Lovie Smith, who has been a head coach in Chicago and Tampa Bay, is expected to be named the Houston Texans head coach. Rick Osentoski/Associated Press
HOUSTON — The Houston Texans are expected to hire current assistant Lovie Smith as their head coach, a person familiar with the process told The Associated Press.
The person spoke to the AP on the condition of anonymity Monday because the team had not announced that Smith would be hired. The same source said an official announcement was expected later Monday or Tuesday morning.
Smith, who is Black, will be the second minority candidate to be hired this offseason after the Miami Dolphins hired San Francisco 49ers offensive coordinator Mike McDaniel, who is biracial, on Sunday.
Smith spent last season as Houston’s associate head coach and defensive coordinator. He will take over for David Culley, who is also Black, and was fired after just one season.
The 63-year-old Smith joined the Texans last offseason after spending 2016-2020 as the coach at Illinois.
This will be the third NFL head coaching job for Smith, who coached the Chicago Bears for nine seasons and coached Tampa Bay for two seasons ending in 2015.
Now he takes over a team in the process of a complete rebuild after trading or releasing almost all of its top players in the past couple of years. The Texans went 4-13 last season in a year where star quarterback Deshaun Watson did not play after a trade request and amid 22 lawsuits alleging sexual harassment or assault.
After the hiring of Smith is complete, the Texans will continue an offseason where they are expected to finally trade Watson. They have the third overall pick in the draft after not having a first-round pick since 2019, and could acquire more high draft picks if they’re able to trade Watson.
Smith will become the fifth head coach in franchise history, following Dom Capers, Gary Kubiak, Bill O’Brien and Culley.
Houston interviewed multiple candidates over the past few weeks, including Brian Flores, Hines Ward, Josh McCown and Joe Lombardi. Flores, who is Black, was fired despite posting winning records in the final two of his three seasons in Miami.
Flores sued the NFL, the Dolphins and two other teams last week over alleged racist hiring practices for coaches and general managers.
The Texans had been criticized by some in the media this week for even considering McCown for the position since the 42-year-old former NFL quarterback has never coached at any level aside from volunteer coaching on his son’s high school team. McCown spent part of the 2020 season on Houston’s practice squad before retiring following a 17-year career.
Smith was 144-81 with the Bears, leading them to the Super Bowl in the 2006 season where they lost to the Colts. He struggled in his stint with Tampa Bay, going 2-14 in his first season and 6-10 the following year before being let go.
Smith went 17-39 at Illinois before being fired with one regular-season game left in his fifth season. The Texas native began his coaching career at his alma mater as the defensive coordinator for the high school team at tiny Big Sandy, Texas, in 1980 before moving on to college coaching in 1983.
His first NFL job came in 1996 when he was hired to coach linebackers for the Buccaneers.
SAINTS: The New Orleans Saints have promoted defensive coordinator Dennis Allen to head coach, two people familiar with the decision said.
The people spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because the Saints have not announced their chosen replacement for Sean Payton, who resigned nearly two weeks ago after 16 years with the club.
ESPN first reported the Saints’ decision to promote from within after the club also had interviewed outside candidates, including former Miami coach Brian Flores, Detroit defensive coordinator Aaron Glenn and Kansas City offensive coordinator Eric Bieniemy.
• Police learned Saturday that New Orleans Saints running back Alvin Kamara was a suspect in a predawn beating of a man at a Las Vegas nightclub, but did not arrest Kamara until after Sunday’s NFL Pro Bowl, a Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department spokesman acknowledged.
The alleged victim in the attack was treated for facial injuries at a Las Vegas hospital, where he told patrol officers that the incident occurred about 10 hours earlier, according to a police department statement.
“There was a delay in reporting due to the victim receiving treatment,” the statement said.
The name of the victim, his hometown and a motive for the alleged attack won’t be made public immediately, Officer Larry Hadfield said.
