Longtime NFL coach Romeo Crennel announced his retirement from coaching.
Since 2014, Romeo Crennel has been a mainstay with the Houston Texans as he’s been a big part of the defense, but after being a coach for 50 years, including 39 with the NFL, and eight of those seasons with Houston, Crennel announced his retirement on Monday.
Crennel has been a defensive coordinator, assistant head coach, associate head coach, and interim head coach for the Texans. He took over as the interim head coach when Bill O’Brien was fired by the franchise in 2020 following an 0-4 start. Crennel won four games with Houston that season.
In ’21 Crennel was a senior advisor for football performance with the Texans, which was his final job with the organization. In all, Crennel was an important member of the organization, and during his entire NFL career he was very successful as he won Super Bowl championships with the New England Patriots and the New York Giants as a coordinator and assistant coach.
When Crennel took over for a struggling Houston franchise in ’20 as the interim head coach he was walking into a very tough situation, and it was evident the Texans were having their share of struggles that season. The Texans played respectable for the rest of that season for the most part, even winning some games in a tough situation.
In a press release by the Texans Public Relations team, Crennel said the following:
"“Football has been my entire life and it’s been a dream come true to coach for 50 years.”"
Later he said this about what he’s going to miss about the NFL:
"“I’ll miss everything about coaching and teaching, but the thing I’ll miss the most is being around the guys every day. My goal was to put every player and coach in the best position to succeed and I consider every guy I coached or worked with a part of my family.”"
Former Texans defensive end and three-time NFL Defensive Player of the Year J.J. Watt (now with the Arizona Cardinals) tweeted about Crennel on Monday:
Absolute legend of the game and even better man. https://t.co/eaHtpAmFTE
— JJ Watt (@JJWatt) June 6, 2022
The Texans are going to miss having Crennel around with the franchise in his various roles. He has a wealth of knowledge that hopefully those still with the Texans have picked up and learned from him over the years.
Houston general manager Nick Caserio has been around Crennel with not on the Texans, but with the Patriots too, so obviously he’s learned from one of the best during their time together, which hopefully adds to the current rebuild of the Texans.
Crennel deserves a great retirement after giving his life to football in some capacity for 50 years. Congratulations are in order for Coach Crennel and let’s all wish him a happy retirement!