Although he may not have had much of a chance to begin with, the Houston Texans fired David Culley after just one season. Given a poor roster, the results were better than expected, given that the face of the franchise, Deshaun Watson didn’t play at all.
Now a year later the Texans are in search of a new head coach and possibly preparing to trade Watson. In other words, they’re largely in the same spot they were in a year ago.
Or, are they? Reports are emerging of the Texans’ interest in hiring former Miami Dolphins head coach Brian Flores, who was believed to be a major proponent behind their interest in a potential Watson trade last season. Jason La Canfora of CBS Sports reports Flores is being viewed as the “strong favorite” to become the next head coach of the Texans.
Flores was fired from the Dolphins on Jan. 10. Interestingly enough, Culley was fired three days later.
The Texans didn’t wait long to make their move. Flores interviewed for the coaching vacancy in Houston the day after they let Culley go. It’s possible they had their eye on Flores the moment he became available, which brings up an interesting question.
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Are the Houston Texans mending fences with Deshaun Watson?
The easy connection here is Flores possibly heading to where Watson already is. Most reports suggest Watson has had more issues with the McNair ownership than he ever has with any previous or current head coaches and general managers. Yet indications have also pointed to Watson having an interest in playing for a Flores-coached team.
We’ll see which preference wins out if Flores ultimately lands in Houston. Chances are Watson, Flores, and the Texans already have a pretty good feel about whether the rumored hire would change anything with Watson. It could be a precursor to something much bigger, it could be a last-ditch effort to salvage the relationship, or it could be a final kick in the rear before trading him later this offseason.
Like everything included with the Watson drama, it’s a complicated situation that has yet to come to a conclusion, but we could be closer to getting answers than ever before.
Flores worked with Texans general manager Nick Caserio for 15 years as a member of the New England Patriots. Then there’s also the Jack Easterby connection who worked with Flores for six years under Belichick. Now they could be reuniting, only this time with the Houston Texans, but the biggest question surrounds left to be answered is if Deshaun Watson ever suits up for the team again.
