The Houston Texans are one of the last NFL teams still without a head coach.
That is reportedly set to change Monday.
NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport and several colleagues are reporting that the team is planning to hire Lovie Smith to be their next head coach.
The #Texans are moving towards naming Lovie Smith their head coach for 2022, sources tell @TomPelissero, @MikeGarafolo and me.
No deal is done, but it’s headed that way.
— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) February 7, 2022
This sure is a shock considering the search seemed to be down to Josh McCown and Brian Flores.
The Texans fired David Culley after one season and are now set to hire someone from his staff to lead the team in 2022.
That comes as a shock and has the entire NFL world reacting in a variety of ways to this Monday news drop.
Lovie Smith finished with an overall record of 17–39 at Illinois, while going 10–33 against Big 10 teams.
He’s definitely the right candidate for the Texans.
— Elvin Ryan (@ElvinRyan_FF) February 7, 2022
NFL World Reacts To Texans HC Update
The general consensus here is that the Texans don’t know what they are doing.
And that is no offense against Smith.
He just showed up as a late candidate and it seems like the team was scrambling all along.
Can someone from Texans Twitter please explain how and why the Texans are about to hire Lovie Smith as head coach? Feels like they might as well have kept David Culley if this is the route they were gonna take.
Also feels like an astoundingly underwhelming and uninspiring hire.
— Roosh (@RooshWilliams) February 7, 2022
I’m not mad at the Texans for making Lovie Smith their head coach. I’m more upset about the process . Like why it take a month to hire a guy “in house” and again why are we the last team 2 years in a row to hire a coach #Texans #NFL
— blacknificent™ (@Dre_Bonez13) February 7, 2022
Smith was the team’s defensive coordinator in 2021 so there is plenty of familiarity between him and the front office.
So either he was in the mix all along, or he was seen as a backup plan.
So we all know the Texans are going to “Culley” Lovie Smith and hire McCown next year, right?
— Mark F. (@mfuery38) February 7, 2022
Texans really gonna make Lovie Smith another fall guy
— Larry Del Bosque (@larrys_burner7) February 7, 2022
McCown and Flores were each two strong candidates with major storylines surrounding them.
The former has zero head coaching experience, but was seen as a coach-like figure during his career as a backup quarterback.
The latter has the resume to land a job, but his lawsuit against the NFL may have some owners pressuring others to not hire Flores.
That left the Texans to either make the hire they wanted to and not worry about the noise, or go with an entirely different option.
They appear to have chosen the easy way out.
#Texans really going to hire two lame-duck Black coaches in consecutive years, aren’t they?
This screams of “let’s give McCown experience so there isn’t as much backlash.”
He’ll probably be HC by this time next year. https://t.co/t0WrI8TIhr
— Justin Fried (@JustinTFried) February 7, 2022
Smith could always turn the team around in 2022 and enjoy a nice, long tenure in Houston.
But the outrage will expand into 2023 if the front office sets him up for failure as another lame duck head coach.
NEXT: Texans Reportedly Conducted A Surprising HC Interview
