Houston Texans first interview will be Lovie Smith
Lovie Smith reacts to play against the Detroit Lions. Mike Carter-USA TODAY Sports
Immediately after the Houston Texans decided to fire head coach Gary Kubiak, former Chicago Bears head coach Lovie Smith had his name thrown around the rumor mill early. Texans owner Bob McNair indicated that he wanted to interview Smith for the position, and there is even more news pointing to Smith as one of the top candidates for the Texans head coaching position.
The NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport reports that Love Smith will be, in fact, the Houston Texans first interview for the head coaching gig, and this isn’t the first time that Smith has been mentioned in possible head coaching gigs this year. However, most of those jobs have been in college, as Smith was a relatively popular commodity among colleges in need of a new head man. But Smith has always suited the NFL better, and he’s still plenty good enough to get more looks around the league as a future head coach.
I’m just not sure that Smith is the right answer for the Texans, especially since they already have an excellent defensive coordinator in Wade Phillips, who seems more than content with staying as an elite DC instead of a head coach. Phillips could get poached this offseason, but a part of me believes that Phillips is more comfortable as a defensive coordinator and feels like he doesn’t want to be a head coach.
Both Phillips and Smith also have vastly different views of how a defense should run, so hiring Smith could be a conflict of interest. The Texans have a strong offensive coordinator, but I still think going for an offensive-minded coach is better with the defense locked in and the offense struggling a bit. They need a coach who knows how to develop QBs, and I don’t think that Smith is that guy. I mean, that was one reason why the Bears decided to hire Marc Trestman, and another reason why the fired Smith is because they didn’t want to run the Tampa 2 anymore.