Josh McCown spent most of the 2020 season on the Houston Texans' practice squad. On Friday, the 41-year-old quarterback interviewed to spend the 2021 season as the team's new head coach.
McCown, a 19-year-veteran who has one year remaining on his current contract, was one of two candidates that have recently interviewed for the Texans' head coaching vacancy. The other candidate is Jim Caldwell, a longtime NFL coach who led the Colts to an AFC championship in 2009. Caldwell, who also had a four-year run as the Lions' head coach, has had two interviews with Houston since the team fired Bill O'Brien four games into the 2020 season.
While he has no college or NFL coaching experience, McCown's "strong leadership traits" have made him a candidate for the position, according to NFL Network's Mike Garofolo. If he is picked to be the Texans' new coach, Houston would hire at least one former NFL head coach to put on McCown's staff, according to Garofolo.
A 2002 third-round pick, McCown has played for nine teams during his NFL career. In 2010, before signing with the Arizona Cardinals, McCown served as a voluntary quarterbacks coach for Marvin Ridge High School in North Carolina. McCown occasionally volunteered at the school -- including serving as a scout team quarterback -- over the next several years. He is currently the quarterbacks coach at his sons' school: Myers Park High School in Charlotte.
If hired, McCown would be the first active player to immediately become an NFL head coach since former quarterback Norm Van Brocklin went from player for the Eagles to coaching the Vikings in 1961. Van Brocklin went 66-100-7 in 13 seasons that included six seasons in Minnesota and another seven with the Falcons.
Among the other candidates the Texans have interviewed so far include Chiefs offensive coordinator Eric Bieniemy, Bills defensive coordinator Leslie Frazier, former Bengals head coach Marvin Lewis, and Colts defensive coordinator Matt Eberflus.
