Bill Belichick’s clashes with Patriots owner Robert Kraft and other members of the organization reached the point where the team considered replacing him – and doing so with a surprising name.
According to the upcoming book “It’s Better To Be Feared” by ESPN writer Seth Wickersham, Kraft, Tom Brady and a few others discussed potential replacements for Belichick around 2017. Josh McDaniels was the top choice, but if he were to get hired as a head coach elsewhere, then-Texans head coach Bill O’Brien was likely the pick.
“The plan was fanciful,” Wickersham wrote in the book, per ESPN. “But O’Brien heard about it. He was in a power struggle of his own in Houston, fighting with general manager Rick Smith, a ‘dysfunctional’ and ‘toxic’ situation, according to the Houston Chronicle. The leaks from O’Brien’s camp, claiming he wanted out, were so aggressive as to be suspicious, as if he knew he had a golden parachute.”
Smith ended up taking a leave of absence at the end of 2017 and the Texans stuck with O’Brien, giving him more power over football operations. However, it wasn’t exactly a victory O’Brien was happy with.
“I was trying to get fired,” O’Brien said, per the book.
O’Brien did end up getting fired in 2020 after getting off to a 0-4 start to the season, following a series of questionable offseason moves, including trading star wide receiver DeAndre Hopkins to the Cardinals for a minimal return. He is now the offensive coordinator for Alabama under Nick Saban.
