ESPN reporting Lovie Smith to be hired as HC by Texans
February 7th, 2022 at 3:23 PM ^
I have nothing against Lovie Smith as a person. Probably a great person who knows a lot about the game and I'm assuming he's well-respected by the guys he coaches, but given how his tenure at Tampa and Illinois went, this to me just screams Houston throwing in the towel for the next few years. That Super Bowl team he coached was 3-4 lifetimes ago, and the game has changed multiple times over.
Is this a situation where Houston knows its roster is an absolute disaster and they don't want to bring someone in who's actually any good that they end up having to fire in 2-3 years for poor performance, so they bring in a guy like Lovie to try and keep the boat afloat for a few years, draft some talent in to get to a respectable level, guide them out of the Deshaun Watson mess, and then let him go to bring in "the right guy" so he can have something to work with? Right now there are no cornerstones on that team. There is no one on either side of the ball that you can look to and say "We need to try building around that guy for the next 10 years." They are devoid of any meaningful talent.
I just have to believe that there are multiple candidates out there who are better than Lovie, but I wonder if their situation down there is so bad and so bereft of usable talent that no one else wanted the job. Or at least no one else that Houston was wanting to hire was willing to take the job.
February 7th, 2022 at 3:53 PM ^
There's probably a lot of truth to this. And, as bad as their present roster situation, they don't even have a resolution on their QB yet.
So you may be right. No candidates that really jumped out, they figure they're going to tank for draft picks anyway, might as well use Lovie, who is already on the staff.
But then, why'd they fire the last guy?
February 7th, 2022 at 5:02 PM ^
That was my thought as well. Lovie was on Culley's staff. Why fire Culley after one year just to promote Lovie? I can't imagine he's going to do much of anything that's really different from what Culley would've done, and its not like Lovie is some up and coming hotshot who you needed to do anything possible to keep him on staff because he's your future. He's a known quantity at this point and his best days are very clearly behind him.
Unless there was some kind of off-field issue or internal and irreparable strife between Culley and Texans leadership, which I would presume there wasn't any of either because we would've heard about it by now, the firing didn't make a ton of sense to me.
My guess? Lovie is their bridge guy. He's 63 years old and likely won't be be coaching this team within five to seven years, even in a best case scenario. There wasn't a candidate Houston wanted more who was willing to take the job, so you promote Lovie Smith, a veteran guy the players will follow and respect, to get the ship out of the storm and back to calmer waters. Bring in some crucial draft pieces that you can build the team around, be smart in FA, and set it up as well as you can so that when the next guy inevitably comes in within the next few years, he has something to work with, and almost certainly won't have the Deshaun Watson fiasco hanging over his football team.
Would've been awfully hard to sell this team to an external hire right now. Its about as big of a rebuild project as you could ask for right now, and if you're firing a coach after one year, why do I want to take my chances and come work for you?
February 7th, 2022 at 3:23 PM ^
Does this make it more or less likely that Larry Foote will come in as our DC?
February 7th, 2022 at 3:33 PM ^
Im not lovie'ng this move but if it gets our Foote in the door im all for it.
February 7th, 2022 at 4:07 PM ^
Foote has already passed on us. He wants to stay in the NFL.
February 7th, 2022 at 3:29 PM ^
Seems like a good dude. But maybe he was the only coach to accept $100k bonuses for losses?
February 7th, 2022 at 3:37 PM ^
now that is failing upwards.
February 7th, 2022 at 3:54 PM ^
I would hire Lovie Smith in a minute for his beard alone. I don't know if he can coach, but his testosterone levels are through the roof to grow a magnificent beast like that.
February 7th, 2022 at 4:01 PM ^
I really don’t understand all the love for Lovie. He had one terrific season with the Bears in 2006. But outside of that nothing of note, college or pro. Why him? He must have one hell of an agent or he works cheap or both.
February 7th, 2022 at 4:06 PM ^
I hear he's a super nice guy, very caring and considerate.... down right Lovie!
February 7th, 2022 at 4:31 PM ^
I really do like Lovie Smith and will be pulling for him, but definitely an underwhelming and head-scratching hire.
February 7th, 2022 at 5:47 PM ^
Lovie doesn't seem like a particularly good coach. He seems to have gotten to the Super Bowl with some serious circumstantial and game-day luck, in the same sense that Canjun Brady Hoke and Gene Chizik won national championships. Mediocre coaches can have their day, and Lovie seems like that kind of coach. What's wrong with Texas, Ted Cruz and Steve Sarkisian?
February 7th, 2022 at 7:16 PM ^
imagine hiring Lovie over Harbaugh