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[Joshua]

I don't know if O'Brien will be our next head coach but the notion that guys with aspirations of being a head coach in the NFL will limit themselves to their backyard is a head scratcher to say the least. There are only 32 NFL head coaching jobs and only about a half dozen open up in a given year. If someone has eyes on being an NFL coach, they aren't going to wait 10 years for one to open up in their home state. Trends in coaching are too fickle and a guy's sell-by date passes way to soon for such luxuries.

In my 30+ years of watching the NFL, I've never heard of that happening, ever. Unless you have some quote from him saying as much, I don't see O'Brien being the first.

[HPF Bob]

Bad timing but Gary Kubiak seemed to have turned down some offers before he accepted his first head coaching gig. He didn't cite geography though. He just felt he wasn't ready although "coming home" to Texas certainly appealed to him when he took the Texans job.

O'Brien does make me nervous though. We've seen the track record of other former Patriot assistant coaches (Weis, Crennel, Haley, McDaniels, etc.) and while the Penn State job certainly had unique challenges, it's not like he was going 10-1 and winning BCS bowls.

[barrett]

Originally Posted by HPF Bob

Bad timing but Gary Kubiak seemed to have turned down some offers before he accepted his first head coaching gig. He didn't cite geography though. He just felt he wasn't ready although "coming home" to Texas certainly appealed to him when he took the Texans job.

O'Brien does make me nervous though. We've seen the track record of other former Patriot assistant coaches (Weis, Crennel, Haley, McDaniels, etc.) and while the Penn State job certainly had unique challenges, it's not like he was going 10-1 and winning BCS bowls.

It is hard to replicate a Tom Brady offense without Tom Brady. But I still like O'Brien. I think it comes down to if he can work with Rick Smith. Many of the NE guys like to go full Bellachik even if they haven't earned the credibility yet (McDaniels in Denver). Word has surfaced that O'Brien had issues with the AD at Penn St. I don't want a guy whose first order of business is to tear everything down in the name of getting "his guys". That leads to Watt getting traded for pennies on the dollar like McDaniels did with Marshall and Cutler. I'd rather have someone with the confidence to make these guys into "his guys" and then replace people based on football and not on who they owe their job to. If O'Brien can be flexible and work with other people, I think he certainly has the mind to be a good HC. McDaniels does for that matter if he'll learn from what happened in Denver and be flexible.

[nunusguy]

Word is Schartz in Detroit just got added to the list of newly unemployed Head Coachs. OK, now that's a roster that I would think O'brien could really relate
to: stellar defense with a franchise QB who has the best WR in the league to throw to. That franchise will be major competition to the Texans for O'Brien's services IMO.

[chuck]

People have been talking about Cleveland and Cleveland certainly has some talent (but zero stability at the top) but I've always thought that Detroit is the only other organization that could possibly compete with Houston in terms of the attractiveness of the head coaching job. They have a very good team.

Houston has a patient owner. Although Mr Ford put up with Matt Millen for the better part of a decade so I suppose I'll have to acknowledge his unusual patience as well.

[HPF Bob]

Winters in Houston, winters in Detroit?
Winters in Houston, winters in Cleveland?

Is that really a hard choice?

[chuck]

Originally Posted by HPF Bob

Winters in Houston, winters in Detroit?
Winters in Houston, winters in Cleveland?

Is that really a hard choice?

Most people live indoors in homes that have heating. Also, if you're from the north then a cold winter wouldn't be that much of an issue.

I would be embarrassed to be so provincial.

[nunusguy]

Originally Posted by HPF Bob

Winters in Houston, winters in Detroit?
Winters in Houston, winters in Cleveland?

Is that really a hard choice?

O'Brien is a New England guy where they have every bit the winters that MoTown does. He's a "4 seasons" person, they love that cold-azz weather, whereas there's little doubt which climate an Art Briles would choose. I'm just saying most people have a "regional bias" depending on large part where they grew up and spent much of their lives, when it comes to their cultural and climate preferences.