Long journey, but Smith home at last
Big Sandy native eager to tackle new challenge as defensive coordinator
Lovie Smith was almost hired as the Texans’ head coach over Bill O’Brien.
Smith, the Texans’ new defensive coordinator, was the first candidate owner Bob McNair interviewed to replace Gary Kubiak, who was fired with three games left in a 2013 season that ended with a 2-14 record.
Smith had been fired as Chicago’s head coach after a 10-6 season and an 84-66 record over nine years. Smith, a native Texan who grew up in Big Sandy and starred for state championship teams, was
hoping to get the job and return to his home state.
Smith made a strong impression on McNair. They spoke on the phone several times before Smith came to Houston for an interview. McNair was so impressed he said privately there was a good chance he was going to hire Smith.
Then the Korn Ferry search firm recommended O’Brien, who was coach at Penn State, and the rest is Texans history. O’Brien came to Houston in 2014 — the same year Smith was hired as Tampa Bay’s head coach.
“I enjoyed my interview, and I was hoping I was a serious candidate,” Smith said Thursday. “Of course, I knew who Bob McNair was. Look at everything he did for football in our state and how much it meant to Texas for him to bring a franchise back to Houston.
“My interview with him was a good experience. He was direct about everything. I was wanting the job, but it didn’t work out that way. It’s funny how things do work out. Now I get to work for the Texans in a different way, and I’m excited about that.”
The last time Smith was an assistant coach in the NFL was 2003, his last year as the Rams’ defensive coordinator before the Bears hired him. He was available after five years as the head coach at the University of Illinois.
Smith accepted the Texans’ offer to work under new coach David Culley, who spent 27 years as an NFL assistant before getting his first head coaching job.
“I’m a product of Texas high school football, so the chance to come back played a big part in it,” said Smith, who was inducted into the Texas Sports Hall of Fame in 2012. “I’ve known David Culley for a long period of time, what kind of man he is, what type of coach he’s been. I knew the influence he’d have on the organization, so that was easy. It wasn’t really a big sell job David had to do.
“I thought it was an honor to be a part of his first staff. He’s going to do great things here. The players are going to really love him, and every coach that came on board kind of feels the same way.”
Even though Smith was out of the NFL for the last five years coaching at Illinois, he kept a close eye on the league. He’s been a disciple of the 4-3 scheme since he coached linebackers (1996-2000) at Tampa Bay under Tony Dungy.
As the Rams’ defensive coordinator for three years (2001-03) and the Bears’ head coach for nine, he employed a 4-3. The Texans’ base defense has been a 3-4 since 2011, when Kubiak hired Wade Phillips as his coordinator. Romeo Crennel kept the 3-4.
Smith used “versatile” to describe his defense in his Zoom conference call with the media. New general manager Nick Caserio has supplied him with a lot of new players in trades and free agency to help make the transition to a 4-3.
“Nick has done an excellent job,” Smith said. “There is a transition (to a 4-3). We all got together to start overhauling the roster to get our personnel to fit it. I feel like we’re close to that right now.
“I love all of the moves we’ve made because some of the positions we’re going to play with a little different (type) guy. We play with a little different linebacker. Our linebackers are more space guys — speed as a premium.
“Having a four-man front now, we have to kind of adjust that a little, but I feel like we’ve done that. We like our roster before we add some more players in the draft.”
As the Rams’ defensive coordinator, Smith lost a Super Bowl to New England. As the Bears’ head coach, he lost a Super Bowl to Indianapolis and Dungy, his close friend and mentor.
When he returned to Tampa Bay as head coach (2014-15), he was fired after back-to-back losing seasons.
No matter where he’s coached, one of the hallmarks of Smith’s defenses has been turnovers. He inherits a defense that forced a league-low nine turnovers last season, second-fewest in the NFL since 1980.
“I know people say, ‘Well, turnovers just come,’ but I don’t believe that,” Smith said. “When you watch us practice, you’re going to see an emphasis placed on that daily.
“It starts with talking about it with the players — things you have to get done. For a good defense, if you’re not taking the ball away and if you’re not good on third down and if you’re not scoring, it’s just not a good defense.
“We’ve been able to get that accomplished just about everywhere we’ve been. It’s going to start with a basic philosophy with the players, and they’re going to buy into it, and we’re going to teach it every day, just like we’re going to be teaching tackling.”
Last season, the Texans finished 30th in defense, including 32nd against the run and 24th against the pass. It’s up to Smith and his position coaches — and the players, of course — to improve on that disastrous performance.
“There are some things we want to accomplish on defense,” Smith said. “We need to take the ball away and be good on third down. In order to accomplish that, we want a smart defense that’s fundamentally sound, that plays hard each down.
“(I’m) excited about a new group coming in, everybody starting from scratch and showing us exactly who they are to put the best 11 guys on the field who’ll help us win games.”
If the NFL forces teams to have virtual offseason programs for a second consecutive year because of COVID-19, it will be more of a challenge for Smith to implement his system.
“It’s definitely harder to do it virtually, but that’s one thing we learned going through this pandemic last year — that we’ve adjusted and been able to get some good work done,” he said. “It’s not the same as being on the field.
“The mental part is just as important as the physical part. We assume eventually the league is going to tell us when we can turn the lights on — when we can start doing different things — and we will be ready to go. Whatever the rules, we’re going to make it work.”