Houston Texans: 2014 Looking Brighter As Team Closes In On Bill O’Brien Coaching Hire

By Jason Weingartner @JaWeingartner on December 28, 2013

The Houston Texans may have been the first to strike in the 2014 NFL offseason coaching carousel, with multiple reports that the team is close to making a deal with Penn State head coach Bill O’Brien. O’Brien, thought of by many to be one of the most sought after coaching acquisitions amongst NFL teams, could help the Texans onto the fast track back to winning ways.

The Texans’ 2013 season was a massive disappointment, beginning the season as Super Bowl hopefuls and falling all the way to a potential No. 1 pick in the 2014 draft. The team has no answer at QB, but can quickly remedy the problem with a high draft pick aimed at improving the position.

O’Brien would be a perfect fit to turn the offense around, with experience as both a QB coach and offensive coordinator under Bill Belichick and the New England Patriots.

The Texans do have other deficiencies that need to be addressed, but still pack a roster full of talent that will likely shine when the team is taken in a different direction. Ex-coach Gary Kubiak ran the ship for the last eight years, and new blood is certainly welcome within the organization.

The deal would be a great one for both sides. O’Brien would have a lot of draft positions to play with, a potential new superstar QB (Teddy Bridgewater), and the experience to turn the franchise around in a hurry. The Texans would be in a position to strike first in the league with the coaching hire, and give O’Brien as much time as possible to make changes he sees fit.

If there is anything we learned this NFL season from the Kansas City Chiefs, Andy Reid and Alex Smith, it’s that a new QB/coach duo can make a world of difference in a hurry.

Jason Weingartner is a Houston Texans writer for Rant Sports. Follow him on Twitter or add him to your network on Google.