Bill O'Brien spent six seasons as the head coach of the Houston Texans, making four playoff appearances. Then, he assumed the general manager role, which quickly backfired on him. In his seventh season with the franchise—and first as general manager—the Texans started the season 0-4, leading to O'Brien's firing.
To nobody's surprise, O'Brien regrets taking on a front office role with the team. Now the head coach of Boston College, O'Brien is back where he feels he belongs -- in a coaching role. He recently had the opportunity to let everyone in on his time as the Texans' general manager.
“That was a tough time in Houston,” O'Brien said to Adam Breneman. “We were a good team, we made some decisions relative to the organization to try to fill the GM role, we went after some guys, we couldn’t get them, at the end of the day we went a full year really without a GM . . . and then there was a year we just said, ‘We’ll make you the GM.’ In the end, that’s not who I am.”
It doesn't appear that becoming the general manager was O'Brien's first choice, but he gave it a shot as things were rocky in Houston. While it didn't pay off, it did teach O'Brien where his strengths lie and what he enjoys the most.
“I didn’t really enjoy being the GM,” O’Brien continued. “I didn’t enjoy negotiating contracts. In some respects, I lost relationships with some of the guys that I was coaching because I didn’t enjoy that. In my opinion, there’s very few guys in the history of football that can ever do that -- and they’re the greatest of the greats. I feel like I’m a good coach, I know how to coach, but those things I’m not great at. I can evaluate talent, I know how to evaluate talent, but I shouldn’t be negotiating contracts and things like that. So in the end, that was a mistake by me. I really wish I didn’t do that to be really honest with you.”
As a talent evaluator and head coach focusing on the on-field product, O'Brien should pan out at the college football level with Boston College. Sure, he's going to have to "negotiate" when it comes to recruiting, but staying up to date with Name, Image and Likeness and the current state of recruiting might better suit the former Texans head coach and general manager.
