Should the Houston Texans move on from David Culley following one season?
Being halfway through the 2021 NFL season, one can expect national media members to start writing articles about head coaches being on the hot seat. Just this last week CBS Sports released an article having Houston Texans head coach David Culley ranked number one in their hot seat ranking. These articles are mostly centered around the number of wins, and not so much the intangible qualities that these coaches bring.
Moving on from Culley after one season makes little to no sense for the Houston Texans. While the lack of competitive effort may be alarming to General Manager Nick Caserio, the overall record shouldn’t be.
Sure, if quarterback Tyrod Taylor doesn’t get hurt in Week 2 maybe instead of being 1-8, Houston would be 3-5 or better. To think Caserio and company didn’t see this coming would be wrong. The 2021 season was always going to be a lost cause once Deshaun Watson decided to quit in the entire city of Houston.
Demanding a trade to a team that may be in a worse state than the Texans in the Miami Dolphins, proves his decision was never about football and was always about his Instagram lifestyle.
Which direction is Nick Caserio really taking the Houston Texans?
Caserio is using this season to clear the deck of the bad contracts given out by Bill O’Brien. Bringing in all these players on one-year deals was strictly to build competition, in hopes of playing teams close knowing the reality was the team was going to struggle.
While Culley has had his moments on the sideline leaving everyone scratching their heads, the question is was that not to be expected? Culley was brought here to try to keep morale up in the locker room while Caserio handled the Watson situation and other roster decisions.
Although the Texans continue to lose, Culley is doing exactly what they brought him here to do. Therefore rendering the answer to the question of “ Should David Culley be on the hot seat?’ Is a resounding NO.
Once again, Culley is doing his job as outlined by Caserio before the start of the season and should be given the opportunity to learn in 2021. Going into the 2022 season, Culley should be without the dark cloud that is Deshaun Watson, additionally having multiple first and second-round players added to the roster from the 2022 draft.
The Texans are at least one more season from being respectable again. Texans fans should grant Culley one more year. If he continues to look lost as he has at times this season, then the Texans should move on.
Culley’s personality is infectious (in a good way), and as long as his skills and decision-making improve, he’s definitely someone who is a “player’s coach” and can get anyone to buy-in.
Believing Culley is on the hot seat is a knee-jerk reaction. Culley is not on any hot seat, nor should he be given the entirety of the situation.