By Brandon Simmons
The Houston Texans have finally found their next head coach but it’s neither Leslie Frazier or Eric Bienemy. Wednesday, the team that has been embroiled in controversial headlines this past month, hired Baltimore Ravens assistant head coach David Culley. It is Culley’s first head coaching job in his entire career, which spans decades between the college and pro level.
Culley was not among the high profile names thrown around for Houston or any other vacancies but he comes with a long line of experience. He started his career in 1978 at Austin Peay University as a running backs coach, then made various stops on the college and pro levels. His college career saw him on the sidelines of Middle Tennessee State, Texas El-Paso and Texas A&M, his last stop before making a jump to the pros. He got his start with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers as a wide receivers coach, continued that same job with the Pittsburgh Steelers and Philadelphia Eagles. With the Eagles, he became an offensive assistant in addition to his job as a receivers coach. After the Eagles, he joined the Kansas City Chiefs as a receivers coach and assistant head coach, then the Buffalo Bills as a Quarterbacks coach and got hired by the Ravens as an assistant head coach, wide receiver and passing game coordinator.
Culley’s name seemed to have popped up after a long list of candidates that the Texans interviewed, dating back to the regular season’s end. Early on, it was reported the team sought former Cincinnati Bengals head coach Marvin Lewis and former Detroit Lions head coach Jim Caldwell. Houston also interviewed former Los Angeles Rams defensive coordinator Brandon Staley, but he accepted the head coaching position with the crosstown Chargers. Frazier, the defensive coordinator for the Buffalo Bills, was also interviewed and, surprisingly, journeyman quarterback Josh McCown took an interview for the position. The one name that will stand out from looking back on this search, will be Chiefs offensive coordinator Eric Bienemy. Bienemy was highly favored to land a head coaching gig somewhere in the league, and was rumored to be a favorite of Texans QB Deshaun Watson. However, the team did not appear to reach out to him until after the pseudo-drama between Watson and the Texans reached its peak.
The bottom line is this: This rings off as a bad hire right off the bat. When you look at the candidates that have been interviewed, you have a mix of guys who have head coaching experience as well as youth to relate to the players. Not only that, they had their pick of coaching coordinators who oversaw two of the league’s top units last year. Staley was the coordinator of the Rams’ top ranked defense while Bienemy called plays for the Chiefs’ indestructible offense. Culley was the passing game coordinator for this past season’s 32nd ranked passing game. Whether or not he had the proper personnel to work with is an argument to be made on another day but compared to what the team had available to choose from, they were not without quality options.
This is General Manager’s Nick Caserio’s first hire, and he needed a home run in the middle of all this controversy; but he hit a foul ball behind the plate and more angst might follow. With all the talk about letting Watson have input on the coach, you must wonder, is this something he suggested or was he left out again? Fans would also question if money was a factor. Certainly, that has to be the case for not picking the other candidates.
Regardless of the reason, David Culley is the new head coach for the Houston Texans, and a big congratulations to him. He seems to be well-liked by a number of people around the league, including former Texans GM candidate Louis Riddick. There’s no hatred towards this man for taking a job that has been embroiled in tons of mess the past few years.