Count Tony Dungy as someone who is not pleased with the Houston Texans’ decision to fire Lovie Smith as coach.
The former Tampa Bay Buccaneers and Indianapolis Colts coach and current NBC Sports analyst took to Twitter Sunday evening to react to the news of the Texans firing Smith after a 3-13-1 finish.
“What are the Texans doing,” Dungy wrote. “What kind of operation is this where you don’t have any convictions about supporting the coaches you hire. Who is going to want to coach there if you might only get one year to implement your plans. Two years in a row is ridiculous.”
Dungy raises an interesting notion that the Texans are displaying a lack of convictions about providing support for coaches when they fire them after just one season. It could be argued that Smith’s plans, especially on the defensive side of the ball, already had two years of implementation due to the fact Smith was hired as defensive coordinator on David Culley’s staff in 2021.
Firing a coach two years in a row is also puzzling and could be a deterrent to other candidates. What kind of stability is there in a job when it has been shown on record the past two seasons they are willing to get rid of a coach.
Smith got his start coaching at the NFL level under Dungy with the Buccaneers in 1996 as linebackers coach. Smith remained at the position through the 2000 season when he was hired by the St. Louis Rams during the 2001 offseason. Smith later was the coach of the Chicago Bears in 2006 and ended up going to Super Bowl XLI where they faced Dungy’s Colts.
