Houston Texans Making Lovie Smith the Latest Josh McCown Placeholder
Lovie Smith is about to become the new head coach of the Houston Texans. That's pretty incredible considering Smith was not a candidate for the Texans or any other job as recently as last week, but now here we are, again marveling at the ineptitude of Jack Easterby and the Houston football team.
It sure seems like the Texans were on the verge of making Josh McCown their head coach and then the Brian Flores lawsuit happened and they had to pivot. You know, because there's never a good time to make an unqualified white guy with zero experience your head football coach, but especially right now. As Stephen A. Smith said on First Take today, it's not just a Texans problem.
.@stephenasmith has strong thoughts about Josh McCown being considered as head coach of the Houston Texans. pic.twitter.com/Uyc4Dzblg4
— First Take (@FirstTake) February 7, 2022
Someday a book will be written about the disastrous Cal McNair era in Houston and a whole chapter will be dedicated to explaining the Texans' obsession with the part-time high school football coach. Even then it will make no sense why the Texans would sign a guy off the Eagles practice squad and then have him interview for their head coaching position twice.
Why didn't the Texans hire him to do literally anything else? Quarterback coach. Offensive coordinator. Special assistant to someone who has coached anyone who didn't have to go home and finish algebra homework after practice. All the Texans needed was a coach who might be OK with stepping down amicably in a year or two after McCown had ANY experience and they could have gotten away with it.
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
Lovie Smith must be thrilled. Smith and McCown's paths did cross when they were both in Chicago about a decade ago. Hopefully, they got along because otherwise this forced transition could be quite awkward. Smith presumably trying to make the most of his last shot at coaching an NFL team while McCown is being groomed for his job.
David Culley, a lifetime assistant coach, had a decent season as head coach last season and at 66-years old probably didn't expect to be in charge of the Texans for the next decade. It probably would have made more sense to let him continue coaching for a season or two, but instead the Texans chose to fire him and pay him to kickstart his retirement. The fact that it makes no sense makes perfect sense for this organization.
The only question is how long must Josh McCown wait for his opportunity? Not long if the Texans have anything to say about it.