At the NFL Combine, football analysts discussed the big questions surrounding the Texans this offseason. In Part 2 of this series, national media members weighed in on Bill O'Brien's first season as the Texans head coach.
What do you think of the job Bill O'Brien did in his first year as Texans head coach?
Solomon Wilcots (NFL Network, Sirius XM): "In the first year it's about building the program with certain tenets, certain fundamentals, and a certain specific philosophy. Clearly, Bill O'Brien is about having a football team with a high football IQ - an intelligent team that really predicates itself on understanding situational football then obviously being tough at the point of attack on both sides of the ball and putting players in a position to make plays."
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John Clayton (ESPN)*: "He was able to fight through a lot of adversity like a lot of teams, had to fight through injuries, but I thought he did a great job. I thought the offensive line came together well, it has talent there. I think the big thing is that you can see that Bill O'Brien was a good enough coach to turn around what was wrong the year before and make it right even though he didn't have the greatest of quarterbacks."
Albert Breer (NFL Network): "You can see the buy-in. I think that was most impressive about the job he did in Year One. Even with the issues at quarterback, they were able to realize what the vision was and put it to work. I think that's probably the No. 1 thing you look at. You say the future's bright in Houston because the best teams are always a reflection of their coach."
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Rich Gannon (Sirius Radio/ NFL on CBS)*: "Yeah, I think that the one thing that I thought was so impressive last year with Bill O'Brien was everyone said, 'They have to go out and get a quarterback. They have to go out and get a quarterback.' I think he wants to get a quarterback. I think he wants to find that long-term answer, but I think he's going to do it the right way. Rather than take a quarterback that he's not sold on, he's going to wait."
Sam Farmer (LA Times): "I think he did a terrific job. He's a great coach and sort of what we anticipated. You saw he obviously had the New England training and then what he did at Penn State was pretty remarkable. Then coming in, fit right in to the league, back into the league. Especially towards the end of the season, you saw a team coming on and really made a push at the end. Fell a little short this year, but clearly a division where they can make up ground and make an impact next year.
Next: National Media discuss whether or not J.J. Watt can repeat his 2014 performance.
