Are the Houston Texans going to keep Romeo Crennel as head coach in 2021?
There are so many decisions the Houston Texans have to get correct when the offseason arrives at the conclusion of what has been a disappointing 2020 season. One of the most important decisions that will need to be made is who the next head coach will be.
There is a lot to like about current interim head coach Romeo Crennel as he’s brought some life into the Texans since taking over for the fired Bill O’Brien after the Texans started out 0-4. Since then, the Texans have won two games — both victories against the Jacksonville Jaguars — but are still 2-7 overall and haven’t defeated a team with a winning record all season.
Crennel was the right coach to take over for O’Brien in an interim basis for the 2020 season, but is he the long-term answer? Crennel needs to stay with the Houston Texans in some capacity for as long as he would like because his wealth of knowledge is very helpful, but a change will be needed at the end of the season and a new head coach must be hired.
Before that, the Houston Texans will need to hire a new general manager as well because O’Brien held that title as well.
Besides a new head coach, the Houston Texans will be looking for a new general manager who won’t trade a star player away for a second round pick and a veteran running back. The person currently in the role of decision making with CEO Cal McNair is currently Jack Easterby, and he’s not the answer for the Texans when hiring a GM.
Do you want a very good reason as to why the Texans need a new GM as well? Here is what current New England Patriots head coach Bill Belichick said about Easterby this week when asked about Easterby “running a front office” as the Texans are going to face New England on Sunday in Week 11 as reported by Jason Owens of Yahoo! Sports:
"“‘Jack’s not a personnel person,’ Belichick said. ‘No.'”"
Granted the article also has Belichick saying some positive things about Easterby, but what matters for the Houston Texans when hiring a new full-time GM is that they can be a personnel person. Plus, if the head coach with the most Super Bowl victories of all-time says what he said, the Texans should listen to that free advice.
With today’s victory, #Texans Interim Head Coach Romeo Crennel is only the second coach in NFL history to win at least two games as an interim head coach for two different teams (Texans and Chiefs). pic.twitter.com/8S41Kyc6YI
— Houston Texans PR (@TexansPR) November 8, 2020
Houston Texans News: Romeo Crennel staying for 2021 season?
Ian Rapoport of NFL.com wrote due to how the current state of affairs is with the COVID-19 pandemic, and how the season isn’t over until January, the Houston Texans might keep Crennel on as head coach for the 2021 season due to possible restrictions of in-person visits and traveling issues.
In an NFL.com article, Ian Rapoport wrote this earlier this week about the Texans and Crennel:
"“For the Texans, he could serve as a stop-gap coach, allowing the team to get to 2021 with some stability and pushing their true coaching search to the following offseason when COVID-19 restrictions would allow for a traditional in-person search.”"
This is something to think about, and in all honestly this idea isn’t all that far-fetched. That said, if there is a candidate out there that the Texans are very interested in, they need to do whatever it takes to get the head coach they want. If that means they can only have one person to travel to meet a head coach candidate due to potential or added travel restrictions, that will have to do.
Having Zoom meetings isn’t the best way to hire the next head coach, but these teams know people who know everyone in the league, so it isn’t that tough to get some opinions on possible coaching candidates.
The Houston Texans don’t need to keep Crennel as their head coach in 2021, but like stated before he needs to stay with the organization moving forward in some way so that his opinion is heard and used.
Crennel has done a good job of getting the Houston Texans settled down, and though the wins still aren’t coming as frequent as needed, the team seems more fousced than earlier in the season, but the overall play still is at a high level of success.
Crennel most likely won’t be the long-term answer for the Houston Texans, so the franchise needs to move forward and try to find their next head coach who can be the leader this team needs.