Kamara, one of the top running backs in the NFL,. is charged with felony battery resulting in substantial bodily harm.
Detectives went to the Cromwell hotel-casino, home to the rooftop Drai’s After Hours club on the Las Vegas Strip, to identify Kamara, but did not immediately contact him, Hadfield said.
“It was known that (Kamara) would be participating in the Pro Bowl,” the department statement said.
Kamara was interviewed and arrested at Allegiant Stadium after Sunday’s game, which started at noon local time, and taken to the Clark County Detention Center.
Court and jail records showed Monday he posted bond and was released with a March 8 court date.
Records did not immediately identify Kamara’s attorney. A conviction on the felony charge could result in a sentence of one to five years in state prison.
The Saints and Kamara’s agent didn’t respond to messages about the charge.
Kamara had four catches for 23 yards for the NFC in the game. The AFC won, 41-35. This season, he had 1,337 yards from scrimmage and nine touchdowns this season on the way to being picked for his fifth Pro Bowl in five seasons.
GIANTS: New York hired a Black assistant general manager less than a week after fired Miami Dolphins coach Brian Flores sued the team, two other franchises and the NFL for alleged racist hiring practices.
The Giants announced Monday that Brandon Brown will work with new general manager Joe Schoen, leading the player personnel department and helping other parts of the football operation.
“Brandon has a strong reputation around the league as a leader, evaluator and consensus builder,” Schoen said in a statement. “He is a tireless worker who has experience in pro personnel and college scouting. He has a progressive approach to the evaluation process.”
Brown interviewed for the Minnesota Vikings’ general manager position, which went to Kwesi Adofo-Mensah.
Flores filed his lawsuit last week, just days after the Giants hired Buffalo Bills offensive coordinator Brian Daboll as their new coach, replacing Joe Judge, who was fired after a 4-13 season.
In the suit, Flores alleged the Giants gave him an in-person interview as a formality after they had decided to hired Daboll. He alleged he learned of the hiring after receiving a inadvertent text message from Patriots coach Bill Belichick, congratulating Daboll on getting the job. Both men worked for Belichick with the Patriots.
Flores also alleged the Giants gave him the interview to meet the league’s Rooney Rule, which mandates teams interview at least two minority candidates from outside the franchise.
The Giants have denied the allegations.
COLTS: Indianapolis hired Gus Bradley as their new defensive coordinator to fill a recent vacancy.
Bradley replaces Matt Eberflus, who held the same title for coach Frank Reich’s first four seasons in Indy. Eberflus became the head coach of the Chicago Bears.
Reich has replaced both of his coordinators since Indy’s playoff loss at Buffalo in January 2021. Former offensive coordinator Nick Sirianni took over as head coach of the Philadelphia Eagles last offseason.
BEARS: The Chicago Bears hired Arizona assistant Jim Dray as tight ends coach.
FALCONS: Director of pro personnel Steve Sabo is leaving the team following 12 seasons.
In a statement from Sabo released by the Falcons, he and General Manager Terry Fontenot “mutually decided it’s time for a new opportunity.”
INJURIES: The NFL is taking a hard look at special teams, which had a disproportionate number of injuries this season.
While league executive vice president Jeff Miller stopped short of saying rules changes to further limit kick plays could be coming, the concern over the amount of concussions and lower extremity injuries was clear in a Zoom call.
According to Dr. Allen Sills, the NFL’s chief medical officer, and Miller, one in six concussions came on special teams. Add in 30% of major knee injuries (mostly ACL tears) and 29% of other lower body injuries were on kick teams.
Considering that only about 17% of all plays involve special teams, those numbers are alarming.
“That’s a primary area of focus on the health and safety side,” Miller said, “to take a look at kickoff and punt. That jumps up in what otherwise is a very good story.”
The “good story” includes a decrease in concussions overall. But the concussion rate on punts in particular could lead to action as soon as the owners’ meetings at the end of March.
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