The Houston Texans are close to sealing a deal with Bill O'Brien to become its new coach, with league sources indicating that both parties are hoping to finalize the agreement next week.
ESPN.com reports that O'Brien met with officials of the Texans after Christmas at his home in Cape Cod, which is expected to end up with a finalized contract next week. But the same sources said that the Texans still have other candidates in mind should it fail to finalize an agreement with the Penn State coach.
The team has been cautious on signing O'Brien, studying his previous stints particularly with the New England Patriots where he spent six years as an assistant. He then became the offensive coordinator for the club that lost in Super Bowl XLVI to the New York Giants.
He also interviewed with the Cleveland Browns and Philadelphia Eagles last offseason but eventually returned to Penn State. He has just finished his second season at Penn State, where he was the Big Ten coach of the year in 2012, followed by a 7-5 season this year while playing freshman quarterback Christian Hackenberg and amid heavy sanctions placed on the Nittany Lions after the Jerry Sandusky scandal.
But O'Brien's name has always been linked with NFL head coaching vacancies. Prior to returning to Penn State in 2012, he agreed to an amended contract that lowered his buyout to join an NFL team from $19.33 million to $6.48 million. There had been conversations to further reduce the NFL buyout
The 2-13 Texans are searching for a replacement for former coach Gary Kubiak who was fired earlier this month.
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