Bill O’Brien regrets taking Texans’ general manager job while coaching for team: ‘That was a mistake’

The Houston Texans enter 2024 as a potential title contender, fresh off a splashy offseason full of big-name investments. It’s a far cry from just a few years ago, when Bill O’Brien was ousted as head coach and general manager, prompting multiple regime overhauls. And O’Brien knows it, too, telling “Next Up with Adam Breneman” this week that he regrets his time overseeing Houston’s front office circa 2019-2020.

“That was a tough time in Houston,” O’Brien said. “We were a good team. … We went after some guys (for the GM role). We couldn’t get ’em. And at the end of the day, we went a full year without a GM, really. Myself and another guy did it. And then there was a year where they were like, ‘Well, we’re just gonna make you the GM.’ … In the end, that’s not who I am. That’s another lesson learned.

“I didn’t really enjoy being the GM,” O’Brien continued. “I didn’t enjoy negotiating contracts. In some respects, I lost relationships with some of the guys that I was coaching … In my opinion, there’s very few guys in the history of football that can ever (be a coach and GM simultaneously), and they’re the greatest of the greats. I feel like I’m a good coach. … I know how to evaluate talent. But I shouldn’t be negotiating contracts and things like that. So, in the end, that was a mistake by me, and I wish I really didn’t do that, to be really honest with you.”

O’Brien, who was hired as Boston College’s head coach this offseason, spent just over six seasons in total with the Texans. While he oversaw four winning records and three playoff appearances in his first five years on the job, he is perhaps best known for his polarizing moves as a personnel chief. Unofficially given final say on the roster following general manager Brian Gaine’s dismissal, O’Brien officially added the general manager title in 2019, infamously trading star wide receiver DeAndre Hopkins for injury-riddled running back David Johnson.

“When we were running it at the Houston Texans, yeah, we made some controversial decisions,” O’Brien explained, “but we made some good decisions, too. We traded some top picks for Laremy Tunsil. Laremy Tunsil’s one of the greatest left tackles in the history of the game, in my opinion. … So it wasn’t like it was all terrible. But for me, personally, it’s more about being a coach. And that’s what I love to do.”