Former Houston Rockets coach Jeff Van Gundy believes the Houston Texans can win more than four games in 2021.
Van Gundy joined “The Wheelhouse with Jake Asman, Cody Stoots, & Brad Kellner” on ESPN 97.5 [KFNC-FM] in Houston to talk about sports in Clutch City.
“They’re going to be the surprise team in the league,” Van Gundy said. I have a friend — I was just talking about them. I’m a season ticket holder, so, he says I’m a homer. I really believe they’re going to get six wins. I’ll tell you what.”
Van Gundy also expressed his admiration for the job general manager Nick Caserio and rookie coach David Culley had done in a short amount of time given the offseason challenges.
Said Van Gundy: “If you’re their coaching staff, I don’t know — I don’t really remember a worse situation to take over than the one they took over with [Deshaun] Watson both wanting out, legal issues, him being healthy but still doesn’t available. If they’re able to overcome that and put a competitive team on the field, man, what a great job they’ll have done. I’m really looking forward to seeing if they have enough to compete. I’m saying six. I don’t know what Vegas is saying. I probably don’t want to look.”
Odds-makers at Tipico have the Texans at +125 to win 4.5 games and -150 to win fewer than 4.5 games in 2021.
“They might get to seven,” said Van Gundy. “Who knows? Why not? Because they’re playing 17 this year, right? Yeah, I might even up myself. I might even go to seven right now.”
The Texans open up the regular season Sept. 12 at NRG Stadium against the Jacksonville Jaguars, who, like Houston, are the also-rans of the AFC South. A win would allow the Texans to at least start the 2021 campaign off on an optimistic note, however long that lasts.
