Was Bill O’Brien so bad in his final year with the Houston Texans that he was trying to get fired in an effort to take over for New England Patriots coach Bill Belichick?
According to ESPN’s Seth Wickersham, that may have been the plan, and the details are in his forthcoming book “It’s Better to Be Feared,” which chronicles to latter days of the Tom Brady and Belichick partnership.
Owner Robert Kraft, Brady, and others talked about scenarios to replace Belichick, and O’Brien’s name came up in scenarios wherein offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels, a natural successor to Belichick, left for another gig.
“The plan was fanciful,” Wickersham writes, “but O’Brien heard about it. He was in a power struggle of his own in Houston, fighting with general manager Rick Smith, a ‘dysfunctional’ and ‘toxic’ situation, according to the Houston Chronicle. The leaks from O’Brien’s camp, claiming he wanted out, were so aggressive as to be suspicious, as if he knew he had a golden parachute. In the end, though, the [Texans] chose O’Brien over Smith, giving the coach more control over football operations. O’Brien later joked to a confidant that it was a somewhat empty victory. ‘I was trying to get fired,’ he said.”
The timing on the plan is all wrong and needs further fleshing out.
First of all, O’Brien “won” his power struggle with Rick Smith in January 2018 when Smith stepped away to spend time with his wife ill with breast cancer. The Texans hired Brian Gaine as general manager that month, and he wasn’t fired until June 2019. At that time, O’Brien started to have more influence in football operations, and was promoted to general manager at the end of the 2019 campaign.
From the time O’Brien allegedly heard the Patriots were going to replace Belichick, two regular seasons had passed: 2018-19. The Texans won the AFC South both seasons.
So, O’Brien purposely blew a 24-0 lead over the Kansas City Chiefs in the AFC divisional because he was trying to make a good impression to Kraft and Brady? Does that also go for his trading of DeAndre Hopkins and the 0-4 start in 2020 that did lead to his dismissal?
More details are needed, because the results from that time frame are more indicative of an average coach who was wrongfully bestowed personnel power than a master plan to take over for Belichick.
