Texans expected to hire Lovie Smith for HC

[Brand J]

Believe the hire has to be an external one to qualify for the 2 draft picks. Lovie has to know he has no real future as HC of the Texans. That organization has to be one of the worst run in all of sports. They’ve got a top 10 talent at QB riding the bench during his prime years and don’t seem interested in doing anything about it - besides trying to fleece teams that want to trade for him. They’ve made all sorts of bad moves in just 2 years to become the bottom dweller they are today. 

[BuffaloBillyG]

1 minute ago, JayBaller10 said:

Believe the hire has to be an external one to qualify for the 2 draft picks. Lovie has to know he has no real future as HC of the Texans. That organization has to be one of the worst run in all of sports. They’ve got a top 10 talent at QB riding the bench during his prime years and don’t seem interested in doing anything about it - besides trying to fleece teams that want to trade for him. They’ve made all sorts of bad moves in just 2 years to become the bottom dweller they are today. 

That is correct. Also, the coach has to have been on the club losing him's staff for 2 seasons. Lovie was there 1 year.

 

Even if another team hired Lovie Smith this year it would have resulted in zero comp picks for anyone.

[QLBillsFan]

11 minutes ago, TheFunPolice said:

Lovie is already there under contract, so he might as well take the significant raise. Nobody else is going there, that's for sure. 

 

Basically "here's $25 million to train McCown for a year or two"

 

I'm sure a large part of his job will be hiring McCown as OC and training him to be the next HC. 

 

 

McCown as OC is even a stretch. Coordinator positions also fall under Rooney. I could see QB coach as his start based on many years as qb. But his HC candidacy is bizarre even outside the Rooney rule. Texans are something. 

[ControllerOfPlanetX]

1 hour ago, QLBillsFan said:

Florio knows all apparently. That’s quite a journey so your pal can become the HC. Wasn’t Florio the guy who floated BD is out if Bills lose to Pats in first round? 

 

Yes, Florio knows all, and that why it will soon be the Austin Bills...the guy is a clown, though quite prolific I must say...

[TheFunPolice]

25 minutes ago, QLBillsFan said:

McCown as OC is even a stretch. Coordinator positions also fall under Rooney. I could see QB coach as his start based on many years as qb. But his HC candidacy is bizarre even outside the Rooney rule. Texans are something. 

 

It's truly amazing how dysfunctional the Texans are...

 

I mean, can their fans even get excited about this? We used to talk ourselves into the Jaurons and Mularkeys of the world because "you never know" but at least there wasn't this level of ugliness around the team. We just had a 90+ year old owner and some of the issues that come from him wanting to still play a major role. There was some goofiness, but not the type of ugly stuff going on in Houston. 

 

At the end of the day we could still like our team. 

Edited February 7, 2022 by TheFunPolice

[Hapless Bills Fan]

1 hour ago, QLBillsFan said:

Florio knows all apparently. That’s quite a journey so your pal can become the HC. Wasn’t Florio the guy who floated BD is out if Bills lose to Pats in first round? 

 

Who is BD?

[Brand J]

2 minutes ago, Hapless Bills Fan said:

 

Who is BD?

Daboll? I find the McD/Daboll discourse interesting. If McD was unhappy with him to the point he wanted him gone, I don’t think there’s any way Schoen would’ve made him a HC. McD and Beane talk regularly, you can believe Beane talks to Schoen and the others as well, so if there was internal strife, I don’t think that hire happens. I do think there were disagreements, but never to the point where a coordinator was going to lose a job. We heard how much Farwell wanted out too, isn’t he still employed with the Bills?

[BillsFan4]

Curious to see if Josh McCown ends up on his staff. My guess is yes. 

[Hapless Bills Fan]

1 hour ago, TheFunPolice said:

Lovie is already there under contract, so he might as well take the significant raise. Nobody else is going there, that's for sure. 

 

Basically "here's $25 million to train McCown for a year or two"

 

I'm sure a large part of his job will be hiring McCown as OC and training him to be the next HC.

 

The Texans are obligated by rule to interview 2 external minority candidates for OC.

 

If they hire the objectively unqualified McCown above the 2 external minority candidates they interview, I believe that will cause almost as much fuss as hiring McCown as HC would have.

 

They can hire McCown as an offensive assistant, assistant QB coach, or even QB coach with no push-back.

