Bill O’Brien has worn many hats since the Houston Texans drafted Deshaun Watson in Round 1 of the 2017 NFL Draft.
In the quarterback’s rookie season through his second year, O’Brien was both the coach and offensive coordinator. In 2019, O’Brien gave up the offensive coordinator title, but kept the play-calling role, and added on considerable influence in the five-man general managing council that replaced Brian Gaine on June 7, 2019.
“Being the head coach and the OC, there were times where we couldn’t meet as much as we wanted to,” Watson told reporters on Aug. 1.
With Tim Kelly taking on the play-calling duties in his second season as offensive coordinator, the two-time Pro Bowl quarterback gets to spend more time developing strategy throughout the week.
“I feel like with Tim, I get to see Tim and that’s the only person that I’m meeting with, besides [assistant QB coach] T.J. Yates,” said Watson. “Being able to have that everyday conversation, every meeting conversation with Tim, and being on the same page and seeing eye-to-eye definitely is going to take us a long way.”
According to Watson, Kelly, who is also the quarterbacks coach, has been constructing a variety of game plans and scripts to ensure Watson is, “prepared for each and every game.”
Said Watson: “I can tell that he wants to take that to a whole other level.”
One of the other canards about the Watson era has been that he has been trapped by O’Brien’s stale play-calling and unimaginative game plans. If only Watson had more leeway with the play-calls, the Texans could be more successful.
According to Watson, O’Brien did give him plenty of liberty.
“I had a lot of freedom with Coach O’Brien, too,” Watson said. “He gave me a lot of freedom and we talked a lot of times.”
With Kelly fully invested in the offensive play-calling, Watson will have someone who he can work with often throughout the week to devise clever game plans and keep Houston competitive.
