The Houston Texans continue to evaluate possible coaching candidates as they move to hire the fourth full-time coach in team history.

The club announced Friday they have continued discussions about the coaching job with Jim Caldwell and Josh McCown.

Caldwell, the former Indianapolis Colts and Detroit Lions coach, led the Colts to a Super Bowl berth in his first of three seasons in 2009. When Peyton Manning was out for the year with a neck injury in 2011, the Colts went 2-14 and Caldwell was canned, and it gave the impression apart from Manning he could do nothing.

However, from 2014-17, when Caldwell was the coach of the Lions, he led them to three winning seasons out of his four years there, including two playoff qualifications in 2014 and 2016. The Lions have not had that type of postseason frequency since Barry Sanders in the 1990s, and Matt Patricia posted double-digit losing seasons with the same roster Caldwell took the playoffs.

McCown is a 41-year-old journeyman quarterback, who went to high school at nearby Jacksonville High School and graduated from Sam Houston State. McCown came home to the Texans during the 2020 season and was the emergency quarterback, never seeing any playing time nor any activations. In addition to being close to home, McCown said he really enjoyed the Houston organization.

“When these guys called and the opportunity to actually be in a building and be around the guys, that’s what I’m here for,” McCown told reporters on Nov. 13, 2020. “That’s what I want to be a part of. Like I said, in any way I can serve and help a young quarterback like Deshaun [Watson] continue to do what he’s doing, that’s the icing on the cake. That’s what I want to get out of this. Just to be a part of an organization, be a part of something that a group of guys coming together to accomplish something.”

McCown actually does have coaching experience. In 2019, he was the quarterbacks coach at Myers Park High School in Charlotte, North Caroflina, where his two boys played ball. The Philadelphia Eagles actually let McCown fly to Charlotte on Mondays for practice and game-planning and then again on Fridays for games.