Things are happening in the Houston Texans' search for their next head coach. Interest is swirling around several of the candidates that they've interviewed, and with two of the candidates, they've been able to conduct second interviews this week. Those two are Giants offensive coordinator Mike Kafka and Broncos defensive coordinator Ejiro Evero.

Soon enough, they will be allowed to conduct second interviews with their other candidates. Three of them are still coaching active football teams, and by rule, they cannot be conversed with until next Monday, January 30. All of these moving parts, though, will not stop us from evaluating the various prospects and determine the approval rates from the Texans' fans.

For the last two years, I've posted Twitter polls for each head coaching candidate with the simple question for Texan fans — would you approve if the team chose to hire [fill in name of prospect here]? Here we are now, in our third head coach search in three years, and I get to do it all over again! A tradition like no other! So here we go, the Twitter Approval Ratings for all seven candidates, grouped into four categories.

Before we lay those out, here is the master tweet for the actual polls, if you want to go see the results for yourself. I figured this was easier than cluttering this post with clunky embedded tweets everywhere. You're welcome!

Okay, now that we are down to what appears to be a list of seven candidates in the #Texans search for a head coach, here comes the annual approval rating #Penderpoll onslaught. The question is simple -- if the #Texans hire _____, do you approve?

GET READY! GO!

THREAD....

— Sean Pendergast (@SeanTPendergast) January 23, 2023

Okay, onto the results:

The "No Thank You" List

EJIRO EVERO, Denver defensive coordinator, 15.3 percent approval
THOMAS BROWN, LA Rams Assistant Head Coach, 16.3 percent approval
MIKE KAFKA, NY Giants offensive coordinator, 24.6 percent approval

The narrative surrounding the Texans' list of candidates this time around is that, from top to bottom, these are all very capable, highly sought after candidates, which is true. Even the least approved candidate by Texan fans, Evero, is being interviewed by all five teams with an opening. However, this doesn't mean that all seven candidates would make Texan fans happy. If I had to guess, Evero has the low approval because nobody had heard of him before last month. Brown has the low approval rating because he's not even a coordinator. Finally, Kafka has a low approval because he has the personality of a turnip and his team just got  thumped by the Eagles last weekend. I don't know if any of these reasons are valid, but that's my hypothesis.

The Approved Consolation Prize List

JONATHAN GANNON, Philadelphia defensive coordinator, 63.9 percent
SHANE STEICHEN, Philadelphia offensive coordinator, 69.4 percent

The two Eagle coordinators both have very encouraging approval ratings, and that's a good thing, because right now Gannon is the betting favorite to get the job, and Steichen would be a sneaky good hire, especially if the team drafts a quarterback with the second overall pick in the draft. The present of these two guys in the NFC title game adds a ton of spice for Texans fans, with Steichen going head to head with DeMeco Ryans, and Gannon going head to head with Niners head coach Kyle Shanahan.

The Polarizing Legend

SEAN PAYTON, former New Orleans head coach, 57.4 percent

This one may not matter, if we are to believe a report this week that the Broncos are ready to move heaven and earth to land Payton. Let's put that aside for now, though. This result is fascinating. Payton is a Super Bowl winning coach, and a name that immediately makes the Texans relevant again, and yet, only 57.4 percent of the fan base would be in on him. I'm guessing that there is a sizable amount of Texan fans who feel that way because they don't want to trade draft picks for Payton, a necessity in getting him, since he is under contract to the Saints.

The Prodigal Son

DeMECO RYANS, San Francisco defensive coordinator, 97.6 percent

Not much to say here. DeMeco Ryans would be a massive home run, and would singlehandedly make the last two seasons of suffering almost worth it, if it begat him as the team's next head coach. Let's make this happen, Nick and Cal!

Listen to Sean Pendergast on SportsRadio 610 from 6 a.m. to 10 a.m. weekdays. Also, follow him on Twitter at twitter.com/SeanTPendergast, on Instagram at instagram.com/sean.pendergast, and like him on Facebook at facebook.com/SeanTPendergast.