By Jordan Long
(update at 6:48 PM Mountain Time, Lovie Smith has been hired as the next Head Coach of the Texans))
The Houston Texans are still interviewing for their head coaching vacancy. One candidate that could be the favorite to earn the job is Lovie Smith. He is going to interview for the opening.
The Texans have been looking for a new Head Coach since they fired David Culley on January 14th. Culley didn’t have the job long, lasting only one season. He didn’t get a chance to turn the Texans around. They finished 4-13. Houston decided that wasn’t good enough for him to stick around and 1 year was enough. The Texans have been searching for someone to take over and have yet to hire anyone.
Smith was the defensive coordinator this past season. His defense gave up 384.4 yards per game, 2nd worst in the NFL, only the New York Jets were worse. The opponent’s game plan was to run the football on offense because the Texans’ defense couldn’t stop it, giving up 142.2 yards per game, 31st in the NFL. When it came to stopping the pass, they permitted 242.2 yards per game, ranking 23rd in the NFL.
Smith wasn’t able to adjust his game plan. Opponents were able to drive up and down on his defense. They couldn’t stop teams from scoring, allowing 26.6 points per game. That was part of the reason the Texans struggled this year. It is surprising that the Texans would want to interview him but at least he is the in-house name and the defense wouldn’t change.
Smith has been a Head Coach in the NFL before with the Chicago Bears and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. In Chicago Smith was very successful from 2004 to 2012. Chicago went to the postseason 3 times and advanced to Super Bowl 41 but lost to the Indianapolis Colts 29-17. Smith was let go after a 10-6 season in 2012. Smith’s overall record in Chicago was 81-63, a winning percentage of .563. He then went to Tampa Bay for 2 years, 2014 and 2015. Tampa Bay went a disappointing 8-24 under him. Smith’s record as an NFL Head Coach is 89-87, a winning percentage of .506.
Smith might make sense. He has the coaching experience to lead this team. The only downside if he is offered the job, is how much time would he get to coach them? Cully only lasted one year. Bill O’Brien had 7 years but he was also the teams’ General Manager. Smith may only have a few years to turn the team around and that wouldn’t be enough. It takes several seasons to do so. In the end, the Texans are just talking to him about it so who knows if he will earn the job after the interview
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