Texans choose Lovie Smith as their next head coach
2 min read
Getty Images
The Texans have their man: Lovie Smith.
Smith will officially become the head coach of the Texans today, PFT has confirmed.
The Texans’ coaching search has not reflected well on the team’s decision-making. After firing David Culley, they went through a process that appeared to be focused on handing the job to former NFL quarterback Josh McCown, who has never coached outside some volunteer work with high schoolers. When that didn’t pan out, various reports named several other coaches the Texans were supposedly showing interest in, but they ended up settling on Smith, who was Culley’s associate head coach and defensive coordinator last year.
Smith has had two previous stints as an NFL head coach, finding his greatest success in 2006 with the Bears, when he took them to the Super Bowl. But he never replicated that success and was fired after the 2012 season. He then had a two-year stint with the Buccaneers in which he won only eight games, and most recently spent five seasons as head coach at Illinois, never having a winning record.
The 63-year-old Smith has an uphill climb ahead of him on a struggling Texans franchise, but Houston hopes he can provide a steady hand in a rebuilding project.