[Hapless Bills Fan]

46 minutes ago, JayBaller10 said:

Daboll? I find the McD/Daboll discourse interesting. If McD was unhappy with him to the point he wanted him gone, I don’t think there’s any way Schoen would’ve made him a HC. McD and Beane talk regularly, you can believe Beane talks to Schoen and the others as well, so if there was internal strife, I don’t think that hire happens. I do think there were disagreements, but never to the point where a coordinator was going to lose a job. We heard how much Farwell wanted out too, isn’t he still employed with the Bills?

 

Oh Durrr of course, Brian Daboll.  I hadn't heard that "BD is out of Bills lose to Pats in the first round"

 

Erik Turner of Cover1, who I believe has legit contacts, tweeted that the coaching staff found that part of the lawsuit amusing.  What isn't often included along with it is the timing - McDonnell tweeted Flores January 11th. 

 

The Bills had just "run the table" to earn the 3rd seed in the AFC and the AFC East title.  Their first playoff game was 13 Jan.  This wasn't a result of potential friction over 13 seconds.

[TheFunPolice]

8 minutes ago, Hapless Bills Fan said:

 

The Texans are obligated by rule to interview 2 external minority candidates for OC.

 

If they hire the objectively unqualified McCown above the 2 external minority candidates they interview, I believe that will cause almost as much fuss as hiring McCown as HC would have.

 

They can hire McCown as an offensive assistant, assistant QB coach, or even QB coach with no push-back.

 

That makes sense... their obsession with McCown is so bizarre... I really wanted to see it just from the pure entertainment value of watching an AFC team completely and totally implode 

[The Wiz]

Hasn't had a winning season as a HC in a decade, but at least he's black!  

 

 

 

 

(relax please, it's a joke)

[716to540]

No matter my skin color, at this point I wouldn't take any open head coaching job. Darned if you do, darned if you don't IMO.

[RyanC883]

5 hours ago, papazoid said:

Lovie had cutler in chicago and Mccown & winston in tampa

 

you cant be a great coach without a great QB

 

always had good D's as I recall?  

[MrEpsYtown]

Maybe Lovie tries to poach Frazier 🤷‍♂️

[Nextmanup]

4 hours ago, Beast said:

 

Agreed.

 

For the rest of the AFC South.

There's more here than meets the eye.  It's an obvious tank maneuver, or at a minimum they went with a place holder until they can find a more favorable candidate next hiring cycle.

 

One or the other would be my guess.  No way he was hired on raw merit.

 

 

[Richard Noggin]

2 hours ago, 716to540 said:

No matter my skin color, at this point I wouldn't take any open head coaching job. Darned if you do, darned if you don't IMO.

The 7-figure annual salary would entice me to swallow some pride in the event someone offered me such a job. Sacrifice for a year or two (doing what you ostensibly love) and forever stabilize your family's finances? Sign me up. 

[Mr. Wonderful]

8 hours ago, papazoid said:

a good hire

 

Not sure if you are being sarcastic or serious.   

[TC in St. Louis]

I don't think Lovie is a good choice.  He was DC in St. Louis when they had a halfway decent defense to go with the Greatest Show on Turf.  He moved on to mediocrity as a coach in the NFL, and a bad stint as HC at the University of Illinois.  

 

Flores should be coaching somewhere.  He's a winner.  Not only that, he would be immediately embraced by the black players on his team.  They have to admire his standing up for principles.  

 

I don't see any improvement in the future for the Texans.  I don't care, either.

[Warcodered]

2 minutes ago, TC in St. Louis said:

I don't think Lovie is a good choice.  He was DC in St. Louis when they had a halfway decent defense to go with the Greatest Show on Turf.  He moved on to mediocrity as a coach in the NFL, and a bad stint as HC at the University of Illinois.  

 

Flores should be coaching somewhere.  He's a winner.  Not only that, he would be immediately embraced by the black players on his team.  They have to admire his standing up for principles.  

 

I don't see any improvement in the future for the Texans.  I don't care, either.

I don't know, even putting aside the whole angle of being blackballed/punished for the lawsuit, would an organization really want to hire a guy with that big of a distraction bringing that kind of circus with him?

[Doc Brown]

So the Texans finish 4-13 and think "let's fire the head coach and promote from within."  Lovie went 8-24 as the Bucs head coach and 17-39 as Liberty's head coach.  The Texans defense ranked 31st in yards allowed last year.  This is the worst hire of the nine openings and makes no sense whatsoever.

