It was reported yesterday that the Houston Texans were down to two candidates for their vacant head coaching position, former Miami Dolphins head coach Brian Flores and former NFL quarterback Josh McCown.
It appears that things have changed very quickly for the Texans once again, as Monday morning reports have come out that they plan to name their new head coach and it’s neither of them.
The Texans are reportedly moving towards hiring former Chicago Bears head coach Lovie Smith. Smith is someone who was already in the building for the Texans, acting as their associate head coach and defensive coordinator under now-fired head coach David Culley.
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
The Texans were reportedly planning to interview Smith for the job within the next 24 hours last night, but it appears that he could be named the man for the Texans officially before that interview even takes place.
Educated hunch on this is the #Texans make it official either later tonight or early tomorrow. Either way, Lovie Smith will be an NFL head coach soon. https://t.co/Bvz9PtbFYZ
— Mike Garafolo (@MikeGarafolo) February 7, 2022
The other big candidate for the job was McCown, but interestingly there are reports out there that McCown could come on to the staff under Smith in some capacity.
As for Josh McCown, who seemed to be the #Texans’ guy for much of their search, sources say there’s a possibility he could join Lovie Smith’s coaching staff, though those talks have yet to really happen. Pep Hamilton is expected to stick as offensive coordinator.
— Mike Garafolo (@MikeGarafolo) February 7, 2022
It begs the question, could the Texans be planning to groom McCown on the coaching staff under Smith? Many are asking themselves that same question considering that reports are that Smith will be the head coach for 2022, but with no guarantee further.
I would be careful if I were Lovie. This could be a palette cleanser deal where he gets fired after a year a la David Culley. The Texans read the room and realize there’s no way they can hire McCown over Flores now. So, they take a beat, hire a Black coach, and do it next year… https://t.co/MVk7FzZC2B
— Christopher Gasper (@cgasper) February 7, 2022
“For 2022” feels like the not so quiet part https://t.co/BTJCbL5LMk
— Gregg Rosenthal (@greggrosenthal) February 7, 2022
Smith holds an 89-87 record as a head coach in 11 seasons in the NFL but has not coached in the league since 2015.
It is worth noting that while the Texans were not a successful team last season, a big part of their competitiveness throughout the season was their defense led by Smith, finishing in the top 10 for turnovers forced on the defensive side of the ball.
About Reice Shipley
Reice Shipley is a staff writer for Comeback Media that graduated from Ithaca College with a degree in Sports Media. He previously worked at Barrett Sports Media and is a fan of all things Syracuse sports.