The Houston Texans are casting a broad net to determine who should be their fourth full-time coach in franchise history.
With quarterback Deshaun Watson locked up through the 2025 season, the Texans don’t need to take a proven veteran; they can afford to get a coach with young, fresh ideas to get the most out of the three-time Pro Bowler.
One name they need to avoid is Joe Brady, offensive coordinator for the Carolina Panthers. It isn’t so much that Brady is bad at his job. Though the Panthers are 5-10, Carolina is tied with the Baltimore Ravens, Arizona Cardinals, San Francisco 49ers for the 13th-highest yards per play at 5.7. Consider Brady has had stability at quarterback with Teddy Bridgewater starting 14 games, but he has benefited from running back Christian McCaffrey’s unique skill in just three games.
Brady has had to get creative, and the Panthers’ wins against the Cardinals in Week 4 and at Washington in Week 16 are impressive given these teams are on the verge of playoff qualification.
Why the Texans need to move along when it comes to Brady is his inexperience. He is 31 years old, which isn’t a deficit. However, in his seven years of being in the real world, he’s coached positions (linebackers, William & Mary, 2013-14), has been a graduate assistant (Penn State, 2015-16), an offensive assistant (LSU, 2017-18). To his credit, Brady worked his way up to become the LSU Tigers’ passing game coordinator in 2019, and a national championship shows how great of an investment that was to hire from within.
Brady has never run a team; he has run positions or units at best. As the Texans’ coach, he would have to oversee the entire operation, not pigeonhole with the passing game. Naturally, there would be some growing pains in giving Brady the full-time job. Can the Texans really afford to waste another season of Watson’s prime so a promising yet callow coach can adapt to the NFL?
The only way Brady could have success would be to surround him with an experienced staff. Take a look at Sean McVay when he debuted with the Los Angeles Rams in 2017. Of course McVay, who had zero experience running a complete football team, could fixate on the offense — he had Wade Phillips, one of the greatest defensive assistants in the past 30 years, as his defensive coordinator, John Fassel as his special teams coach, and Joe Barry, a Super Bowl-winning assistant with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
The Rams went from Jeff Fisher to Super Bowl contender in two seasons, but they had a very experienced coaching staff. Houston could take that chance with Brady, but they better ensure he has coaching elders he can rely on.