Expected move
Texans likely to pick Black coach among finalists.
aged relationship with Watson.
Watson has yet to issue a trade demand publicly. It’s all been anonymous sources close to Watson leaking the information to national media. On Sunday, for instance, ESPN reported a source close to Watson says he wants out of Houston no matter who the head coach is.
Watson is under contract and has a no-trade clause. The Texans have no interest in trading one of the best players in the league, one who signed a $156 million contract extension last year.
If the Watson exit takes on James Harden ugliness, the Texans might end up with no choice but to trade him to a team like the New York Jets. There was a report in the Miami Herald on Saturday quoting sources that Watson’s preferred choices were the Jets first and the Dolphins second.
The Jets have the second pick in the draft behind Jacksonville. Perhaps the Texans could get two firstround picks and two second-round selections in 2021 and 2022 as well as a couple of starters like defensive tackle Quinnen Williams and safety Marcus Maye. They could use the second overall pick on the second-best quarterback behind Trevor Lawrence.
Nobody wants Watson to be traded, of course, but the longer the dispute rages, the more reports there’ll be about his wanting out.
The Texans are a long way from making a decision on Watson, and they’ll do everything possible to make him happy, including keeping offensive coordinator Tim Kelly on the staff to call plays for a second consecutive season.
Calling plays for the first time under Bill O’Brien and interim coach Romeo Crennel, Kelly helped Watson have the best season of his four-year career.
Before the Texans can focus on Watson, the top priority is hiring a candidate to follow Dom Capers, Gary Kubiak and O’Brien as the fourth head coach in team history.
When Caserio arrived from New England, he started conducting Zoom interviews on his first day on the job.
Caserio, who spent the last 20 years with the Patriots, is familiar with Frazier’s work with Buffalo’s defense. The Patriots played the Bills eight times over the last four seasons. Buffalo swept New England this season as the Bills finished 13-3 and dethroned the Patriots as AFC East champions.
Frazier has been a widely respected defensive coach for years. He was fired after three seasons as Minnesota’s head coach, including one playoff appearance.
After winning a Super Bowl as a player with the 1985 Bears, Frazier has worked for coaches like Andy Reid, Marvin Lewis, Tony Dungy, Lovie Smith and Sean McDermott.
For fans who don’t want Frazier or Caldwell to be hired because they were fired from their head coaching jobs, keep in mind some of the exceptional coaches who were fired and went on to have success: Dungy, Reid, Bill Belichick, Pete Carroll, Marv Levy, Marty Schottenhimer and Dan Reeves, to name a few.
And don’t forget Kubiak won a Super Bowl at Denver after he was fired by the Texans.
People who worked with Frazier in Minnesota, Tampa Bay and Buffalo believe he’s ready for a second chance to be a head coach.
The Texans have more needs on defense than offense — barring a Watson trade, of course.
The defense needs a makeover after finishing 30th this season, including last against the run. In fairness to defensive coordinator Anthony Weaver, who was hired by Baltimore last week, the Texans lost eight defensive starters because of injuries, COVID-19 and cornerback Bradley Roby’s suspension.
If Frazier is hired as head coach, it might help the defense make a quicker turnaround, despite the Texans having salary cap issues and no draft picks in the first and second rounds.
If the Watson mess escalates to a point where it can’t be solved, they’ll have a new quarterback, perhaps a first-round pick or a veteran. That would put even more pressure on Caldwell or Bieniemy as the head coach with an offensive background.
Like Frazier, Caldwell was highly recommended by Dungy, who was on McNair’s five-man advisory group.
Besides being a head coach two times, Caldwell coached quarterbacks with four teams and was an offensive coordinator with two. He was known as a players’ coach and a terrific communicator.
Under Reid, Bieniemy has done an outstanding job and played a substantial role with an offense that helped win last season’s Super Bowl and is trying to win another one.
This is Caserio’s first coaching search after spending 20 years working under Belichick. All eyes are on him to hit a home run with his first hire. Once the process is completed, then the pressure is turned up a couple of notches when Caserio and the new coach try to convince Watson he should stay in Houston.