Friday, January 17, 2014

New Texans head Coach Bill O'Brien pushes the right buttons

The New England Patriots' 34-27 win over the Buffalo Bills in 2011 is seldom remembered for the score or even the victory.

What's embedded in the brains of NFL fans is the fiery screaming match that occurred between Tom Brady and an offensive coordinator after Brady threw an interception in the red zone with 6:30 left to play. (You can see the two of them having it out here.)

That offensive coordinator was Bill O'Brien. The new head coach of the Houston Texans.

After finishing a year as head coach at Penn State, O'Brien quickly emerged as the front runner for McNair's pick for new head honcho (aside from McNair of course). Now he has been named head coach, and there are aspects that depict him as both foil and compliment to former head coach Gary Kubiak. And that's a good thing.

Like Kubiak, O'Brien began in the NFL as an offensive coordinator and quarterback coach. And they both assisted greats. Kubiak worked for Mike Shanahan in Denver, while O'Brien helped Bill Belicheck in New England. The experience for both is and was definitely there, and provided what the Texans needed and once again will need next season. The key difference, however, lies in the opposing personalities.

Gary Kubiak was mostly criticizing for being Gary "Konserviak", backed by accusations of timidness on 4th down and a lack of fire to motivate his players. It appears that O'Brien may solve this problem. After four years in New England, O'Brien courageously took the head coaching job at Penn State, replacing Joe Paterno after the Jerry Sandusky child sex scandal. What was set up to be a disastrous season weighed down by emotional fatigue turned out to be an 8-4 year, with O'Brien winning ESPN's Coach of the Year award.

When O'Brien left Penn State, his strong personality emerged yet again when he released statements about his frustration with the "politics".

My observation? It's a little early to tell, but O'Brien shows a lot of promise. He knows how to light a fire under any player (even the almighty Brady), is not afraid to tackle sinking franchises and has the offensive and quarterback-specialized experience that the Texans need.

O'Brien recently had his first press conference in Houston, and his last quote is what really seals the deal for me.

"It's all about winning. We'll get started real soon."

After a 2-14 season my words are this: Amen, Mr. O'Brien. Let's get to it.

Molly Oretsky
Three Penny Press


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