The Houston Texans surprised the NFL world by interviewing Josh McCown for the team’s head coach position. Whatever the intent, all it has done is open up the organization to a fresh round of criticism.
Many NFL media figures, some of them former players, were highly critical of the Texans for granting McCown an interview. Many noted that so many head coaching candidates work many years to climb the ladder, and McCown is getting an undeserved chance to jump the line.
I'm a big Josh McCown fan, too. Still this is a bad look for everyone involved. There are too many qualified coaches with years of experience to let anyone potentially cut the line like this, no matter who they are. https://t.co/5EnyBFDku9
— ProFootballTalk (@ProFootballTalk) January 22, 2021
I hate how Josh McCown is caught up in this #Texans coaching fiasco. I love that man like a brother & I’ve always said he would be a HC one day but this whole process is just crazy
— Damien Woody (@damienwoody) January 22, 2021
If Josh McCown gets this job over Eric Bieniemy…Twitter will burn to the ground. https://t.co/xIr1YRqf0l
— Matt Miller (@nfldraftscout) January 22, 2021
I'm certain everybody I know in the NFL who knows Josh McCown likes Josh McCown and believes he is coaching material, but if McCown gets a head coaching job before Eric Bieniemy, then I'd say some sort of Congressional hearings and the forfeiture of 37 draft picks are in order.
— Jeff Legwold (@Jeff_Legwold) January 22, 2021
When Jack Easterby was interim GM, he signed Josh McCown to the practice squad because the Texans needed a third QB. Smart move. But to interview a guy who's never coached, even though he may become a great coach at some point, for a head coaching job is preposterous!
— John McClain (@McClain_on_NFL) January 22, 2021
Related: How many smart non-white players have we been told are 'going to be a head coach someday'? This whole thing is nauseating. There are hundreds and hundreds of people who'd be better NFL head coaches today than Josh McCown. This is a joke, @HoustonTexans https://t.co/ItKqSL7eNo
— Michael Silver (@MikeSilver) January 22, 2021
Bieniemy, Daboll, Frazier, Martindale, McDaniels, Bowles, A. Lynn, P. Graham…sir & talk leadership, teaching schematics (offense or defense), team building, player development, organizational structure, etc w/any of them & u will come away highly impressed…yet here we are…
— Louis Riddick (@LRiddickESPN) January 23, 2021
McCown is probably unlikely to get the job. That said, the NFL has faced criticism for the lack of minority hires, and that criticism has only increased as Chiefs offensive coordinator Eric Bieniemy has been passed over for multiple head coaching jobs in the last two hiring cycles. Bieniemy is still in the mix for the Houston job, but it’s clear that the McCown interview rubbed a lot of people the wrong way in light of that. Plus, there are a lot of qualified coordinators and experienced assistants who won’t even get the look McCown did.
The Texans have received a ton of bad publicity lately. This seems poised to only add to it.
