As a former New England Patriots offensive coordinator who hails from Andover, Massachusetts, Bill O'Brien will confront his past Saturday night when his Houston Texans take on the AFC's top seed at Gillette Stadium.
Yet as chatter increases around the NFL of growing tension between the third-year coach and the men who employ him -- owner Bob McNair and general manager Rick Smith -- O'Brien also heads into this Divisional Round playoff game with uncertainty surrounding his future.
"I got home the other night and my wife (Colleen) asks me, 'Where are we living next year?' " O'Brien told me Monday during an interview that will air Saturday on NFL Network's "GameDay Morning". "Look, things are out there, and you can't control everything that's out there. I signed a five-year contract when I came here. I've enjoyed coaching here. We like living here. So at the end of the day, the Houston Texans are a place that we enjoy working.
"Whatever the future holds, it holds, but like I said, I have two years left on my contract, so we'll see what happens."
According to various reports -- and based on my conversations with numerous sources -- a breakup between O'Brien and the Texans remains possible, even with Houston in position to reach its first-ever AFC Championship Game with an upset of the heavily favored Pats. If the Texans succumb Saturday night, McNair will have to decide whether to fire O'Brien (which would be somewhat surprising); to try to trade him to another team (only the San Francisco 49ers have yet to fill their head-coaching vacancy); or to retain him and hope that the working relationship between his coach and GM does not further deteriorate in 2017.
Were O'Brien to be available, 49ers owner Jed York likely would be interested; trading a draft pick to acquire him would be far less palatable. Barring a mystery team suddenly swooping in, the smart money is still on O'Brien remaining in Houston, where he has guided the Texans to a trio of 9-7 seasons (and consecutive AFC South championships) despite less-than-optimal circumstances.
Exhibit A: Having to start eight quarterbacks over the course of his three-year tenure, including Brock Osweiler, acquired last March via a four-year, $72 million free-agent deal. A major disappointment, The Brock Star was finally benched by O'Brien after throwing two interceptions in a mid-December game against the Jaguars, with replacement Tom Savage leading the team to one-point victory. However, Savage suffered a concussion early in the team's season-ending defeat to the Titans, and Osweiler was reinserted into the lineup for last Saturday's first-round playoff victory over the Raiders.
Now, even with Savage cleared to return, Osweiler (who performed efficiently against Oakland) will get the start against the Patriots -- and O'Brien told me he won't have a quick hook.
"We're going to stick with Brock," O'Brien said. "Maybe (after being benched) he was able to take a step back and observe some things, and it's a league to me that's all about adversity. I think Brock's done a nice job handling it like a pro.
"I thought he did a nice job in the second half of the Tennessee game, and then he did a very nice job last week. He helped us win a playoff game. He was efficient, he had control of the game and he understood our game plan. We're confident that he'll go up there and execute and play well."
In September, the Texans traveled to Foxborough and played possibly their worst game of O'Brien's tenure, suffering a 27-0 defeat to the Patriots on Thursday Night Football. Tom Brady, the future Hall of Fame quarterback with whom O'Brien is still close, didn't play in that game; hell, neither did Jimmy Garoppolo. Throw in the fact that Houston's best player, three-time NFL Defensive Player of the Year J.J. Watt, was sidelined for the season following the back injury he suffered in that game at Gillette, and the Texans (who nonetheless finished the regular season with the league's No. 1 defense) seem highly unlikely to extend their season beyond Saturday night.
It's an eventuality the perpetually blunt O'Brien isn't afraid to address, even as he wonders about the ramifications that such a defeat might have on his career.
"If we can take care of the ball, and we get into the fourth quarter and it's a close game, anything can happen in the playoffs," he said. "But if we go in there and we kind of dip our toe in the water, they come out fast and we're behind 10-nothing, 17-nothing, obviously it's going to be a long night."
If that happens, O'Brien will quickly find out whether he's moving forward as the Texans' coach -- or whether he and his wife are moving to a new city.
-- Michael Silver
Yet as chatter increases around the NFL of growing tension between the third-year coach and the men who employ him -- owner Bob McNair and general manager Rick Smith -- O'Brien also heads into this Divisional Round playoff game with uncertainty surrounding his future.
"I got home the other night and my wife (Colleen) asks me, 'Where are we living next year?' " O'Brien told me Monday during an interview that will air Saturday on NFL Network's "GameDay Morning". "Look, things are out there, and you can't control everything that's out there. I signed a five-year contract when I came here. I've enjoyed coaching here. We like living here. So at the end of the day, the Houston Texans are a place that we enjoy working.
"Whatever the future holds, it holds, but like I said, I have two years left on my contract, so we'll see what happens."
According to various reports -- and based on my conversations with numerous sources -- a breakup between O'Brien and the Texans remains possible, even with Houston in position to reach its first-ever AFC Championship Game with an upset of the heavily favored Pats. If the Texans succumb Saturday night, McNair will have to decide whether to fire O'Brien (which would be somewhat surprising); to try to trade him to another team (only the San Francisco 49ers have yet to fill their head-coaching vacancy); or to retain him and hope that the working relationship between his coach and GM does not further deteriorate in 2017.
Were O'Brien to be available, 49ers owner Jed York likely would be interested; trading a draft pick to acquire him would be far less palatable. Barring a mystery team suddenly swooping in, the smart money is still on O'Brien remaining in Houston, where he has guided the Texans to a trio of 9-7 seasons (and consecutive AFC South championships) despite less-than-optimal circumstances.
Exhibit A: Having to start eight quarterbacks over the course of his three-year tenure, including Brock Osweiler, acquired last March via a four-year, $72 million free-agent deal. A major disappointment, The Brock Star was finally benched by O'Brien after throwing two interceptions in a mid-December game against the Jaguars, with replacement Tom Savage leading the team to one-point victory. However, Savage suffered a concussion early in the team's season-ending defeat to the Titans, and Osweiler was reinserted into the lineup for last Saturday's first-round playoff victory over the Raiders.
Now, even with Savage cleared to return, Osweiler (who performed efficiently against Oakland) will get the start against the Patriots -- and O'Brien told me he won't have a quick hook.
"We're going to stick with Brock," O'Brien said. "Maybe (after being benched) he was able to take a step back and observe some things, and it's a league to me that's all about adversity. I think Brock's done a nice job handling it like a pro.
"I thought he did a nice job in the second half of the Tennessee game, and then he did a very nice job last week. He helped us win a playoff game. He was efficient, he had control of the game and he understood our game plan. We're confident that he'll go up there and execute and play well."
In September, the Texans traveled to Foxborough and played possibly their worst game of O'Brien's tenure, suffering a 27-0 defeat to the Patriots on Thursday Night Football. Tom Brady, the future Hall of Fame quarterback with whom O'Brien is still close, didn't play in that game; hell, neither did Jimmy Garoppolo. Throw in the fact that Houston's best player, three-time NFL Defensive Player of the Year J.J. Watt, was sidelined for the season following the back injury he suffered in that game at Gillette, and the Texans (who nonetheless finished the regular season with the league's No. 1 defense) seem highly unlikely to extend their season beyond Saturday night.
It's an eventuality the perpetually blunt O'Brien isn't afraid to address, even as he wonders about the ramifications that such a defeat might have on his career.
"If we can take care of the ball, and we get into the fourth quarter and it's a close game, anything can happen in the playoffs," he said. "But if we go in there and we kind of dip our toe in the water, they come out fast and we're behind 10-nothing, 17-nothing, obviously it's going to be a long night."
If that happens, O'Brien will quickly find out whether he's moving forward as the Texans' coach -- or whether he and his wife are moving to a new city.
-- Michael Silver
