Texans are hiring Ravens assistant Culley as next head coach.
Texans finalizing deal with Ravens assistant to be new head coach
The Texans are hiring David Culley as their new head coach.
The Texans were working to finalize a contract Wednesday night with Culley, Baltimore’s assistant head coach/ passing coordinator who coaches wide receivers, according to two people familiar with the process.
After a second strong interview Wednesday afternoon with general manager Nick Caserio and chairman and CEO Cal McNair, the Texans made the decision to hire Culley as a replacement for Bill O’Brien.
Culley, who’s never been an offensive coordinator in a 27-year NFL coaching career, is getting the job over Buffalo defensive coordinator Leslie Frazier.
Culley and Frazier were the only candidates to be interviewed two times by Caserio, who is leading the search with McNair.
After his in-person interview Wednesday, Culley emerged as a serious candidate, according to two people familiar with the process.
Frazier, the Bills’ defensive coordinator who has head coaching experience at Minnesota, had a slight edge over Culley as of Wednesday morning. But Culley made a compelling case to be the Texans’ next coach during his interview. He impressed the Texans with his personality and preparedness and what they believe is an ability to stand in front of his players and command the room.
Culley will be the fourth
head coach in team history after Dom Capers, Gary Kubiak and O’Brien. As the Texans’ first Black head coach, he joins the Astros’ Dusty Baker and the Rockets’ Stephen Silas as Blacks helming professional sports teams in Houston.
The Texans were the last of seven NFL teams with a vacancy. They interviewed nine candidates, including six by Caserio.
Jim Caldwell, former head coach at Indianapolis and Detroit, interviewed two times but only once with Caserio. Caldwell also interviewed with the Texans’ search committee before the general manager was hired.
Hiring Frazier would have been the safer decision since he has head
coaching experience at Minnesota and has been a defensive coordinator with four teams.
Hiring Culley is an outside-the-box decision. Included in his 27-year coaching career was working 16 years with Andy Reid at Philadelphia and Kansas City.
Nobody can accuse the Texans of age discrimination. At 65, Culley is the oldest man in NFL history to be hired as a first-time head coach. Whether a necessity or a coincidence, it’s apparent the Texans were looking at experience as an important part of the hire.
Culley, who has coached receivers and quarterbacks in the NFL, was considered a dark horse candidate
when initially contacted for his Zoom interview. The more time the Texans spent talking with him, the more he impressed them in every possible manner.
The more the Texans delved into Culley’s coaching career and received so many strong recommendations, the more they considered him as their next head coach.
Culley will oversee an offense that needs to develop a productive running game. Those offensive problems could extend to
the passing game if disgruntled quarterback Deshaun Watson is able to force a trade.
Culley will be in charge of trying to resurrect a team that finished 4-12 in 2020, one year after winning the AFC South with a 10-6 record. It’s going to be a colossal project because the Texans are involved in the Watson controversy, have salary cap issues, and don’t have draft picks in the first two rounds.
Culley will go to work immediately on putting together a staff. As part of his presentation with Caserio, Culley made suggestions on assistant coaches he’d like to hire.
Culley, who coached for three seasons (1991-93) at Texas A&M under R.C.
Slocum, has an offensive background. Since Tim Kelly is expected to be retained as offensive coordinator, Culley will rely on him to call plays for a second consecutive season.
Keeping Kelly might help Caserio and Culley convince Watson to stay in Houston, where he has received universal respect by fans and media since the Texans drafted him in 2017.
As they look to address Watson’s situation, the Texans hope Culley can make a positive impact on his players, change the team’s losing culture, and harness an abundance of patience to deal with an organization in turmoil.