Bill O’Brien is finally fired after 100 games as Texans head coach

The Houston Texans have let head coach Bill O’Brien go after 100 regular-season games.

Bill O’Brien has shockingly been the first NFL head coach fired during the 2020 season.

It took an 0-4 start to the season, but the Houston Texans have reportedly decided to part ways with their former head coach. John McClain of the Houston Chronicle was the first person on this, as he is as plugged in with anything regarding Houston football as anyone. We could see it ending poorly for O’Brien from a mile away, but this should have been done after the AFC Divisional Game.

Are the Houston Texans now the favorite to win the Eric Bieniemy sweepstakes?

In 100 games as the Texans head coach, O’Brien went 52-48. He may have won four AFC South division titles in five years, including last season, but Houston went 2-4 in the postseason and remains the only franchise in the NFL to never appear in its conference championship game to date.

Though the Texans aren’t yet 20 years old, all their division rivals have done so since 2014.

O’Brien’s termination was all about the Peter principle. He was given way too much power for his own good. As a head coach, he’s fine, as he did good things in his two years leading the Penn State Nittany Lions out of the worst scandal arguably ever before leaving for the Texans job in 2014. He’ll get a new gig, probably as an offensive coordinator in 2021, but he’s done in Houston.

As for who could be a long-term successor for O’Brien, let’s keep an eye on these two guys in the pros and one in college: Kansas City Chiefs offensive coordinator Eric Bieniemy, Buffalo Bills offensive coordinator Brian Daboll and Oklahoma Sooners head coach Lincoln Riley. Houston will be an attractive head-coaching destination because of ownership and Deshaun Watson.

Bieniemy and Daboll will be NFL head coaches by the end of their team’s respective seasons. It’s hard to deny the great work they’ve done with Patrick Mahomes and Josh Allen as their team’s starting quarterbacks, respectively. You couldn’t go wrong with either first-time head-coaching candidate, if the McNairs want to go in that direction.

As for Riley, 2021 would be a good opportunity to exit the college game and see what his Air Raid offense could do in the NFL. Oklahoma is 1-2 (0-2) on the year, it’s worst start to a season since 1998. The Sooners have great offensive talent, but your prototypical Big 12 defense that can’t stop anybody. Could you imagine if Dabo Swinney left the Clemson Tigers to coach Watson again?

With O’Brien out of the picture, Houston can go about find his successor as diligently as possible.