace with that loss and parted ways with the head coach then. Instead O’Brien was officially promoted as the general manager and head coach, made some franchise-changing decisions, and proceeded to not win a single game in the first month of this NFL season.

Those four losses to start the 2020 season led to O’Brien no longer being the leader of the franchise, and now the Houston Texans have a few issues moving forward. Remember the Texans under the watch of O’Brien traded away their 2021 first-and-second round draft picks, they traded away one of the very best wide receivers in the game, and on the field this year never gained any momentum to be competitive for a complete game.

Now it is time to start moving forward and to start wishing, debating and dreaming of who will become the next head coach of the Houston Texans. Next are 10 possible candidates who could be that choice.

10. Jim Harbaugh, Michigan head coach

It is no secret that Jim Harbaugh hasn’t had the greatest tenure at the University of Michigan as their head coach, but when he was the head coach of the San Francisco 49ers his teams battled strong in the NFC West, plus even went to the Super Bowl.

Harbaugh should be a head coach in the NFL again some day, and he’s worked with some well-known quarterbacks in his time as a coach whether it be Andrew Luck in college at Stanford, or while with the 49ers when he had Alex Smith and Colin Kaepernick. Plus, Harbaugh himself is a former NFL quarterback.

It would be interesting to see how Harbaugh would work with Deshaun Watson in his progression as an NFL quarterback, but again, with Harbaugh’s brash ways would his style be too much like Bill O’Brien’s? Then again, as a head coach in the NFL, Harbaugh was one win away from being a Super Bowl champion, so he’s been there before while in charge and can have success in the NFL.

9. Dabo Swinney, Clemson head coach

Granted, Dabo Swinney was the collegiate head coach of Deshaun Watson while at Clemson, and together they had great success in winning a national championship, but would that magic be able to return in the NFL?

If there is one coach who could get the very best out of Watson it could be Swinney, but their partnership wasn’t at the highest level in all of football, plus who is to say Swinney’s style of coaching would even work in the NFL. Also, does he even want to leave Clemson?

This is a long shot candidate to happen for the Texans, but Swinney did turn around the Clemson program, and has them ultra competitive every season. Another question is would the Houston Texans even want to go the route of having a college head coach run their team again?

8. Kris Richard, former Seahawks defensive coordinator

Though Kris Richard isn’t that busy at the moment, he’s had success in the NFL as a defensive coordinator with the Seattle Seahawks, and he even worked with Rod Marinelli when he was a part of the Dallas Cowboys defensive coaching staff for two seasons.

Just a couple years ago Richard was a candidate to become a head coach in the league, and seeing how the Texans rush defense has struggled greatly this season, maybe Richard’s knowledge of being a former DC could help Anthony Weaver in repairing the defense of Houston as Weaver continues his path in the coaching ranks as well. Richard is a coach worth looking into for the Texans if they want to go the route of a defensive-minded head coach.

7. Tom Herman, Texas head coach

Now going back to the collegiate ranks one last time, Tom Herman has worked with some great players in not only his time as the head coach at Houston and Texas, but he’s been an offensive coordinator at Ohio State and in Columbus his offenses did very well.

It would be nice to see what Deshaun Watson would do with a coach like Herman who isn’t having to greatest success at Texas, but maybe he’s more suited for the NFL. If this offensive-minded head coach were to let Watson loose, maybe that is the formula for the Texans to be successful in 2021 and beyond, but would the defense suffer if most of his focus would be on the offense?

6. Matt Eberflus, Colts defensive coordinator

Going back to the defense, maybe that should be the focus of the Houston Texans, and who knows the AFC South better than current Colts defensive coordinator Matt Eberflus?

Currently the Colts’ 4-3 defense is first in the NFL by allowing 236.3 yards per game in the first month of the season, which is better than the Pittsburgh Steelers in second at 290 ypg allowed in three games. The Texans are currently 22nd at 393.3 ypg allowed as they use a 3-4 defense.

Eberflus’ Colts defense is also allowing 77 yards rushing per game in 2020, and we all know that has been a huge part of the Texans not having great overall success this season, as they are one of the worst run defenses in all of the NFL.

Eberflus has made the Colts a great defense while coaching with Frank Reich, but soon enough he’s going to become a head coach in the NFL. Maybe this time around the Houston Texans will consider a defensive-minded head coach, and if they do, Eberflus has to be on the list of candidates.

