San Antonio Express-News (Sunday)
McCown’s lack of experience no problem for Easterby
HOUSTON — Hiring a head coach with no experience at the college and pro level is preposterous.
Once longtime NFL quarterback Josh McCown enters the coaching profession as an offensive assistant or assistant position coach and works his way up to being a head coach, he might turn out to be Vince Lombardi, Bill Belichick or Don Shula.
I’ve heard nothing but glowing reports about McCown’s potential as a coach from those who worked with or covered him during his career with 12 organizations. He’s an impressive communicator and commands respect, but McCown needs seasoning, not a straight-to-the-top free ticket provided by Jack Easterby and Nick Caserio.
Late in the 2020 season, when McCown was on the Texans roster from Nov. 7 through March 1, several members of the organization, including two players, told me how close he and Easterby had become. They were BFFs.
They told me Easterby and McCown had bonded over religion and to not be surprised if Easterby tried to convince the new general manager and the McNair family to hire McCown as the new head coach.
I ridiculed that idea. No way, too outrageous, even for the Texans. But I was warned to just wait and see. Lo and behold, McCown got the interview. Man, was I wrong!
After Caserio was hired, Easterby convinced him to interview McCown for the head coaching vacancy (that eventually went to David Culley). I was told they offered him a job coaching but
that he was going to retire to watch his kids play football.
McCown had volunteered for several years at a North Carolina high school before returning to Texas, where he grew up in Jacksonville and played at SMU and Sam Houston State.
The current coaching search conducted by Caserio and Easterby — with Caserio having final say on the hire as well as all personnel decisions — is intriguing. They haven’t interviewed anyone with more than one year as a coordinator.
Brian Flores, who should be the leading candidate, was never a coordinator with New England. At least he had three years as a head coach at Miami to help evaluate him.
McCown has no experience beyond the high school level. Hines Ward, a member of the Pro Football Hall of Fame, has one year as a college position coach after two years as a Jets’ offensive assistant.
Joe Lombardi (Chargers), Jonathan Gannon (Eagles) and Kevin O’Connell (Rams) have been coordinators for one season.
It’s almost as if lacking years of experience as a coordinator is a prerequisite to getting interviewed. Maybe they’ll consider more candidates with more experience as coordinators.
Now, let’s consider McCown because, obviously, Caserio and Easterby are. They’ve interviewed him a second time, and if he gets the job, it’ll tell us this was the plan all along, that Culley was only keeping the seat warm for McCown.
It would be ridiculous for Caserio and Easterby to hire McCown as the head coach. Adding him as an offensive coach under the new head coach would be a shrewd move.
Let’s look back at McCown’s career to see what the Texans would be getting if he returns to Houston.
As the Cardinals’ third-round pick in 2002, he played four years at Arizona, his longest tenure with any team. He also spent time with the Lions, Raiders, Dolphins, Panthers, Bears, Bucs, 49ers, Browns, Jets and Eagles before the Texans signed him off Philadelphia’s practice squad in 2020.
According to those close to the teams he played for, McCown mentored Sam Darnold in 2018 when he was so impressive as a rookie, and Carson Wentz in 2019, when he produced 4,000 yards, 27 touchdowns and seven interceptions.
In his brief time with the Texans, they were impressed with the way McCown worked with Deshaun Watson, who played the best season of his career.
Not only is McCown experienced working with NFL quarterbacks, but he’s also, smart, perceptive, insightful, fair and communicates well with everyone. He has to be intelligent considering how many systems he’s had to learn.
With the Browns and Jets, members of the Pro Football Writers of America covering those teams voted McCown with their annual Good Guy Award. With the Bears, he won the Brian Piccolo Award that “exemplifies courage, loyalty, dedication and sense of humor.”
McCown also is known for being one tough hombre. At Cleveland, he suffered a broken left collarbone but finished the game. In the playoffs after the 2019 season, he replaced the injured Wentz and played the rest of the Seattle game, despite suffering an injury that tore his hamstring off the bone.
When McCown retired from the Jets, he was briefly hired by ESPN as an analyst, but then the Eagles offered him a job. After the 2019 season, they offered him a coaching job, but he still wanted to play. At 40, he was signed to their practice squad and stayed there until Easterby, the Texans’ interim GM, offered him a spot on the roster.
If McCown is ready to begin his coaching career, he can bypass college and go straight to the
NFL. He’ll have multiple opportunities, including the Texans. Fans should be excited to have McCown on the offensive staff and interested in watching him grow into a head-coaching candidate.
But if McCown is offered the Texans’ head coaching job, he’s got to take it, right? And if he does, Caserio and Easterby will be so far out on a limb it’ll be bent to the breaking point.