Texas reserve quarterback Josh McCown’s interview for the position of Houston head coach came as a shock to many in the NFL, but they were not the only ones to consider it. Sources said that Philadelphia, where McCown impressed the team and the front office with his leadership, football acumen and personal skills during his stint as a defender, also seriously considered talking to him. They see McCown as a future NFL coach – sooner or later – and invented a creative way to keep him on their training team to start 2020, even though he lives in Texas and is a high school football coach there, because he was a valuable resource for coaches and the quarterback room.
The Texans hired McCown for his active lineup in the middle of the season, with an eye on him, eventually remaining with the organization as a coach after he retires from the game.
McCown was discussed as a potential interview and considered within the Eagles’ coach selection committee, the sources said, but ultimately, the fact that he has no experience as an NFL coach led them to not formally request permission to speak. with him. (Given how highly Texans think of him, it is fair to assume that this may not have been granted, anyway). The Eagles were intrigued by the prospect of a younger coach on the offensive side of the ball and ended up hiring Colts assistant Nick Sirianni, 39, who is actually younger than McCown (41).
The Eagles were also very impressed with Patriots linebacker coach Jerod Mayo, who is only 34 years old and has only two years of career (he retired from a distinguished playing career in 2015), but in the end he opted for a coach with more sweeping coaching experience. The tendency for players to jump from active player to head coach in a much faster than normal time frame is something to watch out for in the coming years, and it is only a matter of time before McCown is coaching an NFL team, be it him in Houston or elsewhere.