Houston Texans standout and former NFL All-Pro Andre Johnson is open to taking the job as head coach at Texas Southern, per comments obtained by the Houston Chronicle. Johnson, who’s never served as a head coach or assistant coach, wants to follow in the footsteps of Deion Sanders and Eddie George. Johnson also recently made headlines as one of the 25 semi-finalists for enshrinement in the Pro Football Hall of Fame.
When asked about coaching by the Houston Chronicle’s Jerome Solomon, he spoke about his coaching future ahead of the Jaguars vs. Texans game on last Sunday, saying, “I just let things play out…wouldn’t ever say no. If something came across the table that made sense, I would consider it.”
When Solomon asked him directly about taking the position as head coach of Texas Southern, he simply said, “I’d be open to it.”
After the loss of star quarterback Andrew Body to a season-ending injury, Texas Southern finished the season with a 3-8 record. They showed signs of promise after going head-to-head with red-hot Florida A&M in their October 21st, thoroughly dominating Alcorn State and taking them out of contention for the SWAC Championship and having close battles with Jackson State and Southern. However, the Tigers athletics administration still decided to not renew head coach Clarence McKinney’s contract.
The Tigers are in need of a leader for the program that can push them to prominence. The team has only had 2 winning seasons in 23 years, boasting an 8-3 record in 2000 and a 9-3 record in 2010, in which they beat Alabama State to become the SWAC Champions. The program has also had three winless seasons (2004, 2007, 2019).
A celebrity/NFL coach might not be what Texas Southern needs to compete. However, the next head coach must be ready to aggressively recruit the Texas area and come up with a gameplan to compete in a SWAC West division that’s the most wide-open as it’s ever been with the struggles that have befallen Southern and Grambling in the past few seasons.