[Bad Things]

Lovie! 

It's about time she got a chance, but why are you all talking like this was a minority hire?

 

Edited February 8, 2022 by Bad Things

[Billy Claude]

Caretaker hire set up to fail.  He gets a nice bump in pay and and a few guaranteed years on his contract for after he gets fired to pad his retirement. The Texans get the league office off their back about minority hires. Maybe Smith agrees to hire McCown as an assistant coach.

 

A win/win for both sides.

Edited February 8, 2022 by Billy Claude

[HOUSE]

I with we had a Lovie or maybe a Eric Be the enemy

[Mr. WEO]

Holy moly

[colin]

I think this might actually be a good situation for him.  if watson can't play, he has a built in excuse year one.  if he does, he will win some games and generate some excitement.

 

i know the watson situation is really bad, but he may also trade him for some valuable pics.  compare that w daboll in nyg, who very likely is going to waste a year trying to improve a not great qb, and then go into a new draft needing a qb.  at least lovie might be able to get some value for their great qb, potentially leading to drafting another one, and it's a bit of a moon shot, but maybe the watson situation works itself out and he can play for them.

[PetermansRedemption]

7 hours ago, Doc Brown said:

So the Texans finish 4-13 and think "let's fire the head coach and promote from within."  Lovie went 8-24 as the Bucs head coach and 17-39 as Liberty's head coach.  The Texans defense ranked 31st in yards allowed last year.  This is the worst hire of the nine openings and makes no sense whatsoever.

Truly baffling. His resume is horrendous. 

15 hours ago, JayBaller10 said:

Believe the hire has to be an external one to qualify for the 2 draft picks. Lovie has to know he has no real future as HC of the Texans. That organization has to be one of the worst run in all of sports. They’ve got a top 10 talent at QB riding the bench during his prime years and don’t seem interested in doing anything about it - besides trying to fleece teams that want to trade for him. They’ve made all sorts of bad moves in just 2 years to become the bottom dweller they are today. 

I’m still shocked the Bills lost to the Texans in the playoffs just a few years back. How quickly that team has fallen is mind boggling. 

[papazoid]

The Texans will not receive compensatory draft picks through the Smith hire. Under the league's Rooney Rule, teams receive two third-round picks for developing a minority assistant who is hired for a head-coaching job. However, because Smith is not leaving for another team and has not been on Houston's staff for two years, the Texans will not receive compensation.

 

https://www.espn.com/nfl/story/_/id/33238258/houston-texans-hire-lovie-smith-head-coach

[bigduke6]

my take on this is,  the Texans are still screwed.    Watsons situation wont be changing anytime soon and any coach coming in knows this.   Hiring Smith may be the Texans trying to appease Watson on some level,  try to bring him back into the fold.    Hey,  we hired an african american coach,  who went to the SB,  that kind of thing.

 

Texans arent getting what they think Watson is worth,  not even close,  they cant move on with him on the team not not playing,  and they cant move him.

 

Any coach coming into the Texans knows that this will be another throw away year for the franchise.

 

Lovie Smith isnt a hot commodity by any means,  hes much like Culley,  coming in to see if he can make a difference knowing all too well that most likely wont happen,  grabbing that NFL paycheck while he can.

 

until Watson is gone,  the Texans are a dead team.

Edited February 8, 2022 by bigduke6

[PetermansRedemption]

1 hour ago, colin said:

I think this might actually be a good situation for him.  if watson can't play, he has a built in excuse year one.  if he does, he will win some games and generate some excitement.

 

i know the watson situation is really bad, but he may also trade him for some valuable pics.  compare that w daboll in nyg, who very likely is going to waste a year trying to improve a not great qb, and then go into a new draft needing a qb.  at least lovie might be able to get some value for their great qb, potentially leading to drafting another one, and it's a bit of a moon shot, but maybe the watson situation works itself out and he can play for them.

How did that built in excuse work for David Culley…

[bigduke6]

5 minutes ago, PetermansRedemption said:

How did that built in excuse work for David Culley…

worked fine,  he got payed.

[stuvian]

I respect Lovie as a coach but this hire has a strange tokenism feel to it

[Freddie's Dead]

6 hours ago, Bad Things said:

Lovie! 

