O’Brien deserves a contract extension
Firing coach would be wrong move considering injuries to star players
After the Texans suffered consecutive losses to Indianapolis and the Los Angeles Rams and scored only two offensive touchdowns, I was surprised by how many emails, texts and calls I received about coach Bill O’Brien’s job security.
I shouldn’t have been surprised considering the nature of the coaching business, but I think it’s preposterous that fans — or members of the media — would want O’Brien fired after this season.
I’ve seen O’Brien on national media lists of coaches who could be fired, and I think that’s ridiculous.
When things go south, fans and media always want someone to blame, someone to pay with his job.
Not only do I believe O’Brien should return in 2018, the last year of his contract, but I think owner Bob McNair should sign him to an extension.
I don’t think it would be fair to have O’Brien coach in the last year of his contract.
A lame-duck coach — like Cincinnati’s Marvin Lewis this season — gets constant questions about being fired. It becomes a distraction. His message to players may go in one ear and out the other because they believe the coach will be fired. Having a coach in the last year of his contract just isn’t conducive to winning. McNair said in March he would discuss an extension with O’Brien after this season. There’s a lot for McNair to consider.
O’Brien’s got a terrific coaching staff. No matter how dire the situation, their players always play hard. That’s indisputable.
Fine with Watson
I don’t remember any complaints about O’Brien when the Texans averaged 39 points a game in rookie quarterback Deshaun Watson’s last five starts or 34 points in his six starts in which they were 3-3.
Watson lost three games by an average of 4.6 points to teams that are a combined 21-10.
Remember that O’Brien spends a lot of time coaching Watson, participating in and overseeing game plans, and he calls the plays. O’Brien, quarterbacks coach Sean Ryan and offensive assistant Pat O’Hara were doing an outstanding job of developing and coaching Watson before he suffered the torn
ACL in practice.
Now, there’s a good chance the Texans are going to lose the Monday night game at Baltimore. They are seven-point underdogs, and a loss would drop their record to 4-7, causing renewed calls for O’Brien’s job.
How fair would it be to fire O’Brien?
It wasn’t O’Brien’s fault that Watson, J.J. Watt and Whitney Mercilus suffered season-ending injuries. Subtract a quarterback on a pace to throw 43 touchdown passes and two of the defense’s threebest pass rushers, and I don’t know any team that wouldn’t suffer on both sides of the ball.
It wasn’t O’Brien’s fault Duane Brown elected to sit out in a contract dispute and played one game before being traded.
It wasn’t O’Brien’s fault Brian Cushing was suspended for 10 games and that A.J. Bouye, John Simon and Quintin Demps left in free agency.
All teams lose players during the season. It’s not how many players teams lose but who it is and what their roles are.
Does O’Brien have warts? Of course. He points that out after every defeat when he always takes the blame. Fans and media get tired of hearing it, but the players respect it, and it’s not going to change.
O’Brien doesn’t like to hear it, but he’s had clock management issues. Fans and media haven’t agreed with some of his decisions, like kicking field goals instead of going for touchdowns and losing on last-minute drives.
McNair will take everything into consideration when deciding on an extension for O’Brien. And the evidence weighs heavily on O’Brien’s side. The only question: for how many years?
In his 16 seasons as the owner, McNair has shown remarkable patience with his coaches. Dom Capers was fired after a 2-14 season in 2005. Gary Kubiak was fired in 2013 on the way to another 2-14 season.
In 2010, Kubiak’s fifth season, fans and media howled for his job after the Texans finished 6-10. McNair refused to cave to public pressure, and the Texans won the AFC South and two playoff games the next two seasons.
For the record
Nobody has to remind McNair that the Texans finished 9-7 in each of O’Brien’s first three years, including division titles the last two seasons.
Even O’Brien’s harshest critics – unless they’re totally blinded by that criticism – should point out there are extenuating circumstances this season.
Let’s fast forward to the offseason.
The Texans won’t have their first-round pick because of Watson. Does anyone want to complain about that?
They won’t have their second-round pick because of Brock Osweiler. The money they saved under the salary cap will help them sign several free agents. They should have enough room under the cap to sign, say, three free agents like they did in 2016 with Osweiler, Lamar Miller and Jeff Allen.
The Texans will have three picks in the third round. General manager Rick Smith could put together a package to move into the second round if there’s a player they must have.
They also have an extra second-round pick in 2019 that Smith could include in any deal to move up.
When the Texans report to training camp in West Virginia, they’ll be in good shape to make another run at an AFC South title. How high up the AFC hierarchy they’re picked depends heavily on the development of their second-year quarterback who was on his way to becoming the most prolific rookie in NFL history at his position.