The firing of Bill O'Brien as coach and general manager doesn't leave the winless Texans in inexperienced hands.
Venerable interim coach Romeo Crennel, installed by Texans chairman and chief executive officer Cal McNair as O'Brien's replacement for the remainder of the season, has been imparting knowledge and wisdom about the game of football for five decades.
A longtime defensive guru, Crennel, aka RAC Romeo Anthony Crennel, has two previous stints as a head coach with the Cleveland Browns and the Kansas City Chiefs. Crennel has earned five Super Bowl rings, all as an assistant coach with the New England Patriots. He has a 28-55 overall record as a head coach, including three games as an interim coach with one winning season.
When Crennel coaches the Texans on Sunday against the Jacksonville Jaguars at NRG Stadium, he'll become the oldest head coach in a game in NFL history. Chicago Bears legend George Halas, a Pro Football Hall of Fame member, was the second-oldest to coach an NFL game in 1967 when he was 72 years and 318 days old, according to NFL Research.
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The Texans are hoping that Crennel will inject leadership and a boost in morale for a sputtering team in need of a victory and a new direction. Despite the presence of Pro Bowl quarterback Deshaun Watson, the team isn't clicking right now.
"RAC is perfect for a situation like this because he’s a leader of men," said former Texans offensive guard Jeff Allen, who played for Crennel as a rookie when he was the Chiefs' head coach. "I loved Romeo. I think he’s a great leader. I was a rookie and I was just out there swimming, trying to figure things out in the deep end. My experience with him was great as a head coach.
"Even though we didn’t win very much, he did a good job of keeping the team together. There were a lot of things going on. He definitely is going to foster a good environment with the Texans."
Crennel has been a leader under the darkest of circumstances.
Crennel along with former Chiefs general manager Scott Pioli and linebackers coach Gary Gibbs tried to talk Chiefs linebacker Jovan Belcher out of committing suicide in the parking lot outside of the Chiefs' training facility. Belcher, who had murdered his girlfriend before arriving at Arrowhead Stadium, killed himself by shooting himself in the head.
The day after the murder-suicide, Crennel coached the Chiefs to a win over the Carolina Panthers. He was fired after the season, but Crennel left an indelible impression on Allen and other players because of his compassion and character during that tragedy.
“Romeo did everything in his power to comfort us and protect us," Allen said. "There were decisions made that were out of his control. The league forced us to play. He was professional about it. He said, 'This is the situation, if you don’t want to play, you don’t have to.' We felt it was the right thing to do and he helped us incredibly with that extremely difficult situation.
"Besides the incident, there was some friction behind the scenes with the organization. Romeo knew that, but he ultimately knew what his role was and that was to try to right the ship. He did the best he could. Unfortunately, we didn't have all the right pieces."
Recognized for his decades of accomplishments in the NFL this spring, Crennel won the Paul "Dr. Z" Zimmerman Pro Football Writers of America award for lifetime achievement as an assistant coach.
A former defensive coordinator with the Texans, Chiefs, Browns and New England Patriots, Crennel has been coaching since 1970 when he became the defensive line coach at Western Kentucky, his alma mater.
“I have a very high regard for him,” retired NFL head coach and general manager Bill Parcells said of Crennel in a statement. “He’s run the whole gamut, from assistant special teams coach, to defensive line to defensive coordinator to head coach.
"He’s a very even-keeled guy, but he does have a boiling point. I’ve seen it several times, and it was very effective. He’s a very smart guy who knows the techniques to teach."
Crennel began this season as associate head coach advising first-year defensive coordinator Anthony Weaver. Now, he's in charge of the entire team.
Crennel still enjoys going to the practice field and interacting with players. He loves to teach and he has pushed off retirement.
“I’ve always told myself that as long as I enjoy it and I still feel good, physically, then they might have to kick me out," Crennel said during training camp. "That’s my mindset. I still enjoy the game, I enjoy the players, I enjoy the coaches. As long as it feels good to me, I’ll continue to do it.
"I don’t think that I’m at a position where I want to put a timetable on it. Basically, I’ve been going it’s year to year. At the end of this season, I’ll see how I feel and what it looks like, then make a decision and go from there.”
Crennel was the Texans' defensive coordinator from 2014 to 2016 and one of the highest paid defensive bosses in the league with a $1.8 million salary. He was the associate head coach in 2017 when Mike Vrabel ran the defense and was slated for a similar role this year until O'Brien was dismissed.
"I love RAC," defensive end J.J. Watt said. "I've always said it, I've been very fortunate to have a guy like Wade Phillips early in my career and a guy like Romeo Crennel here these last few years.
"Those two guys are just incredible people, incredible minds, incredible experiences, and I've been very fortunate to be around them, to learn from them and to grow with them."
The Texans led the NFL in total defense in 2016. This year, they're ranked 27th in total defense and are last in the league against the run as they've allowed 181.8 rushing yards per game and an average of 4.9 yards per carry.
Crennel has been mentoring Weaver for years, helping him prepare for this major step in his career. Now, he'll try to assist Weaver and the entire team to try to turn things around.
"Romeo Crennel, not only is he a tremendous defensive mind, but he is an incredible human being," Weaver said "He’s been a huge mentor for me throughout, and I can't tell you how fortunate I feel just to still have him in the building and be able to bounce ideas off of him."
Crennel replaced Butch Davis in Cleveland and went 24-40. His best season was in 2007 when the Browns finished 10-6 and nearly made the playoffs. He was fired in 2008 after a 4-12 season.
After replacing Todd Haley in Kansas City when he was fired, Crennel went 2-1 as interim coach before being hired as permanent coach. The Chiefs went 4-15 overall in his tenure.
Unlike his time in Kansas City, there are a lot more pieces in place for Crennel to work with. Especially under center with Watson, the Texans' $156 million franchise quarterback.
"I know Houston is 0-4 right now with a lot of things going on in-house that no one knows but the guys in the locker room," Allen said. "I believe they're going to start winning some games. They’re loaded with talent. Deshaun Watson is a special quarterback, man."
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