The Texans are in the second week of their search for a coach and it doesn’t seem, general manager, Nick Caserio is close to hiring David Culley’s replacement.
It looked as though Caserio would move fast when he had former Miami Dolphins coach Brian Flores in to interview the day after firing Culley. Flores, who was fired at the end of the season, has a New England Patriots connection Caserio which had many believing he was the logical hire.
But since then it has been a steady stream of interviews, which includes a couple of head scratchers.
The sensible interviews have included Philadelphia Eagles defensive coordinator Jonathan Gannon, Los Angeles Chargers offensive coordinator Joe Lombardi, Los Angeles Rams offensive coordinator Kevin O’Connell and Flores.
But then are two that seem to make no sense: Former Pittsburgh Steeler wide receiver and two-time Super Bowl champion Hines Ward has interviewed along with former NFL backup quarterback Josh McCown. Neither one has much in the way of NFL coaching experience on their resumes.
Ward, 45, spent the 2020 season as an offensive assistant coach with the New York Jets and is currently a special assistant to the Florida Atlantic head coach. McCown, an 18-year NFL veteran quarterback, has even less of a coaching resume with no experience to speak of.
McCown, of course, interviewed for the Texans head coaching job last year when Culley was hired. It has been rumored that McCown turned down an offer that Caserio and VP of football operations and former team chaplain Jack Easterby made for him to become Culley’s associate head coach last year.
McCown’s tie-in seems to be a connection with Easterby that stems from their involvement in the Fellowship of Christian Athletes.
Flores and Ward are the only two known men of African-American descent to have interviewed for the Texans’ job so far. There was some interest in New England Patriots linebackers coach Jerod Mayo during the early going but it’s uncertain if he will interview.
Currently, the NFL is down to one African-American coach (Pittsburgh Steelers Mike Tomlin) although Tampa Bay Buccaneers offensive coordinator Byron Leftwich is expected to be officially named the Jacksonville Jaguars coach any day now.
There is speculation that Caserio, who just entered his second year on the job, may struggle to find a quality head coach because of his hands-on micro-managing approach. Caserio and Easterby both played a part in putting together much of Culley’s staff and during the season it came out that Caserio wore headphones in the general manager box and was involved in the play-calling during games. That would likely be a deal-breaker with a lot of experienced coaching candidates.
Follow Terrance Harris on Twitter @terranceharris
