Deshaun Watson should choose next Houston Texans head coach

Deshaun Watson needs to have a say in who is head coach.

My stance is simple for Deshaun Watson and the Houston Texans, and it is this: Watson should choose the next head coach of the franchise.

Deshaun Watson is angry. In all likelihood, this situation has been brewing for a couple of years, and there is a lot of blame to go around for the deteriorating relationship between the Houston Texans and their franchise quarterback.

Bill O’Brien was a disaster as a general manager, and that came to a climax last offseason when all-pro wide receiver DeAndre Hopkins was traded for a meager return. To make matters worse, Watson was never even informed that Hopkins was on the verge of being traded. Watson’s favorite target was simply gone in the blink of an eye.

Despite the disaster trades, Watson committed to Houston. This past September, the star quarterback signed a four-year extension to remain the face of Houston’s franchise for the foreseeable future.

O’Brien was fired four games into the 2020 season, the future was looking bright! The Texans would be adding a new head coach and general manager (which is now Nick Caserio) in the coming months. The disastrous tenure of O’Brien was done and the only way to go was up!

Or so we thought.

Tuesday evening, it was announced that Caserio would be named the new general manager of the Houston Texans. Deshaun Watson responded to the news with a cryptic tweet that has since been deleted. Just hours after Caserio was confirmed, Watson said “some things never change” on his Twitter account.

Okay, everyone stay calm. This could have been about ANYTHING, right? Get real. The timing of the tweet was no mistake. We all knew the tweet was in reference to the hire of Caserio. Deshaun Watson clearly was not a fan.

Ian Rapoport only added to Texans fans’ misery Thursday night when he confirmed what we all were fearing. Deshaun Watson is highly frustrated with the current state of the franchise.

Rapoport provided more clues to help us understand why Watson is so frustrated. According to Rapoport, it has nothing to do with the hire of Caserio itself. Apparently, Watson was told he would have a say in the selection of the new general manager and head coach. It sounds like the Texans’ front office did not hold up their end of the agreement there.

The situation is far from ideal, but it could be a lot worse. At least you didn’t just give a five-year deal to a GM that Watson wanted no part of. It sounds like Watson is mainly upset that he didn’t get a seat at the table.

Houston Texans: Deshaun Watson is frustrated

Watson is clearly frustrated, but we shouldn’t press the panic button yet. It sounds like this can be fixed. How do you fix this, you may ask? To me, it’s rather simple. Let Deshaun Watson pick the next head coach of the Houston Texans.

I am sure there will be some disagreement. People will claim that one player is never more important than the franchise as a whole. You can’t let one player have that much control over the franchise.

Get real. Watson is the franchise. He is a transcendent talent at the most important position in all of sports. This is not a label that applies to many players. The Texans are rebuilding, but their rebuild is already lightyears ahead of your standard NFL rebuild. This is all because of the presence of Watson.

Just look at what he did last year!

Deshaun Watson lost Hopkins in the offseason. Will Fuller missed the last five games of the year. The offensive line was in flux all year. Despite all of these circumstances, Watson responded by having the best year of his career. It can not be understated. Deshaun Watson is SPECIAL. You do whatever it takes to keep him happy.

General managers are extremely important to the state of a franchise, but players have much more interaction with the coaches. So, Watson is frustrated he wasn’t able to provide his two cents on the general manager search? I don’t blame him. He should be frustrated. With all due respect to the incredible players that have played for the Texans over the years, Watson is the most important player in franchise history. You make sure his needs are met.

Make it up to him, and let him pick the next head coach. Could this come with some risk? Of course it could. Any hire you make comes with some sort of risk. Now, this obviously has to be realistic. I’m not saying he should be able to bring in his offensive coordinator from high school if that’s what he wants.

Let him sort through all the candidates. We know the Texans have already interviewed Joe Brady, Jim Caldwell, and Marvin Lewis. John McClain of the Houston Chronicle said that they also plan to speak with Matt Eberflus and Arthur Smith when their teams’ are done competing in the playoffs. Perhaps more interviews are set up along the way.

Deshaun Watson should be a part of all of it. If he was not a part of the interviews that have already been conducted, set up a time for him to speak with all three of those candidates. If he is enamored with the offenses that the likes of Patrick Mahomes and Josh Allen are currently shining in, then set up interviews pronto with Eric Bieniemy and Brian Daboll.

Disagree with this take all you want, I simply think this is how important Watson is to the Texans’ franchise. The Texans have already totally boggled the process of hiring a general manager because they didn’t let him provide his opinions. They better not make the same mistake again.

Deshaun Watson has committed to the franchise, now it’s time for the franchise to show their commitment to him. They need to reach out to him and apologize for leaving him out of the general manager search. Then the Texans need go find your their next head coach together.