MAQB: Why Lovie Smith Is a Surprising Choice for the Texans

Houston was thought to be looking for a fresh start, but went with continuity—starting the process four weeks after the season. Plus, what Mike McDaniel means for Tua Tagovailoa, Josh McDaniels on his relationship with Derek Carr and much more.

LOS ANGELES — Six days until kickoff. Here we go …

• I have a theory that I think is a little more than just a theory by now, on why Patriots alumni sometimes struggle in new locales. The standard in Foxboro is set very high, it’s kept there relentlessly and Bill Belichick has the program in place to sustain it—stocked with people who grew up in it and wholeheartedly subscribe to it. So sometimes when these people go other places, and work with people who don’t keep the same standard, frustration can fester and boil over, and issues follow.

That brings me to what’s happening in Houston.

Part of the reason coach David Culley is out relates to this. Missteps in game management were an issue for the 2021 Texans—there were two, in particular, we cited in the Jan. 17 MMQB column—and that, because of his upbringing, was always going to be an issue for general manager Nick Caserio. That’s why, to me, it doesn’t make much sense Houston’s next coach, Lovie Smith, is coming off of Culley’s staff.

And to be clear, I really like Smith. He’s a good dude and a good coach.

I just don’t see where this is a match, at a time when, it seemed, the whole idea was for Caserio to get one. Especially with matches available. Brian Flores is one. I’d heard those two might’ve had concern over whether their strong personalities would mesh, but they had a solid relationship in Foxboro and would align philosophically. If said concern and Flores’s lawsuit were too much? Patriots linebackers coach Jerod Mayo was another really good, like-minded option, and he brought the ex-player element Josh McCown did, to boot.

At the very least, the Texans just interviewed and subsequently hired an internal candidate who first came on the team’s head-coaching radar a full four weeks after their season ended, and who just worked under the head coach that was fired. That alone makes this one a head-scratcher, to put it mildly.

The one thing I’d keep my radar up for is the potential that McCown goes on Smith’s staff as assistant head coach, positioned to eventually succeed him. I’d get that, wanting McCown, but not thinking he’s ready, and putting him with Smith to get him ready. Otherwise, it’s pretty hard for me to wrap my arms around the hire.

• As the Dolphins’ search narrowed, it became relatively clear that they were going to take a swing on an offensive guy to try to get Tua Tagovailoa some help. Their early focus was on Brian Daboll, who had Tagovailoa as a true freshman at Alabama and developed Josh Allen in Buffalo. And the other two finalists, Mike McDaniel and Kellen Moore, were both offensive tacticians (McDaniel having built schemes for different types of quarterbacks, Moore having played and coached the position).

Given that focus, I think McDaniel’s hire is good news for Tagovailoa.

There’ll be some carryover in system, since Tagovailoa played for Steve Sarkisian at Bama and Sarkisian came there from Atlanta, where he was charged with running the offense that McDaniel helped Kyle Shanahan put in there. And inventive as McDaniel is in the run game, he should be able to take the pressure off of Tagovailoa, which helps with any young QB.

• Speaking of coach-quarterback relationships, it’s been well-documented where the one between Josh McDaniels and Jay Cutler went south in Denver. So I asked McDaniels on Sunday how important it was to him that he get to his new quarterback, Derek Carr, to start building a relationship, getting him to a place where the lessons he says he took from Denver might resonate loudest.

“I'm going to be upfront and honest with everybody,” McDaniels told me. “And really, I've been a fan of his for a long time. So I'm eager and excited to begin the relationship, and I think he feels the same way. And I'm going to pour into him like I've always tried to do with that position, and I think it'll be a great working relationship. We're looking forward to it.”

If you go back and look at the things McDaniels said coming out of the gate in Denver, about Cutler or others, he wasn’t talking that way. