Houston Texans Fire Love Smith

The Houston Texans have fired head coach Lovie Smith.

Texans Chairman and CEO Cal McNair released a statement Sunday Night following the firing.

“I appreciate Coach Smith and his entire family for their contributions over the last two seasons. We are grateful for his leadership and character, and we wish him the best moving forward. While we understand the results have not been what we had hoped for, we are committed to building a program that produces long-term, sustainable success. Our fans and city deserve a team that they can be proud of. I will work alongside Nick Caserio throughout this process and I’m confident we will find the right leader for our football team.”

It didn’t take long for Smith to learn his fate following the Texans’ Week 18 victory over the Indianapolis Colts. A win that actually cost Houston the first overall pick as they ended the season 3-13-1, just percentage points better than the 3-14 Chicago Bears.

Prior to his arrival in Houston, Smith was previously the coach of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers (2014-15) and the aforementioned Bears (2004-12) with whom he led to the Super Bowl in 2006.

In Houston, Smith replaced David Culley after just one season on the job giving the Texans back-to-back one-and-done head coaches. Not a strategy employed when you’re looking to become a successful franchise.

With the answer at quarterback likely not on the roster and the questionable decisions made by ownership over the years, it’s hard to believe the Texans are a desirable location for any marquee head coach.

Since back-to-back double-digit win seasons and AFC South titles in 2018 ad 2019, the Texans have won just 11 games in the last three seasons and have seen four different head coaches as well as a change at quarterback from Deshaun Watson to primarily Davis Mills.