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With reports swirling that the Houston Texans and Bill O'Brien are working on a contract for O'Brien to become the next head coach of the Houston Texans, Ian Rapoport says the Texans will interview current Chargers offensive coordinator and former Cardinals head coach Ken Whisenhunt for the team's open head coaching position:
On #Texans: Perhaps the final candidate the Texans will interview is Chargers OC Ken Whisenhunt, per sources. GM Rick Smith is a big fan.
— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) December 29, 2013
Marc Sessler of NFL.com expounds on Rapoport's report:
NFL Media Insider Ian Rapoport reported Sunday that the Texans will interview the Chargers offensive coordinator this week, according to sources informed of the team's process. Rapoport was told that Houston has strong interest in Whisenhunt, who might wind up as the final candidate they chat with.
Texans general manager Rick Smith shares a long history with Whisenhunt, who was fired last January as the coach of the Cardinals after a six-year run in Arizona that included a trip to Super Bowl XLIII. Whisenhunt's quarterback room was a disaster in the desert after Kurt Warner retired, but he's helped turn around Philip Rivers in San Diego this season under head coach Mike McCoy.
Whisenhunt has long been mentioned as a candidate and interviewee, so the only real issue as I see it is whether the interview is a legitimate exercise or merely a smoke screen for the Texans and/or O'Brien to buy some time to come to an agreement without additional media scrutiny. I'm hoping it's the latter, as I'd much prefer O'Brien be the guy in charge of molding the Texans' next quarterback instead of the coach who was in charge of Matt Leinart, Kevin Kolb, Max Hall, and John Skelton's development. What say you?
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