9:13pm: When speaking to reporters after the team’s win over the Colts (which, given its effect on the upcoming draft, has not been perceived as such), Smith downplayed the swirling speculation that he is on the way out.
“First off, there are reports,” he said, via Charean Williams of Pro Football Talk. “I don’t know what the reports are… Do I expect to be back? Yeah, I expect to be back. Absolutely.” He added that his most recent meeting with McNair was simply the latest in regular post-game sit-downs between the two. Depending on what takes place tomorrow, his remarks could prove to be well-founded or wind up being a moot point.
2:44pm: One of the teams generating the most attention around the NFL with respect to potential changes on the sidelines and in the front office is the Texans. Houston has been marked by instability and underwhelming win-loss records in recent years, and their rebuild could soon be headed in a very different direction. 
Jay Glazer of Fox Sports reports that one of head coach Lovie Smith, general manager Nick Caserio or both “will be gone” at the conclusion of the regular season, putting them in danger of being fired tomorrow (video link). Given recent reporting on each of them, that would come as little surprise, in spite of the continued turbulence the organization would be undergoing in the event of a third straight coaching change.
KPRC2’s Aaron Wilson corroborates the sense that Smith, 64, will not return in 2023. As his sources explain, the team’s on-field performance – including a 2-13-1 record heading into today’s season finale against the Colts, and struggles in almost every category on both sides of the ball – is only one reason for a likely change. Others include the way he is perceived in the organization with respect to his approach and his stubbornness to alter it.
Smith (whose job status was one the Texans were already reported to be planning to evaluate following the season) has taken steps in recent days to try and avoid receiving a pink slip. The former Coach of the Year has been meeting with owner Cal McNair to “state his case” for being retained for at least one more year, per Ian Rapoport and Tom Pelissero of NFL Network. Smith would join David Culley as a one-and-done bench boss in Houston in consecutive seasons should his efforts prove futile.
Notably, Wilson reports that Caserio should actually be considered to be on relatively solid footing, adding that sources would be “extremely surprised” if he is let go. The longtime Patriots exec was, like Smith, reported to be on thin ice in the wake of the Texans’ struggles this year, one in which expectations were tempered. The 2022 season was always likely to include a long list of losses, but a lack of development by quarterback Davis Mills in particular has made the season a disappointing one.
The Texans are slated to pick no worse than second overall in the upcoming draft, however, which will give the franchise an opportunity to add a long-term answer at the position. That – coupled with a notable stock of other picks, cap space and a small group of young, encouraging players – could make the GM job an enticing one, should Caserio be dismissed. As for a potential Smith replacement, both Glazer and the NFLN pair name 49ers defensive coordinator (and former Texans linebacker) DeMeco Ryans as a name to watch when the coaching cycle begins to heat up.
What has Nick done? Traded Watson that’s about it.
His first draft they didn’t have a 1st or 2nd round pick. He also had to deal with Watsons legal trouble.
His second draft Metchie has missed the season due to cancer. He found Pierce in the 4th round who was on pace for a 1,000 yards.
He’s signed low cost veterans to avoid cap hell so when the team is ready to compete they have the financial room to make additions.
The ineptitude of the previous regime (Bill O Brien) has a lot to do with why the Texans are so bad. Caserio wasn’t the one that gave Hopkins away.
Texans also rid themselves of Jack Easterby so that in of itself is a win.
The list of misses via the draft dating back to 2014 is extensive esp in the first 3 rounds.
Fiedierowicz (3rd)
Nix (3rd)
Kevin Johnson (1st)
Strong (3rd)
Miller (3rd)
Rankin (3rd)
Sharping (2nd)
Loonie Johnson (2nd)
Warring (3rd)
Blalock (2nd)
They also didn’t have 1st or 2nd round picks in 2018 and didn’t have 1st round pick in 2020.
I dont fault Caserio for the mess he’s walked into. He’s done a pretty good job with what he’s had to work with.
His record as GM is 6-26-1. Laud all you want, but that’s failure. He could have passed on the job knowing what he was walking into. He didn’t. Big ego and his record doesn’t match it.
But I did like Lovie giving the organization a middle finger send off today! That was classic.
It’s failure to have a losing record when you’re rebuilding a team? Really? You mean to tell me rebuilding teams aren’t good and lose games?
Next you’ll tell me team contending have winning records and make the playoffs.
You might be on to something here arty….
Guess that explains why the dolphins posted 6-10 7-9 5-11 seasons from 2017-2019 and drafted their franchise signal caller in 2020 and are in the playoffs again this year.
Again the dolphins haven’t been in the playoffs in 3 years
Showed improvement in 2020
Showed improvement in 2021
(Compared to previous 3 years)
Made playoffs in 2022.
NYG & Jags rebuilt in 1 offseason. Why not the Texans?
