In its relatively young history, the Houston Texans have their share of intriguing personalities who have taken the challenge of spearheading the team. Here is a brief rundown of how these individuals fared as the Texans’ shot-callers.
Dom Capers (2002-2005)
Houston hired Capers in January 2001 with the hopes of leading the expansion team in the right direction. After all, the 1996 NFL Coach of the Year did a fine job of leading the 12-4 Carolina Panthers all the way to the NFC Championship Game in just its second year of existence.
The Texans’ NFL journey also started on a good note, winning their inaugural match against the Dallas Cowboys, 19-10. Unfortunately for Capers, the feel-good story did not last long.
Houston lost the next five games and end up with a 4-12 record for their maiden season. The closest thing to a successful campaign for Capers’ Texans was in 2004 when the team managed to win seven games, good for third place in the AFC South.
The Texans would go on a freefall in the succeeding season wherein a disastrous 0-6 start was simply too much to overcome. Houston managed to win just two games overall which led to Capers’ dismissal at the end of the season.
Gary Kubiak (2006-2013)
Houston turned their attention to Gary Kubiak and named him the second head coach in Texans history prior to the start of the 2006 campaign. Kubiak led Houston to its first non-losing season in 2007 by virtue of an 8-8 record.
Slowly but surely, the Texans were headed in the right direction with Pro Bowlers Andre Johnson and Matt Schaub leading the offense. With Kubiak calling the shots, Houston was finally able to reach the playoffs for the first time in 2011 when the Texans went 10-6, which was enough for the franchise to bag its first-ever AFC South title.
The Texans would improve on that good run the following season when Kubiak led them to a franchise-record 12 wins while netting their second consecutive division title.
Things were looking neat in 2013 when the Texans won their first two games of the season, including the come-from-behind overtime thriller in Week 2 against the division rival Tennessee Titans.
In retrospect, that was all that remained for Houston’s good run as the squad faltered and failed to register a victory for the rest of their campaign. As if on-field foes were not enough, the Texans were dealt a huge blow in Week 9 against the Indianapolis Colts when Kubiak collapsed as he was making his way towards the Houston clubhouse.
With already a lost season in the books and in consideration with Kubiak’s health situation in, Houston made the call to dismiss their head coach on December 6. His interim replacement, Wade Philips, failed to register a victory as the Texans finished the year 2-14.
Bill O’Brien (2014-present)
The Texans went for another big hire in 2014 when they called on Bill O’Brien to be their next head coach. O’Brien impressed in his first season leading the Texans to a 9-7 record, just shy of making the playoffs.
Houston would carry the foundation laid by O’Brien the following year, posting a similar 9-7 win-loss slate. This time though, the record was good enough to secure an AFC South title. The Texans have been a steady presence in the playoffs since then by virtue of winning their division for three of the next four years.
The Texans have a .542 winning percentage with O’Brien at the helm.
Houston has since given him more club control when they named O’Brien as the Texans’ general manager in January 2020.
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