It appears that the Houston Texans’ well-documented — and largely criticized — search for a new head coach is over. Several NFL insiders report that the Texans are in agreement with David Culley to be the team’s head coach.
The sides have to work out the contract, but it appears the #Texans have their man. As @McClain_on_NFL predicted, it's David Culley. https://t.co/P238oaQ5wJ
— Tom Pelissero (@TomPelissero) January 28, 2021
To be clear: The #Texans have offered the job to #Ravens assistant head coach David Culley and he’ll accept it. Houston has a new head coach.
— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) January 28, 2021
Soon-to-be #Texans coach David Culley has received praise for his leadership and the way he connects with players. Now, the #Ravens assistant head coach will attempt to do so in Houston.
— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) January 28, 2021
The #Ravens will now get two third-round compensatory picks for the hire of a minority coach. It’s the second of the cycle, the first African American. https://t.co/MrNpp3UeJK
— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) January 28, 2021
Culley, 65, served as the Baltimore Ravens’ assistant head coach, passing game coordinator, and wide receivers coach since 2019. He’s been an assistant coach in a variety of roles at the college and NFL ranks going back to 1978, but this is his first head-coaching job.
And he certainly has a difficult job ahead, especially if superstar quarterback Deshaun Watson still wants to be traded. Watson’s desire to land with a new team has reportedly been largely related to the Texans’ head-coaching search, and particularly their lack of interest in Kansas City Chiefs offensive coordinator Eric Bieniemy for the job. Additionally, even if the Texans were to keep Watson, they were only a four-win team in 2020, and they don’t exactly have premium draft capital in the short-term (lacking first and second-round picks in 2021) after a comical Bill O’Brien full-control tenure.
But, after never being a head coach before, Culley surely wasn’t going to be picky about any NFL opportunity to do so. Now we wait to see if he’ll have Watson at quarterback.
