Houston Texans in talks with Lovie Smith, Josh McCown seemingly out as candidate

Lovie Smith enjoyed a pretty nice run as the Chicago Bears’ head coach from 2004-2012. He led the team to three playoff appearances and a trip to the Super Bowl following the 2006 campaign.

Since then, Smith’s career has taken a turn. The defensive-minded head coach boasted an 8-24 record while manning the sidelines for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in 2014-15. He also didn’t have a ton of success coaching Illinois from 2016-20, posting an ugly 17-39 record in the process.

Apparently, that’s not a deterent for the downtrodden Houston Texans. As their head coach search continues to take turn after turn, Lovie Smith has emerged as a top candidate to replace recently-fired head coach David Culley.

According to ESPN’s Adam Schefter, the Texans are now in talks with Smith about becoming their next head coach. The NFL insider notes that Smith had been in the conversation throughout the process. However, “his candidacy as head coach has gained steam in recent days.”

Houston Texans are really going to hire Lovie Smith?

This report comes amid news that Philadelphia Eagles defensive coordinator Jonathan Gannon is no longer a candidate to become the Texans’ head coach. That seemed to leave former NFL quarterback Josh McCown and former Miami Dolphins head coach Brian Flores as the top candidates.

According to Schefter and other reports, McCown is now seemingly out as a candidate — leaving Smith and Flores as the two finalists.

Flores’ candidacy is interesting given that he just filed a lawsuit against the NFL and its 32 teams claiming racism within the interview process. As for McCown, he has absolutely no coaching experience at either the collegiate or professional level. He has been a candidate for Houston’s job in the past two cycles.

Circling back to the 63-year-old Lovie Smith, he served as associate head coach and defensive coordinator under Culley last season. Houston’s defense finished 31st in yards allowed and 27th in scoring.

To say that this would qualify as a shocking hiring would be an understatement. The Texans have been under a microscope since firing Culley after just one season. They could now replace him with the former head coach’s top assistant and someone who has not been a head coach at the NFL level since back in 2015.