Shortly after Bill O’Brien became the head coach of the Texans, reports surfaced that he planned to appoint Romeo Crennel as his defensive coordinator.
The Texans cleared space for Crennel by dismissing Wade Phillips while parting ways with all but one assistant from Gary Kubiak’s staff and an official announcement about Crennel’s arrival could be coming in the near future. John McClain of the Houston Chronicle reports that Crennel is interviewing with O’Brien and the Texans on Wednesday and that he remains the leading candidate for the job.
Crennel did not work in the NFL in 2013, taking the year off after getting fired as the Chiefs’ head coach after the 2012 season. Crennel took over as the interim coach in Kansas City in 2011, starting his second stint as an NFL head coach after four years in the job with the Browns. Crennel was also defensive coordinator in New England from 2001-2004 and worked with Patriots coach Bill Belichick with the Giants and Jets when both were assistants under Bill Parcells. O’Brien later worked with Belichick in New England.
O’Brien held onto defensive line coach Bill Kollar from Kubiak’s staff and he’s expected to bring several of his assistants from Penn State on board as well.