POLL: Will New Houston Texans Head Coach Lovie Smith Find Success?

Can Lovie do what no one has done before?

Another year, another embarrassing off-season for Houston Texans fans. And, with no ability to affect actual, positive change with our beloved team, all we can do is follow along with the morose notion that Cal McEasterby just doesn’t care…

After an “exhaustive” search of potential head coaching candidates, including former All Pro wide receiver Hines Ward and former backup quarterback Josh McCown, the braintrust at NRG realized they already had a Super Bowl winning head coach on their staff and promoted Love Smith to the head coaching role.

All the conspiracy theories aside, if current events hadn’t unfolded as they did, would Smith have landed the gig? It sure doesn’t seem that way, but here we are…

Once it seemed a foregone conclusion that Smith was getting hired, I asked the masthead how many former head coaches had returned to go on to greater success after years out of the role.

I remembered Dick Vermeil. Others mentioned Pete Carroll and Bruce Arians. Not many other names came to mind.

All that to say, Smith has an uphill battle ahead of him to get this team to its first ever Conference Championship game.

Worst Stat of the Modern Era

The Houston Texans are the only team in the NFL to have never participated in a conference championship game

Dom Capers didn’t make the playoffs

Gary Kubiak eventually won a super bowl – with the Denver Broncos

Bill O’Brien got pantsed by the Kansas City Chiefs in the playoffs, multiple times

David Culley won the NFL lottery but never made it to the five win mark.

Enter Lovie Smith as the Houston Texans Newest Head Coach

Smith has amassed a lot of NFL games as a head coach prior to landing here.

Regular season: NFL: 89–87 (.506)

Postseason: NFL: 3–3 (.500)

Career: NFL: 92–90 (.505)

NCAA: 17–39 (.304)

While those are far from rockstar coaching stats, Smith does have a Super Bowl ring from his time with the Chicago Bears. Capers made it to the big game as a coordinator, only to lose to the Green Bay Packers. Kubiak had three Super Bowl rings as an assistant coach with the San Francisco 49ers and offensive coordinator with the Denver Broncos. Bill O’Brien also made it to the Super Bowl as an offensive coordinator, for the New England Patriots, but ultimately lost to the New York Giants.

Will Lovie Smith outperform all those who came before him in H-Town? At this point, anything short of a conference championship game is a failure for this team. Winning a super bowl is the ultimate passing grade.

Do you believe Lovie Smith will be a successful head coach in Houston?