Both those teams had much, much more talent and were also replacing unusually bad coaching situations.
Come on man Dan Jones sucks as a QB. You know that. In fact, it was well documented that the G-men thought this would be a difficult season by both the new HC & GM.
Everyone mocked the Jags offseason signings as well. Thought they way overpaid for their WR room. Jags proved them wrong.
It’s still football. Control the line on both sides, limit turnovers & penalties and you’ll win games.
None of those things changes the fact that the Texans had much less talent. Jones ain’t great, but he’s a lot better than Mills. The Giants’ defensive front alone is a world of difference from the Texans defense. And the Jags’ signings were wonky, but that still added talent to a roster that was already better.
The Texans have the worst roster in football, and only the Bears come close.
Why do they have a worst roster? That’s on the GM. D Jones is so bad, the G-men declined his 5th year option. It was great coaching and limited mistakes that took them to the playoffs this year.
I agree that it’s on the GM. Smith was set up to fail.
Both last year’s HC and Smith took terrible jobs. If I was an up and coming HC candidate, no way would I interview for the Texans. A complete mess of an organization. Why set yourself up to almost likely fail? D Ryans as an example will have much better opening to apply for. Otherwise stay as DC in SF.
Agreed, though Indy and (presumably) Arizona have less than stellar ownership situations. At least Tepper has a huge amount of money to go with his impatience. But Houston stands alone. No one else let a chaplain rise to football decision-making power and hired lame duck coaches in two straight offseasons.
Guess arty! ain’t aware that Jones has had a decent season, though he was held out of today’s game in Philly.
He’s below Goff, Geno, Carr, Russ & 1 place above Mills. From NFL.com
link to nfl.com
I guess being 15th is decent. Would you sign him to a new contract? I wouldn’t.
Jones is ranked 9th in QBR this year ahead of
Herbert
Carr
Lawrence
Brady
Cousins
Rodgers
Going just by passing yards is silly. Jones has been drastically better than Mills.
We found our New Sullivan!! Clueless Joe
1 off season? Jaguars have been
5-11
6-10
1-15
3-14
Finally had a winning record in 2022
Since 2018. Theyve accumulated high draft picks and built the roster to compete for years. 1 off season lmao
Since 2017 Giants have been
3-13
5-11
4-12
6-10
4-13
Finally had a winning record in 2022
Same thing. Theyve accumulated high draft picks and built the roster.
Since 2018 Texans haven’t had 3 1st round picks and 2 2nd round picks the last 5 drafts.
You really have no clue what you’re talking do you man? You literally picked 2 teams who were rebuilding for quite a while and finally found success.
Thanks for proving my point. Jags have been terrible for years w/ multiple HC’s & now are division winners. 1 year turn around.
That didn’t prove your point at all lmao. It’s sad you think it did.
It took years of drafts and free agent signings to build a competitive roster after the 2nd Coughlin era and blowing things up. Sit this one out man. You clearly aren’t capable of handling this level of thinking.
Friends on PFR, the new Browns backer!
Cause you got told you don’t know what you’re talking about backed up by facts? Lol. Well that’s one way to admit defeat man.
Texans certainly have a lot of work to do. But gm isn’t the issue with the team. Lack of talent is. Something he inherited with bad trades made by the old regime that cost them 3 1st rounders and 2 2nd rounders the last 5 years. One of those 1sts was Denzel Ward where cleveland had the #4 pick cause of the Texans. It’s gonna take a few drafts and free agent periods to build up talent on the roster again.
Just ignore ppl that don’t know football on football conversations. Life is more grand that way.
lmao Giants have been rebuilding since like 2016. Jaguars have been rebuilding since 2017. Taking a step forward after rebuilding for years is not getting ‘rebuilt in 1 offseason’.
Lol, Jags had the first overall pick in back to back seasons.
@arty – so you’d pass up a job that pays millions per year. Uh huh…
All I said was why go to a team w/ bad ownership? That has been a key theme from Sean Payton. I agree with him. if I had the choice between DC or the Rams, I go LA. Stan wants to win; Dan is a failure of an owner as an example.
Ryans is exactly the coach the Texans should want. Former Texan. Great coordinator. His guys play hard.
Ryans is a great head coach candidate… which means he might have better job options.
Other than the money and title, would you want to be the HC for that ownership? They’re clueless and seem to care less. Possible back to back firing of HC’s and staff?
Other than the money and title? So other than millions of dollars and reaching the peak of your profession? Are you serious?
Still wild that they gave the head coach job to a second straight obvious lame duck placeholder in as many seasons. Leads me to believe they really did want to hire McCown, but faced too much (correct) backlash. There was never a point in firing Culley just to give Smith the job.
As for Caserio, he’s been on the job two years and they still have hands down the least talented team in football. That’s not entirely his fault, but you should have more to show for two years on the job than this.