5. Byron Leftwich, Buccaneers offensive coordinator

Even if the Houston Texans do need help on defense, the play of the offense is why Bill O’Brien was fired in the first place, so maybe the focus of the Texans’ front office will be on finding an offensive-minded head coach. That brings us to Byron Leftwich who has been learning under the 40-plus years of coaching experience of Bruce Arians in both Arizona and now in Tampa Bay as an offensive coordinator with the Buccaneers this season.

Leftwich is a former NFL quarterback, and now is coaching Tom Brady with the Buccaneers. That said, it is kind of fun to imagine how Leftwich would work with Deshaun Watson, and how he would design an exciting offense for the franchise quarterback in Houston as it would have to be a bit different than what Brady currently runs.

Also there is the fact Leftwich would bring in some excitement and youthfulness as a rookie head coach, but also have the respect of not only being a former player, but a coach who has coached and worked with some of the very best to ever play the game.

If you want a case to how the Texans offense would be like, look at how the Tampa Bay offense is with a 40-year old Tom Brady and the success they are building each week. Now let yourself  imagine Leftwich with Watson, one of the very best young QBs in the game. Sounds like success could be had again in Houston.

4. Brian Schottenheimer, Seahawks offensive coordinator

Here is another offensive coordinator who has worked with some of the very best players and coaches in the NFL, oh and he’s also learned from his dad, former longtime NFL head coach Marty Schottenheimer.

Brian Schottenheimer has been working his ways through the ranks as a coach in the league, and his next step is to be a head coach, and one day that will happen. Working with Russell Wilson on a daily basis could only help Brian Schottenheimer if he were to take over in Houston, and help take Deshaun Watson to the next level of becoming one of the top elite quarterbacks in the league.

3. Robert Saleh, 49ers defensive coordinator

Here is possibly the top candidate of all of the potential defensive coordinators to become head coaches and that is Robert Saleh of the San Francisco 49ers. This could be a great choice because Saleh has built the 4-3 defense of the 49ers with a young core of players, so with the proper coaching that could be the Texans defense too.

It would be nice to see Saleh also keep Anthony Weaver on as the DC as well, because Weaver can do some great things with this group, but he’s learning on the job. Maybe the insight Saleh could provide as he’s worked in building the 49ers’ defense wold roll over to the Texans.

Houston has some young players with potential like Ross Blacklock, Lonnie Johnson Jr., and Jacob Martin to name a few, and with Saleh as the possible head coach in Houston, maybe that could convince potential free agents to join the Texans roster as building through the draft in ’21 is going to be tough in the early rounds.

2. Greg Roman, Ravens offensive coordinator

Now we are really getting into the big-time coordinators on the offensive side of the ball, and who better to work with Deshaun Watson than the coordinator who currently works with Lamar Jackson in Baltimore.

Greg Roman has had a big hand in the career of Jackson, and seeing all of the success the talented he’s has had with Roman as his offensive coordinator, it is fun to dream about how that could move along to the Houston Texans and Deshaun Watson.

Being Watson has a similar style of play as Jackson, it would be interesting to see how the Baltimore offense would work in Houston, plus it is believable that David Johnson could excel in the offense of Roman just like veteran Mark Ingram has in Baltimore.

1. Eric Bieniemy, Chiefs offensive coordinator

Here is the offensive coordinator that many Houston Texans fans want to see walking the sidelines as the head coach next season, and that is Eric Bieniemy.

Bieniemy alongside Kansas City Chiefs head coach Andy Reid have done great things with their offense, including winning the Super Bowl last season, and currently being undefeated in the 2020 season.

If any team knows how Bieniemy game plans with a great quarterback on his side it is the Texans, as the Bieniemy coached offense has had its way with the Houston Texans defense in the past two meetings, including embarrassing the defense in the playoffs this past January.

There is no way Bieniemy doesn’t become a head coach this offseason, and if the Texans pass on him—  or can’t land him — that would be a tough pill to swallow. Bieniemy could design a great offense to help Deshaun Watson reach his full potential, and there is the fact the offense not only has David Johnson, but Bieniemy could also utilize Duke Johnson much better than he’s been used since joining the Texans.

It would also be refreshing to see a new style of play calling, and seeing how the KC offense uses their wide receivers to their advantage in a variety of plays. Could you imagine the plays Bieniemy could draw up with the speed of the Texans wide receivers have on their roster?

Bieniemy could be the head coach the Texans need, but there are some very solid candidates that also could make the Houston Texans a formidable franchise, Right now the Texans are underperforming as a team, and a new start is much needed in 2021.