Texans Owner: Jack Easterby To Serve As Interim GM Only
Jack Easterby is the Texans’ interim GM, but he won’t be the team’s Texans’ GM for the 2021 season, owner Cal McNair tells John McClain of the Houston Chronicle. McNair also confirmed that he won’t give his next head coach the GM title.
“We’ll search for a general manager first, find the right guy, and then we’ll hire the coach,” McNair said. “Jack’s agreed to be the interim general manager while we conduct our search. Once we find the right GM, Jack will return to his position as executive vice president of football operations.”
O’Brien was fired on Monday after the Texans got off to an 0-4 start. For now, Romeo Crennel is serving as the team’s interim head coach. McNair says that the team’s internal conversations to fill the HC and GM roles have yet to begin. The speculation, however, started immediately. Speculatively, some have suggested that Chiefs offensive coordinator Eric Bieniemy, current defensive coordinator Anthony Weaver, and Clemson’s Dabo Swinney (Deshaun Watson’s former coach at Clemson) could be in the head coaching mix. For what it’s worth, Swinney says he’s not thinking about the Texans vacancy.
On the GM side, some wondered whether Easterby would wind up with the job, given his influence within the organization. Apparently, that won’t be happening — McNair says that Easterby will remain the club’s executive vice president of football operations, with another exec having final say over the roster.
Dabo Swinney: I’m Not Thinking About Texans Job
Could the Texans replace Bill O’Brien with Deshaun Watson’s former mentor, Dabo Swinney? According to the Clemson head coach, the answer is no. At least, for now. 
[RELATED: Texans Fire Bill O’Brien]
“I have not heard from Deshaun and that is not even anything that I want to even have to think about,” the two-time national champ said, via Matt Young of The Houston Chronicle. “You would be the one to ask that question out of all the questions. You don’t want to ask anything about Miami? Next question.”
Swinney was connected to the Texans job immediately following word of O’Brien’s firing. The speculation made — and still makes — lots of sense. The Tigers head coach isn’t just close with Watson, he also has a good relationship with executive Jack Easterby, who is currently in charge of operations.
Swinney famously compared Watson to Michael Jordan in the buildup to the 2017 draft, where the Texans landed him at No. 12 overall. Even with a football MJ under center, the Texans started 0-4, leading to O’Brien’s surprise dismissal.
If the Texans do go after Swinney, it’ll cost them — he currently ranks as the highest-paid college football coach in the nation with a salary of $9.3MM per year.
NFL Workout Updates: 10/6/20
Workout updates stand to be sparser going forward, with Mike Garafolo of NFL.com noting the NFL has moved to, in light of some teams’ recent issues with the coronavirus, cap workouts at five per week (Twitter link). However, the rule will not apply to teams that place more than three players on IR in a week, Garafolo tweets. In those scenarios, teams would be permitted to work out 10 players in a week. That said, here are the top developments from the workout circuit, as of Tuesday evening.
Atlanta Falcons
- LB James Burgess, S J.J. Wilcox (visit)
Chicago Bears
Cincinnati Bengals
- DT Xavier Williams (visit)
Cleveland Browns
Houston Texans
- LB Deone Bucannon, LB Emmanuel Ellerbee, DB Roderic Teamer
Indianapolis Colts
- LB Najee Goode (visit), DB Akeem King, DB Jaylen Watkins, LB Ramik Wilson
New Orleans Saints
Seattle Seahawks
- LB Ray-Ray Armstrong, DE/LB Jeff Holland
Tennessee Titans
- LS Colin Holba, LS Matt Overton
Texans Fire HC/GM Bill O’Brien
Well we certainly didn’t see this one coming. The Texans have fired head coach and general manager Bill O’Brien, Adam Schefter of ESPN.com reports (Twitter link).
The Texans of course are 0-4, but it’s still a pretty shocking development since there hadn’t been any recent reports that O’Brien’s job was in imminent danger. Schefter noted in a follow-up tweet that a source told him Romeo Crennel is the likely interim head coach. O’Brien clearly wasn’t expecting to get canned, as we heard just yesterday that he was taking over offensive play-calling duties and taking a more active role in the game-planning.
The Texans are a trainwreck at the moment, as not only are they winless but they’re also without their first and second-round picks in next year’s draft due to trades O’Brien made. O’Brien had recently clashed with prominent players at practice and executive Jack Easterby is now in charge of the organization for the time being, Jason La Canfora of CBS Sports tweets.
O’Brien now becomes the first head coach fired during the 2020 season, beating out contenders like Adam Gase and Dan Quinn for the honor. GM Brian Gaine was fired back in June of 2019, and O’Brien has been in complete control of the team ever since. He was formally named the general manager back in January.
