Bill O’Brien, Bob McNair Address Rumors Of Coach’s Future With Texans

Texans fans were waiting to see if Bob McNair would dismiss rumors of the organization and Bill O’Brien going their separate ways, and McNair did just that in the wake of the Texans’ playoff triumph over the Raiders. John McClain reports:

About 15 minutes after the Texans' 27-14 AFC wild-card victory over Oakland, owner Bob McNair responded to reports in the national media that he might have fired coach Bill O'Brien if they had lost to the Raiders.

"There's nothing to it," McNair said. "I'm not going to fire him. Forget that. If I were you, I wouldn't repeat it because it's false."

Asked again if the reports had any substance, McNair said, "No. I don't know where they get that. I got a chuckle out of it."

A few minutes later, McNair added that he never intended to fire O'Brien under any circumstances.

So Bob McNair says there’s no coaching change coming. What about Bill O’Brien? He also touched on the rumors in his post-game presser, which you can watch in its entirety here. The complete response from O’Brien regarding the rumors of him leaving Houston:

“Yeah, no, I have a five-year contract here. I have two years left on my contract. I’m looking forward to coaching here, and I’m looking forward to getting ready for this next game. You know, I think it’s a great win today for our team, and I’m just really proud of our players. And I think our players, like I said earlier, they work very hard to get to this point. They dealt with the ups and downs, and you know, they’re where they are right now. At the end of this weekend, there will only be eight teams left, and I think that’s a good accomplishment for this team right now. But there’s more to be done. There’s more to play, and I know these guys will come in ready to work this week, and I’m excited for that.”

Do those words from McNair and O’Brien put an end to the idea that the Texans will have a new head coach next season? Or do you think there’s still a chance the sides decide to end their relationship within the next week or two?