Lovie Smith makes last-ditch effort to save his job with Texans

Lovie Smith hopes Houston Texans owner Cal McNair will give him more than just one season.

Should Houston Texans owner Cal McNair fire Lovie Smith after this season, they will have gone one-and-done at head coach in back-to-back years.

Ian Rapoport and Tom Pelissero of The NFL Network reported on Saturday that “Lovie Smith has been meeting with owner Cal McNair to state his case for a second season in Houston.” McNair moved off David Culley after only one season at the helm a year ago. He also fired Bill O’Brien four weeks into the 2020 NFL season in favor of giving Romeo Crennel an outside shot as the interim.

Entering Week 18, the Texans have the NFL’s worst record and could end up with the first pick.

NFL rumors: Lovie Smith pleads his case to Houston Texans owner Cal McNair

Though the Texans won their second game of the season only a few weeks ago, that came against the reeling Tennessee Titans who have not been the same ever since Ryan Tannehill went down. Houston followed up that breakthrough performance by getting their teeth kicked in by Trevor Lawrence and the surging Jacksonville Jaguars. All that remains are the hapless Indianapolis Colts.

With a loss to the Colts, or a Chicago Bears win over the Minnesota Vikings, Houston will have secured the No. 1 overall pick in the 2023 NFL Draft. That would mean they would have the right to pick a potential franchise quarterback of their choosing between Alabama’s Bryce Young or Ohio State’s C.J. Stroud. Even if they ended up at No. 2, Chicago does not need to select a quarterback.

Although nobody reasonably expected for the Texans to amount to much of anything this year, Smith did start each team meeting in fall camp with a slide stating that they will be Super Bowl champions. When reading the room goes horribly wrong, you lose the locker room faster than you could ever hope to bring it together. That and “overall operational struggles” might be it for Smith.

While general manager Nick Caserio could be safe, he did hire Culley and Smith. So it would not be shocking if McNair wanted to clean house entirely. Not only will the Texans have a top-two pick this spring, but they also have the Cleveland Browns’ first-round pick this year as part of the package deal for former Houston starting quarterback Deshaun Watson. You cannot overlook this!

Even though the Texans have been nothing short of a grease fire since blowing a gargantuan lead to the Kansas City Chiefs in the AFC Divisional Round three Januaries ago, Houston has the draft capital to get better in a hurry. The question remains if they have the coaching staff to make that dream a reality. For now, what leads you to believe that Smith and his staff can get this right?

If McNair decides that enough is enough, keep an eye out on these two up-and-coming head-coaching candidates. Philadelphia Eagles defensive coordinator Jonathan Gannon was a finalist for the gig a year ago that went to Smith. San Francisco 49ers defensive coordinator DeMeco Ryans is not only a rockstar coaching candidate on the rise, but he is a former Texans Pro Bowl linebacker.

Of course, Houston may want to go with an offensive mind to help bring along a new quarterback.