The former Penn State coach and Patriots offensive coordinator made a slew of controversial moves, most notably trading away superstar DeAndre Hopkins to the Cardinals this offseason for relatively little in return. The Texans have a franchise quarterback in Deshaun Watson, but things are pretty bleak outside of him due to the lack of draft capital.
It’s been a rapid collapse for Houston after they advanced to the second round of the playoffs last year and had a huge lead over the Chiefs in the first half. O’Brien became the head coach in 2014 and while he’s earned a lot of the criticism he’s gotten, he did lead the team to the playoffs in four of his six full seasons.
The Texans started with an absolutely brutal schedule of the Chiefs, Ravens, and Steelers in their first three games, and are running out of time to turn things around. Crennel has been with the team in varying capacities since 2014 as well. He’ll take over a team with some real talent, and he has head coaching experience. He coached the Browns from 2005-08, and was more recently the Chiefs’ head coach from 2011-12.
As for their next full time head coach, Chiefs offensive coordinator Eric Bieniemy is sure to get consideration. Matt Miller of Bleacher Report tweets to keep an eye on current defensive coordinator Anthony Weaver, writing that the “team loves him and he’s seen as a serious contender for a HC job this offseason.” Meanwhile Ian Rapoport of NFL Network tweets that Easterby is on a “very long-term contract,” and notes that he is close with Patriots offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels as well as Pats exec Nick Caserio, who the Texans originally wanted to be their GM last year. Easterby is going to be heavily involved in the ensuing search process alongside owner Cal McNair, according to multiple reports.
McDaniels’ name is brought up annually in head coaching searches, and it sounds like that will be the case once again here. A handful of reporters immediately began speculating on Twitter that there could be interest in Dabo Swinney, Watson’s former coach at Clemson. That was all just spitballing and nothing sourced, but it’s fun to think about nonetheless. Watson isn’t the only connection there, as Albert Breer of SI.com tweets he’s been told Easterby is also “very friendly” with Swinney.
As for O’Brien, it’s anyone’s guess what his next move will be. Today ends a tumultuous era of Texans football, and it’ll be very interesting to see if Watson can lead the team out of the hole they currently find themselves in.
Texans Players Didn't Want Earl Thomas
- Speaking of guys in trouble with the league office, we have an Antonio Brown update to pass along. The embattled receiver is dropping his countersuit against the woman who accused him of sexual assault, according to Tom Pelissero of NFL Network (Twitter link). He also requested an extension to turn over evidence related to the civil case against him. In a follow-up tweet Pelissero notes that his suspension could be extended if new evidence emerges. Brown is now halfway through the eight-game suspension he was hit with earlier this year. Given his undeniable talent it would seem likely a team gives him a shot at some point once his ban is over if he can avoid anymore off-field trouble. Texans coach Bill O’Brien seemed to leave the door open to bringing in Brown a couple of weeks ago, but that was quickly followed by a report indicating that won’t be happening.
- Brown isn’t the only controversial veteran the Texans have flirted with. Last week it looked like Earl Thomas was on the verge of signing in Houston, only for things to fall apart at the last minute. Now we have more clarity on what changed. “Numerous” Texans players spoke up about their desire not to have the veteran safety in the locker room, sources told Jason La Canfora of CBS Sports. That apparently convinced O’Brien, who is also the team’s GM, to back off. Thomas has developed a reputation for being difficult to get along with in recent years, even though that wasn’t an issue early in his career with the Seahawks. He had a bitter divorce from Seattle, and was then of course cut by the Ravens after getting into a fight with a teammate and having Baltimore’s veterans ask the front office for his release. Houston played the Ravens in Week 2, and La Canfora notes that the subject of Thomas came up during conversations between players on the two teams. If he’s this strongly disliked by some of his fellow players, it could be a while before Thomas finds a new home.
Texans HC Bill O’Brien To Be More Involved In Play-Calling
Texans head coach/GM Bill O’Brien has come under intense scrutiny for his management of his club’s roster, especially after this offseason’s infamous DeAndre Hopkins trade. O’Brien did cede play-calling duties to offensive coordinator Tim Kelly, but in the wake of Houston’s 0-3 start to the season, the head coach is renewing his involvement in that side of the operation.
As Ian Rapoport of NFL.com writes, O’Brien will take on an increased role in game-planning and play-calling. Kelly will continue to relay the plays to QB Deshaun Watson, but O’Brien will have significant input into which plays are called. That means that Houston’s offense will run more like it did in 2019, which ended in a trip to the divisional round of the playoffs.
