Lovie Smith meets the media for first time as…

The compromise candidate officially is the new coach of the team that couldn’t hire Josh McCown and wouldn’t hire Brian Flores. On Tuesday morning at noon ET, new Texans coach Lovie Smith meets with the media for the first time in his new role.

It’s quite a coincidence, given that his name came up last week in connection with the deeper dives into the Brian Flores lawsuit. Smith coached the Buccaneers in 2014, during one of the only clear-cut, caught-in-the-act incidents of tanking.

It’s covered in Playmakers, available now wherever you buy books, as part of the essay regarding the very real temptation to tank. As long as the worst team gets the first pick in the next draft, the temptation will remain.

The Buccaneers surrendered to it. Smith implemented it, removing roughly half of his starters in a game the Bucs led by 11 points at the half. With the Buccaneers deliberately using something less than their best players, the Saints came back and won the game.

It allowed Tampa Bay to secure dibs on Jameis Winston. Then, after only one year, the Bucs dumped Smith and elevated offensive coordinator Dirk Koetter, in what many still believe was an inside job aimed at keeping Winston’s quarterback whisperer from leaving to be the head coach elsewhere.

Koetter did not appreciate being asked about that after he was hired by the Buccaneers. Now that Smith was hired by the Texans and given the clear relevance of tanking to the current NFL discourse, will someone ask him today about what happened in Week 17 of the 2014 season?

Probably not, but it would be very interesting to see what he has to say about it.