After the Houston Texans’ 31-23 Sunday loss to the Minnesota Vikings, which took the team to 0-4 on the season, team owner Cal McNair had seen enough. Per John McClain of the Houston Chronicle, head coach Bill O’Brien was fired on Monday. Reports indicate that assistant head coach and former defensive coordinator Romeo Crennel will be the interim head coach.
The Texans hired O’Brien, formerly the Patriots’ offensive coordinator on January 2, 2014, and O’Brien amassed a 52-48 regular-season record with a 2-4 postseason mark.
O’Brien’s most successful season was 2018, when the Texans went 11-5 in the regular season, but fell in the first round of the playoffs to the Colts. Last season, Houston finished 10-6 and beat the Bills in the wild-card round of the playoffs, but lost to the eventual Super Bowl champion Chiefs in the divisional frame by a score of 51-31 after holding a 24-0 second-quarter lead.
Over time, O’Brien’s power in the organization increased, and he has been pilloried for several controversial trades that weakened the team over time. The most recent and most controversial came in March, when he traded receiver DeAndre Hopkins to the Cardinals for running back David Johnson.
Earlier Monday, O’Brien was asked by the Houston media about his job security, and a report that indicated that he told his team that he had done a “horrible job” of coaching.
“First off, after the game I try to keep that stuff between us and the team,” O’Brien responded. “I mean, obviously with where we’re at, we have to do a better job coaching. Relative to the last question, I don’t have any control. All I can control is what I can control, and I’ve got to do a better job with the team. That’s obvious, and we’re going to work hard to do that. Relative to things that I talk about with the team, I just try to keep that between me and the team as best as I can.”
