Bill O’Brien ‘tried to get fired’ so he could replace Bill Belichick with Patriots

Bill Belichick’s clashes with Patriots owner Robert Kraft and other members of the organization reached the point where the team considered replacing him – and doing so with a surprising name.

According to the upcoming book “It’s Better To Be Feared” by ESPN writer Seth Wickersham, Kraft, Tom Brady and a few others discussed potential replacements for Belichick around 2017. Josh McDaniels was the top choice, but if he were to get hired as a head coach elsewhere, then-Texans head coach Bill O’Brien was likely the pick.

“The plan was fanciful,” Wickersham wrote in the book, per ESPN. “But O’Brien heard about it. He was in a power struggle of his own in Houston, fighting with general manager Rick Smith, a ‘dysfunctional’ and ‘toxic’ situation, according to the Houston Chronicle. The leaks from O’Brien’s camp, claiming he wanted out, were so aggressive as to be suspicious, as if he knew he had a golden parachute.”

Smith ended up taking a leave of absence at the end of 2017 and the Texans stuck with O’Brien, giving him more power over football operations. However, it wasn’t exactly a victory O’Brien was happy with.

“I was trying to get fired,” O’Brien said, per the book.

O’Brien did end up getting fired in 2020 after getting off to a 0-4 start to the season, following a series of questionable offseason moves, including trading star wide receiver DeAndre Hopkins to the Cardinals for a minimal return. He is now the offensive coordinator for Alabama under Nick Saban.