So you aren't giving them credit at all for giving two black coaches an opportunity? Very few coaches get a chance at the top spot... and when you do, it's a big deal. If you scream for hiring black candidates, then you have to give credit when front offices actually do it. This after-the-fact criticism of calling these coaches "unqualified" and then spinning the Texans' actions as racist... really diminishes the desire for anyone to make an affirmative action hire. Why bother if you are just going to get criticized even though you made the effort. It's better to just hire the qualified candidate, regardless of race. You just can't appease some people, so it's better not to try. And by the way, Flores and Bienemy are toxic - both on the do not touch list. Leslie Frazier is a great guy who I appreciate, but he's been passed over many times for head coaching jobs -- no one is beating down his door. Much respect to him and his son Corey, however.
Also...just so my position is clear. I'm not defending the organization from claims of stupidity, incompetence, incoherence, goofiness, religious zeal, etc. I don't know if they have a clue wtf they are doing. My interest level in them is at an all time low. I have zero faith they will draft any player I care about. I just think the racism charge is poorly placed.
This dude knew he was gone and said eff y'all and y'alls draft pick and opened up the playbook and ran all kinds of aggressive stuff. Maybe if he did that all along the Texans wouldn't have sucked so much ass.
Honestly, I'm skeptical of this report given how hard the Texans still played for Lovie - not in every game...but there were a lot of games they just lost by one score. And, Smith was a defensive coordinator for one full year before being promoted to head coach. Issues like this would have appeared while he was defensive coordinator, but Caserio hired him anyway. Someone from either the Texans/Caserio camp is trying to make this appear that the decision to fire was based solely on Smith's deficiencies as a head coach, but I don't buy it.
Leslie Frazier was a head coach and went .400. Pointing to him as an example of a good candidate and Lovie Smith as a bad candidate is whack. I also think focusing solely on HC is intentional. This is a franchise that employed Rick Smith for an extremely long period of time as the most powerful person in the org. They were all in on Pep Hamilton when other teams were shunning him as an OC. They pursued him two years ago to be the QB coach to guide the future and then bumped him to OC with a pay raise to keep him from bolting once he was being praised for Davis Mills. They wanted Brian Flores.
True. The decision at the end to go for a two-point conversion is an all-time "FU" sendoff by Lovie. LOL
There's always nuance to these issues. Lovie Smith is by ALL accounts an awesome person that most people love playing for and being around. That doesn't mean Stingley didn't hate playing cover 2 and that the org (Caserio) was frustrated by his unwillingness to implement their ideas. I think @Nook mentioned this was also an issue with Lovie in Chicago. MGMT had frustrations with him being receptive to things there as well and he had issues with OCs about play calling and forcing conservatism, not being interested in their input, etc. That doesn't mean he's a bad guy. Lovie believes in his system. It was the knock going into this hire. But I think most of his players adore him.
Yeah, but last I checked 9 is 3x 3. Lovie won 3, including 2 we didn’t want him to bc the team was a dumpster fire. The team had 5 yards of offense in the first half vs the commanders. Trailed 20-0. 30-0 halftime against Miami. Offensive players regressed. But Lovies a defensive coach. No he’s a head coach, but fine, Defensively? Stingley used like a neutered horse. The worst rush defense in 14 years. Then a late season surge using gimmick dual QBs, which included 4th quarter collapses and several near misses, and boom, now we should keep him? Do you actually watch the Texans or are you just coming on here to pile on by spewing your echo chamber garbage?
Houston Texans football. We may lose a lot and make terrible decisions, but are defensibly not overt racists.
Yup…..exactly this. That said…he took the job knowing he was gonna be the fall guy, so my sympathy for Lovie is in the negative…. But 100% he made it a point to win that game and “leave a good taste in the fans mouth.“ PAUSE
Mention race and, like clockwork, the white guys show up in droves to tell everyone why something isn't racist. Hiring is based on opportunity & experience. Black coaches have predominantly been given less opportunities and, by extension, have accumulated less experience. This isn't controversial. There is no other side to this. You do not get to cash a "not racist" card because you hire Black head coaches. They have to be given the same resources and opportunities as white coaches. Culley and Smith were not. Again, this isn't up for debate. They were handed depleted rosters the team was in no hurry to overhaul; limited draft capital; a scandal that paralyzed the franchise. To not at least stop and recognize this - maybe even give some consideration to it before reflexively screaming about how you, a white person, doesn't think it's racist - speaks volumes, especially against the backdrop of the NFL's long history of racist hiring practices.
