Houston Texans Coach Lovie Smith was fired after having a 3-13-1 season. Smith is the team’s second head coach to be fired in just two years.
Smith’s season culminated with a shocking win over the Indianapolis Colts, but the move sparked different theories on social media since he was fired after the game.
Some people believed Smith knew he was being fired and won the game to be petty. The Texans’ win caused them to rise to the 2nd worst team in the NFL, disqualifying them from getting the number one draft pick because it goes to the worst team.
“Lovie Smith knew he is probably getting fired. Goes for two and the win and delivers a great parting gift to Texans Owner Cal McNair by costing his franchise the #1 pick in the Draft,” reporter Keith Jouganatos tweeted.
“Lovie Smith hearing he’s probably getting fired and winning the game on a Hail Mary that cost Houston the first pick is an ALL time petty move. Absolute respect,” @TheHattedGamer wrote echoed in a tweet.
“Lovie Smith winning a meaningless game and knocking the Texans out of the first overall pick on his way out the door,” sports writer Benjamin Solak tweeted along with a 7-second clip to accentuate his point.
Others called Smith’s firing racism because his predecessor, David Culley, is also Black and was fired after only one season.
“The Houston Texans organization are an atrocity! They are an embarrassment,” sportscaster Steven A. Smith said. “And as far as I’m concerned, if you’re an African American and you aspire to be a head coach in the National Football League, there’s 31 teams you should hope for. You should hope beyond God that the Houston Texans never call you.”
“The Texans/Cal McNair did what they intended to do. Blame the black folks while now having their quota of black coaches checked off for the next 20 years or until the next tank job,” @outherebad tweeted. “If they were serious, caserio (who didn’t want to fire Easterby) would’ve been fired also.”
Others criticized the Texans front office, bashed the organization’s “dysfunctional” culture and questioned why the team’s General Manager Nick Caserio hasn’t been fired since he’s been with the team throughout their recent two-year losing streak.
Sports journalist Bomani Jones told CNN why he said Smith’s coaching relationship with the Texans wouldn’t last when he first took the job.
“The whole organization is a dumpster fire. The thing about it is, I’m not exactly sure who should take that job,” Jones said during an appearance on CNN This Morning. “Where he says no Black person take that job, I wouldn’t recommend no white man take that job either.”
“What the Texans are is a job where I think the last two times they’ve hired Black dudes largely because no self-respecting white man would go take that job,” Jones continued. “They were down to the people who they felt like had to take the job – David Culley, whose name had never come up in a coaching discussion before, and then Lovie Smith, who probably had his last chance already.”
“There is no bigger dysfunctional team than the @HoustonTexans,” Roland Martin tweeted. “They hire David Culley as head coach, fire him after one year. They hire Lovie Smith, fire him after one year. Two Black head coaches that last 2 years. The Texans are a laughingstock due to Nick Caserio, Cal McNair.”
“The Texans were giving people problems all season long. They weren’t good enough, but that’s not Lovie Smith’s fault,” Fox Sports host Joy Taylor said. “So what I’m confused about is, if you’re going to move on from Lovie Smith, who has a ton of experience in the NFL, including experience at the head coaching position, how is the GM still here?”
“What are we doing with that? Because in the time that Nick Caserio’s been there, he’s hired two coaches and will be looking for his third this offseason … because the Texans are a dumpster fire of an organization and have been dysfunctional for years,” she continued.
The Texans’ problems are longstanding. The firing didn’t just start with Culley and Smith. The team has gone through four coaches in four years.
Caserio said Smith’s firing wasn’t about race. “I think each individual is going to have to make that choice. In the end, it’s not about race, it’s about finding quality coaches,” Caserio said. “All I can do is be honest and forthright, which I’ve done from the day that I took this job. And I’m going to continue to do that and try to find the coach that makes the most sense for this organization.”
Smith has not commented publicly yet on his firing.
PHOTO: Houston Texans Head Coach Lovie Smith before an NFL football game against the Jacksonville Jaguars in Houston, Sunday, Jan. 1, 2023. (AP Photo/Eric Christian Smith)