Latest On Josh McCown’s Coaching Future

Former NFL quarterback Josh McCown has twice interviewed for the Texans head coaching gig, but that’s not the only interest he’s generated around the NFL. In a profile of the 43-year-old, Dan Pompei of The Athletic writes that the Colts, Eagles, and Vikings have reached out to McCown about joining their coaching staffs, with the writer suggesting there have probably been other suitors for the retired player’s services.

McCown got into 102 games after entering the NFL in 2002. He saw time in three games for the Eagles in 2019 (plus a playoff loss where he attempted 24 passes), and after briefly joining Houston’s practice squad, he was asked to interview for their head coaching job after the 2020 campaign. That gig ultimately went to David Culley, but McCown was asked to join the staff as associate head coach.

Instead, McCown joined the staff at Rusk High School in Texas, where he’s coached his sons over the past two years. He was brought in this past offseason to once again interview for Houston’s head coaching gig, with some reports suggesting he was the favorite for the position. The Texans ended up promoting defensive coordinator Lovie Smith to head coach, but McCown clearly made a good impression during his time with the Texans.

After spending time with 12 different organizations during his playing career, McCown has many connections throughout the league. As a result, Pompei writes that “there is a chance” the former QB could be hired somewhere as a head coach, a feat that would make him the first individual to go directly from the NFL to a HC gig since Norm Van Brocklin in 1961.

“Life takes you a bunch of places, and those experiences develop skill sets that you can sit on, or you can pass on and maybe try to bring more good into the world that way,” he says. “Coaching in the game of football is a way for me to do that, to pass that forward and have an influence the way some of these good men have had in my life.”

While it’d certainly be strange for McCown to jump right into a head coaching job, he has earned endorsements from a number of former coaches and executives, including Bill Parcells. While he rejected previous overtures to join coaching staffs, he made it clear that he wouldn’t solely look for a head coaching job next offseason and would consider a variety of roles.

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