Lovie Smith takes NFL’s toughest job with Texans

The Houston Texans hired Lovie Smith to replace David Culley, and he’s inheriting one heck of a mess deep in Texas.

Lovie Smith is about to embark on the toughest coaching job of his career.

On Monday, the Houston Texans announced Smith as their latest head coach, taking over for the one-and-done David Culley. Smith, who served on the staff as an associate head coach last season, gets promoted and now has to figure out a litany of questions on both sides of the ball.

Making the hiring official, Texans general manager Nick Casario released a statement, via NFL.com:

“I am excited to introduce Lovie Smith as our next head coach. He is one of the most respected coaches in the NFL and an established leader. A proven winner, Lovie has shown the ability to develop players both on and off the field for years. We had numerous discussions with countless coaches, executives, and players, and what revealed itself is that Lovie has both the leadership and people skills it takes to lead us forward. We both understand how much work is in front of us, but we embrace the responsibility and look forward to continuing to build a program that can have sustained success.”

At 63 years old, Smith has ample experience in this chair. He coached the Chicago Bears from 2004-13, running up a record of 81-63 while winning three division titles and reaching Super Bowl XLI despite being saddled with quarterback Rex Grossman.

However, things went poorly with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, as Smith lasted only two years and posted records of 2-14 and 6-10.

For Smith, the first question to answer is who plays quarterback? The Texans got quality results from rookie Davis Mills in 2021, with the Stanford product throwing for 2,664 yards and 16 touchdowns against 10 interceptions in 13 games (11 starts) despite playing with poor weapons and a hideous offensive line.

Beyond Mills, what’s going to happen this offseason? Is Houston going to trade away Deshaun Watson, or will his legal situation drag on and keep him around? Are the Texans going to rebuild a faltering offensive front in the draft or try to fortify one of the league’s worst defenses?

Smith is taking over a team with more questions than answers, and a front office worth questioning at every turn. If he can make Houston into a winner over the next few seasons, Smith will have proven an unqualified success against all odds.