Count Houston Texans receiver DeAndre Hopkins as someone who believes that Bill O’Brien is doing well pulling double duty as coach and general manager.
The three-time All-Pro joined SB Nation Radio’s “The Main Event” on Friday from Radio Row in Miami, and spent some time talking about the latest moves the Texans have made in the front office.
“You know, it’s not easy, man,” Hopkins said. “I’m pretty sure he has a lot on his plate, but he handles it pretty well. Being able to go out there and still coach a team at a competitive level the way we did and compete for almost a title, man, it’s not easy. He’s human, but he does a great job handling it very well.”
As the main influencer for the Texans’ five-man general managing council they had in place with vice president of football administration Chris Olsen as the interim GM, O’Brien orchestrated trades for left tackle Laremy Tunsil, receiver Kenny Stills, and running back Carlos Hyde that kept the Texans competitive and repeated as AFC South champions. Houston also managed to win a wild-card playoff game in a 22-19 overtime thriller against the Buffalo Bills that helped produce results in chairman Cal McNair’s evaluation.
Hopkins believes that O’Brien’s experience as a coach gives him an advantage as a general manager.
Said Hopkins: “I think it’s definitely probably an advantage that he’s coached before and actually been out there on the football field and knows exactly what’s going on X’s and O’s wise. So, I’m pretty sure that helps.”
With O’Brien having all of the power, the buck stops with the former Penn State coach who is entering his seventh season with the Texans. If Houston still has trouble cracking into the NFL’s final four, then the evaluation of O’Brien’s performance falls from “great” to “stagnant.”