This is also a lesson about tanking. It may be nice to land the number one pick in a draft with QBs, but if you’re anywhere below the owner in rank, you might be landing that pick for your replacement.
They only hired Lovie because Flores added them to his lawsuit.
Hiring McCown would have helped the lawsuit.
Firing Culley after his overachievements was a mistake. I did, at the time, have a slight suspicion that his inspiration of the team actually ran counter to what Caserio wanted. He would have preferred two years of tanking to improve their stock, riding with a quarterback and roster that he’d have felt comfortable discarding. Culley started to build a team identity, and looked to have players performing better than expected.
Caserio wasn’t ready quite yet, and canned him for Smith, who wasn’t going to do the same thing. Now, Smith has served his purpose (other than winning that final game). Caserio will attempt to pick his coach of the future, and be more aggressive in building the team.
Just a theory. I don’t necessarily hold myself to it, and it’s a bit more dramatic, but it’s a suspicion that I had.
As a fellow Jets’ fan, we haven’t seen success yet, either, but we do owe them a thank-you note for taking Stingley over Gardner.
As for the “middle finger to the organization,” he followed Herm Edwards maxim: “You play to win the game.” The players on the field and the coaches on the sidelines are playing for their own pride and futures.
Love just said eff you and the number one pick!
Lovie gave the FO the middle finger today. Likely lost any chance he had at coaching then next year.
I hear the the chair in the Texans head coach’s office has an ejector button.
I seriously hope teams are done thinking Patriots guys are going to come and be great for their team. Not one has done anything, except for Bill O’Brien was decent for a couple years. These teams need to realize that there was no Patriots success without Brady, which is hopefully now proven to the doubters. Andy Reid and Sean McVay have better trees than Belichick.
Brady went to a stacked team of superstars and won immediately. New England lost him and a host of other contributors on defense and is rebuilding. I don’t know why people refuse to see the complete and total difference in those two situations.
And Jon Robinson never had a losing season in Tennessee. Just felt that should be mentioned here.
If Tampa was so stacked, why weren’t they good the year before? Why was New England 5-11 the year before Brady and started 0-2 when he took over. I’m not a Brady fan, but I’m realistic. Belichick had three #1 overall pick QB’s who played for him and he never did crap until Brady and hasn’t done anything since. Without Brady, he’s a great DC. With Brady, he’s a great head coach. That’s what the proof says.
Because their QB threw 33 interceptions and lost 5 fumbles. Even then, they went 7-9 and he threw for 5000 yards.
After Brady’s arrival, Tampa also added such players as Tristan Wirfs, Rob Gronkowski, Leonard Fournette, and Ndamukong Suh, and Antonio Brown, amongst others. There were ten-ten-former All-Pros on the team last year. Not Pro Bowlers, All-Pros. Bruce Arians, their coach at the time, was a championship winner before coming to Tampa. Not only were the Bucs respectable despite Winston’s turnover love affair and a clueless head coach, they got better even without adding Tom Brady. People like you force this stupid debate because talking heads and simple-minded fans around you make it seem easy and required.
I’m not engaging in the long winded debate over New England’s history with you. I have a strong feeling that that it would involve far too many intricacies or arguments that I would invoke that would be dismissed as “excuses” or some such thing. It’s a tiresome and pointless argument that keeps being brought up fruitlessly, as it relies entirely too much on hypotheticals.
All I can say is that, while I am not advocating any sort of “coaching tree” hires, the Titans have benefitted immensely from one. We’ll see what happens in New York. Coaching candidates shouldn’t be hired based on whom their boss was, but who the candidate is himself. I do not believe that there is any merit to bash or to idolize any sort of coaching tree-and that this trend of giving Brady all of the credit for New England’s success is absolutely ludicrous.
Please name Andy Reid’s successful coaching tree
Doug Pederson and John Harbaugh alone is a lot.
Brad Childress, Sean McDermott, Ron Rivera too…
John Harbaugh, Doug Pederson, Sean McDermott, Brad Childress, Matt Nagy. The last two aren’t great, but better than any of Belichick’s. Also, a few others that worked with him a little, but I won’t give him credit for those.
Fire him on principle alone winning that pointless game and giving Chicago #1.
Why was he incentivized to lose to help out his replacement?
Time to start poaching from the Astros.
The NFL is setup for a quick turnaround but the key is having the QB. You have to hope that there is a Mahomes, Allen, Lawrence, Herbert, Hurts or Burrow in this draft.. I think there might be a couple. Also, need to decide on a head coach and give him time to build a winner. Blaming the coach when you have incompetent QB play and extremely young roster makes no sense..
Smith got nothing out of this team this year – which is not surprising given his sub .500 history as a head coach.
Belicheck, Walsh, Lambeau, Halas and Parcells wouldn’t have won 5 games with this roster either.