NFL Hot Seat: 5 coaches that must win Week 1
By Josh Hill
Bill O'Brien
Head Coach, Houston Texans
This is a make-or-break year for Bill O’Brien.
Full stop.
The atonement for the sin known as Brock Osweiler needs to be immediate as he enters his fourth season in Houston. So far, the laurels he’s set up to rest on are thin and weak. He’s essentially Nu-Jeff Fisher, existing in about as average a position as you can live in as a coach, coasting through the worst division in football. No team that O’Brien has coached in Houston posted a record better than (or any different than) 9-7*. That being said, the Texans have reached the playoffs the last two seasons and each year achieved a higher exit level than the year previous (Wild Card in ’15, Divisional Round in ’16).
Oh, that asterisk by the 9-7*; Houston plays in the AFC South, which is barely a division. In its current incarnation, the division has been a cake walk for Houston and it still only manages to win one game above even each year under O’Brien. For the first time since he took over, there’s a viable threat to force Houston to turn off cruise control and take notice. The Titans knocked on the door of winning the South last year and the team has a thirst for a division title (and the talent to get there) unlike ever before. O’Brien has basically been able to coach the Texans to the playoff by default and the rise of the Titans could expose him.
The arrival of DeShaun Watson could buy him some time, but it will be borrowed at best with an interest rate he might not be able to pay back.