It's about time she got a chance, but why are you all talking like this was a minority hire?

 

 

You beat me to it....

[BarleyNY]

5 hours ago, Billy Claude said:

Caretaker hire set up to fail.  He gets a nice bump in pay and and a few guaranteed years on his contract for after he gets fired to pad his retirement. The Texans get the league office off their back about minority hires. Maybe Smith agrees to hire McCown as an assistant coach.

 

A win/win for both sides.

The Texans could do worse in their situation.  Smith is a high character guy who has a ton of head coaching experience.  He’s there to help stabilize the organization and get it on solid ground.  That’s no easy feat after their severe BoBing.  He’s 63 so this run is probably it for him.

[Hapless Bills Fan]

10 hours ago, Richard Noggin said:

The 7-figure annual salary would entice me to swallow some pride in the event someone offered me such a job. Sacrifice for a year or two (doing what you ostensibly love) and forever stabilize your family's finances? Sign me up. 

 

I think that was essentially David Culley's train of thought.  "Sign a guaranteed 3 yr contract, get paid $5M, and take home an extra $17M if you fire me?  Yeah, I know you're using me, but I'm OK being used like that".

 

 

[GunnerBill]

46 minutes ago, bigduke6 said:

 

until Watson Jack Easterby is gone,  the Texans are a dead team.

 

FIFY

[Warcodered]

6 hours ago, Billy Claude said:

Caretaker hire set up to fail.  He gets a nice bump in pay and and a few guaranteed years on his contract for after he gets fired to pad his retirement. The Texans get the league office off their back about minority hires. Maybe Smith agrees to hire McCown as an assistant coach.

 

A win/win for both sides.

It is right in line with the level of thinking I'd expect from the Texans, thinking that if they hire this guy fire him in a year and then hire McCown no one will be the wiser.

[dave mcbride]

2 hours ago, PetermansRedemption said:

Truly baffling. His resume is horrendous. 

I’m still shocked the Bills lost to the Texans in the playoffs just a few years back. How quickly that team has fallen is mind boggling. 

He was 81-63 in Chicago with a hodgepodge of mediocre QBs. He took over a bad TB team, went 2-14 in year one, drafted Winston, and then went 6-10, finishing 5th in yards and 10th in yards allowed. Then he gets fired and goes to Illinois, a historically bad program that has always struggled at recruiting. They tend to have one good year out of every five or six years, and the program he took over was in bad shape. It remained in bad shape because of recruiting and recruiting alone. But you don't have to recruit in the NFL.

[The Jokeman]

20 hours ago, Success said:

I'd be kind of bummed if I was a Texans fan.  Smith seems like a nice guy, but he hasn't fared well as HC.

 

Honestly, Flores is a much better candidate.  It's weird to me that no one seriously tried to hire him (just as weird as Miami firing him - I still don't know what they were thinking).

 

The problem was Flores basically threw Belichick under the bus when the Texans front office has ties to him. The Texans feel like the Ralph Wilson lead Bills to be honest as do the Jaguars in that their owners just don't know how to run a football organization and until they find a GM that can their in trouble of being the laughing stock of the league. 

29 minutes ago, dave mcbride said:

He was 81-63 in Chicago with a hodgepodge of mediocre QBs. He took over a bad TB team, went 2-14 in year one, drafted Winston, and then went 6-10, finishing 5th in yards and 10th in yards allowed. Then he gets fired and goes to Illinois, a historically bad program that has always struggled at recruiting. They tend to have one good year out of every five or six years, and the program he took over was in bad shape. It remained in bad shape because of recruiting and recruiting alone. But you don't have to recruit in the NFL.

You do have to recruit in the NFL, and as important as it is in college, culture might be more important in the NFL.  The McDermott years are teaching me more about the ins and outs of a football locker room that admit have never been in before. 

[Billy Claude]

2 hours ago, BarleyNY said:

The Texans could do worse in their situation.  Smith is a high character guy who has a ton of head coaching experience.  He’s there to help stabilize the organization and get it on solid ground.  That’s no easy feat after their severe BoBing.  He’s 63 so this run is probably it for him.

 

They definitely could do worse, he has actual head coaching experience, but its not an accident that the Texans last two hires had zero interest from any other team.  I don't think they (nor Lovie Smith) expects this to last more than a couple of years.

 

Edited February 8, 2022 by Billy Claude