Texans Fire Head Coach David Culley After Just One Season

The Houston Texans have fired head coach David Culley after one season. According to NFL sources, and after letting him twist in the wind for four days under the illusion of some sort of further evaluation, the team gave Culley the news Thursday afternoon.??General manager Nick Caserio and senior executive vice president of football operations Jack Easterby made the recommendation to Chairman and CEO Cal McNair.?

The Texans finished the previous season 4-12 with Deshaun Watson having one of the best seasons on the books. This season, Culley’s team was 4-13 behind often injured journeyman Tyrod Taylor and rookie Davis Mills, a third-round pick from Stanford. While wins and losses clearly matter in the NFL, Culley’s record is probably not why he was fired. Maybe he was hired a year ago to be fired now. If you think that sounds crazy, hear me out.?

This franchise was a hot mess when Caserio arrived. Watson wanted out, Watt had bounced, the roster (that the team allowed Bill O’Brien to decimate) was not strong, there were salary cap issues and no first or second round draft picks. Whew… again I say, it was a hot mess! So, what coach with options would come into this situation? It would have been a hard sell, especially for a general manager who apparently wanted control. Perhaps Culley was brought in until Caserio and Easterby could get the guy they really wanted.??

Many will point to how Culley fell short in the areas of game management and with his media appearances. However, the question I’ve asked since OTA’s and training camp is: “How much authority did Culley actually have?” Of course, he accepted this gig and all that came with it. But did he ever really have a chance to be successful? The contract alone tells you Texans’ brass didn’t expect him to be around very long.?

Let’s face it, If Caserio has as good of a football mind as we’ve been told, certainly he knew this Texans team was in rebuild mode and would not be very good this season. So again, why was Culley hired? Caserio was in charge and seemed to be running things on and off the field. He was part of Culley’s practices and in the coach’s booth on headsets during every game. He even wore the coach’s gear. So, who was making the in-game decisions Culley or Caserio? How’s that for micromanagement??

Well, what’s done is done. I think transparency is what is lacking here. Then again how do you tell fans ‘we’re hiring a head coach with no other offers or interest in him being a head coach until we can hire one of the guys we want?’ Nah… I guess Caserio and Easterby couldn’t really say that. So now we’ll wait to see which coach from the Patriots tree they hire.?

About the Author:

?Kim is a veteran journalist, professional speaker, and media coach. ?She has more than 20 years of experience in news, sports, and media management for network TV affiliates such as NBC, ABC, CBS, FOX, WB, and Comcast where she has broadcast 1000s of stories, interviews and live shows.? Her expertise is in sports media, transformative communications, and leadership. She is a professional member of the National Speaker’s Association and the National Association of Black Journalists.