2019 becomes make-or-break season for coach
The day after another horrible day, Bill O’Brien spoke for almost 25 minutes.
He made it through two questions before interrupting himself, looking to the side and telling the Texans’ vice president of communications that he would “stay up here as long as they need me.”
O’Brien was 20 minutes into an end-of-season assessment — the NFL playoffs just beginning; another long offseason already waiting — when he broke off again, wondering when all the stadium noise in the hallway was going to stop.
There was no sarcasm. Little humor. None of the edgy me-
versus-the-world fire that often dominated O’Brien’s initial few years on Kirby Drive.
“There were a lot of personal things that guys were dealing with,” O’Brien said. “I take a lot of pride in these guys and coaching these guys that they were able to overcome some of that.”
It was a soon-to-be sixth-year head coach striving for long-term optimism (Deshaun Watson, DeAndre Hopkins, 11-5 after 0-3) while being as brutally realistic as possible the day after Indianapolis silenced the Texans’ 2018 season with a 21-7 wild-card victory.
Andrew Luck, T.Y. Hilton, Frank Reich and the remade Colts were clearly better.
Veteran defensive coordinator Romeo Crennel is staying, O’Brien said Sunday inside NRG Stadium. But he passed on a question about a change in offensive play-calling and kept emphasizing the obvious: Changes must be made if the Texans are going to truly deliver on the hope and promise that their young franchise quarterback represents.
“I feel terrible about (Saturday),” O’Brien said. “I woke up (Saturday) morning and felt really good about what we were going to do.”
He went in even harder on himself eight minutes later after acknowledging that the Texans were “terrible” in the red zone on both sides of the ball this season.
“I’m not trying to overstate this. I felt terrible about (Saturday),” O’Brien said. “That I couldn’t get that team to play better than they did. … That’s something that will stick with me for a long time, and I’ve got to figure that out.”
By noon Sunday, I had received about 150 Twitter messages and 20 emails that already had the answer.
Fire O’Brien, 90 percent of the messages said.
After an 11-win season and division banner. Five years into a tough tenure that has produced a 42-38 overall record and three AFC South titles during the last four years but has seen O’Brien go just 1-3 in the playoffs, with two demoralizing home wildcard defeats.
The Texans’ lone postseason win under O’Brien was at NRG against Oakland third-string QB Connor Cook, who has started only one pro game and is now hidden on Detroit’s roster.
O’Brien has already endured a 4-12 season and a power change at the top. Last January, former owner Bob McNair handed him a four-year extension that runs through 2022.
The 2019 season should be a make-or-break year for O’Brien.
Gary Kubiak finally broke through with the Texans during his sixth season — he also took over a significantly worse team. Kubiak reached a franchise-best 12-4 in 2012, then was fired midseason in ’13. Two years later, he won a Super Bowl with Peyton Manning and Denver’s version of Texans North.
I wrote after the Colts gutted the Texans that I can picture Watson holding a world-title trophy one day.
Can you envision the Texans winning a Super Bowl with O’Brien as their coach?
That’s the first question that new man-in-charge Cal McNair should have asked himself Sunday morning.
Then there’s the reality that O’Brien doesn’t have to carry the weight of the Texans’ world on his shoulders. He should give up play-calling duties in 2019 and focus harder on the big picture. Keep motivating and uniting. Improve the X’s and O’s and attention to in-game detail. That’s already happened once before, and O’Brien didn’t immediately shoot down the idea Sunday.
“At the end of every year, we evaluate everything. … We’ll take a look at everything,” said O’Brien, who was vague about his future OC but direct and specific about Crennel’s return.
We’ve known since training camp that a horrible offensive line is dragging down the Texans. The defensive secondary is equally problematic and must be revamped.
If both aren’t significantly improved for Week 1 next season, don’t believe anything the Texans tell you about trying to win a Super Bowl in 2019.
This is a critical offseason for first-year general manager Brian Gaine. The organization must be Patriots-esque in its internal honesty.
Key pieces are in place ( J.J. Watt, Jadeveon Clowney, Watson, Hopkins). The offense could be dangerous in ’19 if young receivers Keke Coutee and Will Fuller can consistently remain healthy at the same time.
Running back Lamar Miller is entering his eighth season and a contract year. He’ll be 28 when camp begins. He’s had only one 1,000-yard rushing season during three on-and-off years in Houston. The Texans need to do better.
Dallas fought off a very good Seattle team for a home wildcard win hours after the Texans were humiliated again. I’d take the Cowboys’ offense, defense, offensive line and running game over the Texans’ without blinking.
"You have to have a quarterback,” O’Brien said. “We have a quarterback."
The Texans still need so much more than that.
Cal McNair must be more demanding than his father.
Five seasons into the O’Brien era, the Texans are a playoff team. They aren’t close to being a Super Bowl winner.
It’s time for more change on Kirby Drive. The real hard work still remains.
“It didn’t end the way we wanted it to end,” O’Brien said. “We don’t feel good about the way it ended. We feel terrible for our fans, and we want to give our fans a winner. And we have to do that soon. We know that. We’re not blind to that.”