Bill O’Brien Doesn’t Recommend “Hard Knocks”

The show that typically signals the proper start of a new NFL season has been a lifeline for fans desperate to see meaningful football programming in the middle of the year, but Houston Texans head coach Bill O’Brien has warned his fellow NFL coaches and franchises to stay away if they can help it.

HBO’s acclaimed program – that provides an intimate, realistic look into the struggles and stresses that go into both making and composing an NFL roster – did a fine job of showcasing many different facets of O’Brien over its five episodes.

From his sailor’s mouth to his down-to-earth sense of humour, affinity for Rick Ross and split personality when it came to looking after his disabled son, O’Brien earned the respect of many viewers during the season.

But it was his televised decision to name Brian Hoyer as the starting quarterback over Ryan Mallett that O’Brien felt was mishandled by the cameras.

“That’s the problem with Hard Knocks,” he explained. “They have a two-minute conversation that maybe would be a half-hour conversation. They take one snippet out of it, talk about all the things that go into choosing quarterbacks and things like that.”

“First of all, the people that produce and direct Hard Knocks – Matt Dissinger, the director, great guy – great group of people to work with,” he continued. “But the process of Hard Knocks: I wouldn’t recommend that. No, I would not recommend that for a team or coaches.”

In the same episode, it was made to appear that his decision was the right one, as Mallett displayed extreme unprofessionalism by sleeping through his alarm clock and missing a morning training session. But when Hoyer was pulled three quarters through the team’s first regular season game, many questioned the confidence with which O’Brien had named him starter in the first place.

While O’Brien’s grievances are legitimate, it sounds like his biggest problem lies with something outside the control of everyone involved. Football fans or not, most viewers probably wouldn’t sit down for half an hour just to hear a coach go into the Xs and Os of his decision, important as it may be.

Besides, any segment that takes away from slow-motion training sessions set to rap music doesn’t sound like a fair trade off to us.