Houston's associate head coach may get a job.
According to ESPN's Adam Schefter, the Houston Texans are in talks with associate head coach and defensive coordinator Lowy Smith to take over as the team's head coach. The Texans had included Smith in their discussions for the next head coach and those talks reportedly only developed to become head coach.
Many of you will remember Smith from his time as head coach of the Chicago Bears. He is easily the most successful Bears head coach in recent memory. Smith helped lead Chicago to the Super Bowl in the 2006 season, losing to Peyton Manning and the Indianapolis Colts. The Bears made three playoff appearances during Smith's tenure, winning the NFC North Division title all three times. He was eventually fired by the Bears after scoring 81–63 in nine seasons.
Most recently, Smith was the head coach of the football program of the University of Illinois from 2016-20. He was also the High Court of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers very briefly, but it did not end well. Smith scored 8-24 in two seasons and was fired. Smith led the Illini to only one bowl game and went 17–39 in five seasons.
Smith didn't turn the Texans' defense into a juggernaut in 2021, though the roster wasn't full of talent. Houston was almost dead on in allowed yards this past season and in the bottom 6 in allowed points per game. Smith will have a ton of work to do, but leading a franchise to the Super Bowl in today's NFL isn't easy and he's done it in the past.