Ian Rapoport gives timing of when Houston Texans may announce new HC

The Houston Texans are closing in on figuring out who their new head coach is.

On Monday morning, Ian Rapoport made an appearance on the Pat McAfee Show. Rapoport was asked when the Houston Texans would officially announce Lovie Smith as the team’s next head coach.

Rapoport said it was more of an announcement that would come “tonight or tomorrow” for Smith. Smith came out of nowhere like a Randy Orton RKO to be a surprise finalist for the head coaching job.

Smith is reportedly the new favorite to get the job over Brian Flores, who has also sued the NFL for racial discrimination. Nick Caserio is most likely tying up the loose ends of the deal with Smith. The clip of Rapoport’s thoughts is below. Many thanks to Max B. for finding the video and getting it to such a shareable format.

Houston Texans are very close to the Lovie Smith era in Houston

Smith last coached an NFL team in the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in 2015, and previously spent 2016-2020 as the head coach at the University of Illinois. Smith is regarded as a defensive mastermind who guided the Chicago Bears to their Super Bowl XLI appearance.

The main concern with Smith is his offensive skills. He’s hardly had an offense be consistently in the top half of the league, and the narrative of “defenses carry the team” has been present and evident in Smith’s tenure as a head coach.

What impact this has on Davis Mills will be something to watch both in 2022 and 2023. If Mills is the franchise guy, Smith will have to find an offensive coordinator worth developing Mills into a true starting NFL quarterback.

Smith may lose current QB coach Pep Hamilton to the Jaguars, even though the two of them were thought to be a package deal (Smith and Hamilton).