J.J. Watt reportedly pushed Bill O’Brien out in Houston
Houston Texans star J.J. Watt was reportedly behind the movement to fire Bill O’Brien.
Bill O’Brien was given complete control of the Houston Texans at the start of 2020. He lasted four games once the season actually began.
The former head coach and general manager was clearly not inspiring his team. That is a problem that has likely been building since he took over in 2014. The losing and the bad decisions eventually became too much for J.J. Watt, according to one report that sheds light on the decision to finally fire O’Brien.
A source tells me that JJ Watt and Bill O’Brien had a heated exchange on the practice field the week of the Steelers game in which JJ called BOB out for his coaching ability. It began a player revolt that ended up getting BOB fired.
— John Granato (@johngranato) October 7, 2020
J.J. Watt had enough with his HC/GM
To O’Brien’s defense, the Texans did open the season against three of the top teams in the AFC. But a Week 4 loss to the Minnesota Vikings saw the offense score a season-high 23 points in what is a historic year for offenses so far.
The schedule also didn’t force O’Brien to trade DeAndre Hopkins to Arizona for David Johnson or his 2021 first and second-round picks to Miami for Laremy Tunsil. Watt and his teammates had no control over those moves and did their best to overcome the front office mistakes.
It is easy to see the frustration building for someone like Watt. The Texans made the postseason four times under O’Brien and never advanced further than the Divisional Round. Deshaun Watson is supposed to be the savior at quarterback and he only has one 300-yard game this season.
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The entire situation was a mess and Watt is a leader in Houston. All the fan frustration toward O’Brien had to be felt much more strongly by his own players. The coach stood no chance in a battle against Watt in the eyes of the locker room.