The Texans’ offense has sputtered without Hopkins, and the team currently ranks near the bottom of the league in terms of total offense and yards per game. Still, the club has more offensive talent than that showing would suggest, and O’Brien apparently believes he can help get more production out of that unit.
Houston has started the season in an 0-3 hole, but since its first three opponents have a combined 8-1 record, no one is panicking just yet. Still, an 0-4 start would put an even bigger damper on the Texans’ playoff aspirations, and O’Brien is trying to make sure that doesn’t happen. His club will take on the Vikings this afternoon in a battle of talented but winless outfits.
Texans Pursued LB Shaquem Griffin
- The Seahawks will have Shaquem Griffin in uniform for the second straight week, despite not carrying the linebacker over to its Week 1 roster out of training camp. A Seahawks regular in 2018-19, Griffin began the season on the team’s practice squad. But at least three other teams, including the Texans, expressed interest in the inspirational defender. Griffin, however, did not believe a move elsewhere would have presented a better situation, per Brady Henderson of ESPN.com (on Twitter). Shaquem Griffin’s twin brother, Shaquill, being a longtime Seahawk factored into this decision, Shaquem said (Twitter link).
Texans To Pass On Earl Thomas?
Earl Thomas‘ scheduled workout with the Texans was scuttled, and head coach Bill O’Brien says it was due to the league’s most recent COVID-19 advisory (Twitter link via Aaron Wilson of the Houston Chronicle). However, that’s not quite the full story, according to Ian Rapoport of NFL.com (on Twitter), who hears that the Texans do not currently see Thomas as a great fit for their locker room. 
[RELATED: Texans Sign Corey Liuget]
Thomas, a seven-time Pro Bowler, left his past two clubs on bad terms. In Seattle, Thomas literally left the team with an extended middle finger as he was carted off of the field. In Baltimore, Thomas failed to grasp the playbook in his first year and wore out his welcome last week when he got into an altercation with a teammate.
Thomas’ perceived attitude problems would explain his ongoing unemployment. The years-long love affair between Thomas and Cowboys owner Jerry Jones did not result in a deal this year, and the Chargers were quick to pass on him after losing star Derwin James for the season.
For now, the Texans will continue with third-year starter Justin Reid and newcomer Eric Murray as their starting safeties. Meanwhile, they’re without key backup A.J. Moore, who has been placed on IR due to the hamstring injury he suffered against the Steelers.
Latest On Texans, Earl Thomas
Some conflicting accounts emerged Tuesday after the cancellation of Earl Thomas‘ Texans workout. The All-Pro safety’s agents indicate Bill O’Brien informed them that the NFL informed him to nix Thomas’ workout because of COVID-19 concerns, per Adam Schefter of ESPN.com (on Twitter).
Thomas’ Houston audition was scheduled for Tuesday, but the Texans reportedly sent him home. The Texans are somewhat connected to the Titans-Vikings coronavirus situation, in being scheduled to host the Vikes on Sunday. However, the Texans worked out four other players Tuesday, Howard Balzer of SI.com tweets.
Another report points to the Texans souring on Thomas. The Texans were previously reported to be the likely destination for the former Seahawks and Ravens defender, but the Houston Chronicle’s John McClain notes that internal team discussions determined Thomas would not be a good fit (Twitter link).
The Ravens released Thomas in August after a practice skirmish with fellow Baltimore safety Chuck Clark. Ravens veterans supported the move. Other teams — most notably the Cowboys — have been connected to Thomas, but the Texans visit marked the most newsworthy development since the 31-year-old safety became a free agent. Interestingly, an August report categorized the Texans as a non-suitor as well.
While the Texans door may not be fully closed, the 10-year veteran remains unattached as October looms. Houston has used third-year starter Justin Reid and March free agency addition Eric Murray as its first-string safeties this season.
NFL Workout Updates: 9/29/20
Here are some of the key developments from the NFL’s workout circuit as of Tuesday:
Atlanta Falcons
- K Kai Forbath, K Elliott Fry
Baltimore Ravens
- S Marcus Gilchrist, CB Jamar Taylor, DB Mazzi Wilkins
Cleveland Browns
- WR Ryan Switzer (visit)
Detroit Lions
- WR Gary Jennings, QB Kyle Lauletta, WR Damion Willis
Houston Texans
- WR Trevor Davis
Miami Dolphins
- CB Teez Tabor
San Francisco 49ers
- LS Andrew DePaola, LS Taybor Pepper, LS Drew Scott, LS Garrison Sanborn
Seattle Seahawks
- LB Tim Williams
Washington Football Team
- LB Nigel Harris