For the first time since former head coach Gary Kubiak retired, the Houston Texans are in good hands. Head coach DeMeco Ryans has won the fanbase over in a wildly successful first season that saw the Texans go from the favorites for fourth place to one of the final four teams in the AFC.
However, Ryans was putting an end to a long stretch of incompetency and instability, dating back to the hire of Bill O’Brien. Across seven seasons as head coach, O’Brien led Houston to the playoffs four times, each ending in ruin before the AFC Championship Game.
In 2020, his final season, he was named general manager. That offseason, he traded away star receiver DeAndre Hopkins and acquired running back David Johnson, a move whose infamy will last longer than his tenure.
On the “College Gameday Podcast,” O’Brien revealed that taking on the role of general manager may have been the straw that broke the camel’s back.
“We didn’t really get to where we wanted to get to, because of a series of events that happened,” O’Brien said. “I ended up having the general manager title. Looking back on that, that’s really not who I am. I’m a coach and that’s what I do well.
“So probably took a little bit too much on my plate. And it didn’t end very well, but we had a good run there.”
O’Brien was fired four games into the 2020 season. Houston had not won a game to that point.
In moving back to the college game, O’Brien was able to right the ship of his reputation and get back to where he was at his best – coaching college football. O’Brien initially made the jump from college to the pros when he took a job with the New England Patriots in 2007 and did so again after a two-year stint with the Penn State Nittany Lions.
After two seasons at Alabama, his first job after the Texans, O’Brien returned to New England as the offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach. That too ended poorly.
Now, he’s the head coach of Boston College, able to reflect on his football journey and his turbulent time in Houston. Unsurprisingly, he was complimentary of the job Ryans is doing with quarterback C.J. Stroud.
“I’m always very grateful for my time in Houston,” he said. “You know, people don't always agree with how that tenure went for me. But I think we were very successful there. It just didn’t end well. We made some mistakes that didn’t end up very well.”
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