Bill O’Brien plans to interview with the Houston Texans at some point in the near future according to a report by Ian Rapoport, an NFL Network National Insider. We previously reported this past week that O’Brien had approached university officials asking for his NFL contract buyout to be lowered.

Said on @NFL_ATL Live: Penn St. coach Bill O’Brien is high on #Texans radar. The plan between the 2 sides was to have an interview post-XMas

— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) December 26, 2013

O’Brien is said to be “high on [the] Texans radar” as the offseason looms near for Houston, a team who has had a coaching vacancy since it parted ways with head coach Gary Kubiak earlier in the season.

The Houston position is arguably the most appealing head coaching vacancy in the NFL. The Texans had an extremely disappointing season — many experts expected them to make the postseason, but instead, the team is 2-13 and currently holds the #1 pick in the 2014 NFL Draft — but they are a talented squad with one of the better running backs in the league and a solid defense.

Houston will either have the #1 or #2 pick in the upcoming draft, which would put them in perfect position to potentially draft a young, talented quarterback prospect like Louisville’s Teddy Bridgewater, Fresno State’s Derek Carr, Texas A&M’s Johnny Manziel, or Central Florida’s Blake Bortles. As we all know, there aren’t many coaches better at molding young quarterbacks than O’Brien, making a potential marriage between the two fairly sensible.

If Rapoport’s report is correct, the interview will take place some time in the coming days. He also reported that former Chicago Bears coach Lovie Smith is a candidate for the Houston job, and has already interviewed with the team. O’Brien’s buyout will be a fairly lofty $6.5 million come March, but it certainly isn’t unbelieveable to think that an NFL owner would fork out that kind of money if he believes the coach is the right fit for his organization.

We will keep you updated on O’Brien’s situation going forward as there is sure to be more news and rumors after the regular season comes to a close this weekend and teams that fall short of the playoffs begin their coaching searches.