Deshaun Watson wants Bill O’Brien to return to Texans next season

Houston Texans rookie Deshaun Watson would like for his head coach, Bill O’Brien, to return to the team next season.

Houston Texans quarterback Deshaun Watson was questioned about whether or not he would like for head coach Bill O’Brien to return next season. Watson’s response, per ESPN? “Of course.”

The Texans are currently 4-10, but Watson provided a glimmer of hope for Houston while he was on the field. Watson tore his ACL on a non-contact play in practice in early November, and the team is 1-6 in his absence. Still, even with those circumstances there are already whispers about O’Brien leaving the Texans. Watson spoke about the support he has for O’Brien, and what O’Brien means to him.

“That’s out of my control, but I would love to have Coach O’Brien with me,” Watson said Tuesday after surprising quarterback J.T. Daniels with the Gatorade National Football Player of the Year award. “We have a great relationship. Ever since the draft process, we’ve been communicating. We talk football, we talk about life. And we have a lot of things that kind of relate, the way we were both raised up. So we kind of connected [and have] been ever since.”

This season, Watson completed 61.8 percent of his passes for 1,699 yards. He also passed for 19 touchdowns and eight interceptions along with running for 269 yards and two touchdowns. The Texans at the time were 3-4 with Watson in, but he gave the fanbase hope for a potential playoff push for this season.

Next: Scout: Hunt, Gurley have special talents

But, it’s also easy to see why Watson would love for O’Brien to stay. O’Brien was Tom Brady’s quarterback coach for the New England Patriots from 2009-10 and offensive coordinator in 2011. Coaching one of the greatest quarterbacks of all time should make any new quarterback perk up. Hopefully, the Houston brass can trust what they saw from Watson on the field, and make a decision from there.