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Texans fans deserve so much better than this.
The Houston Texans are a joke. Not a funny joke either, because that would assume this organization could be comedic — and they can’t do anything right. They’re funny the same way calling Covid the “China Virus” is funny, which is an actual thing owner Cal McNair did in 2021.
Firing Lovie Smith is the latest installment in this half-baked pie of ineptitude, making Smith the second Black coach to be fired in two years by the Texans after being hired into an impossible situation and given no time to try and improve the team. Don’t worry though, if you were worried the blame would be equal, of course it’s not — because by all account general manager Nick Caserio who hired both coaches, led the team to a 7-26-1 record, and has been utterly mediocre in the front office is expected to remain. Caserio will given the opportunities his coaches were not, and now he’ll look to hire his third coach in as many years to run his sad, busted organization.
Nobody should be more angry than Texans fans, who have been forced to watch McNair’s nepotism flush this team down the toilet. He hired Jack Easterby to oversee things in 2019, a move based entirely on his personal relationship with McNair, which was based on their shared religion. Easterby left in October of 2022, which was a “mutual decision,” again a benefit that isn’t granted to the team’s coaches. If you’re in McNair’s inner circle you get endless time and patience, and can dictate how you walk away — outside it and there’s absolutely no respect for your work or career.
This isn’t some big secret. Everyone in league circles knows how the Texans operate, and that’s going to make it very difficult to find a decent head coach moving forward.
What are the Texans doing. What kind of operation is this where you don’t have any convictions about supporting the coaches you hire. Who is going to want to coach there if you might only get one year to implement your plans. Two years in a row is ridiculous. https://t.co/Lrn6jyVs7P
— Tony Dungy (@TonyDungy) January 9, 2023
The fallout is already being felt. 49ers defensive coordinator DeMeco Ryans is one of the hottest potential head coaches to come available, and after playing for the Texans for five years it seemed like a hand-meet-glove hiring — except that he reportedly has no faith he’d be supported in Houston, so he’s refusing to interview for the job.
This is the future the Texans deserve. These are their chickens coming home to roost. This team will absolutely not find someone better than Lovie Smith to coach their team, and by throwing someone of his caliber under the bus to cover for the ineptitude in the rest of the front office it’s going to be difficult to land their first or second choice. Now the allure of a No. 1 overall pick is gone as well, with Smith leading the team to a Week 18 victory which takes control out of Houston’s hands, and leaves them to either wheel and deal to get their top quarterback (presumably Bryce Young), or hope the Bears stand pat and take another player.
Make no mistake: The Texans will find a coach, because coaching in the NFL is still the greatest prize for any football coach. However, we’re seeing huge coaching turnover right now, and this is the worst possible time to be the least desirable landing spot. It could lead to Houston doing something monumentally stupid like hiring Josh McCown, which is precisely what they might do.
No team is in need of a new owner more than the Texans. McNair refuses to step aside to let good football people do work, instead of being intensely involved in the process all the way down — and making mistakes as a result.
Texans fans deserve better — but sadly that isn’t going to happen.
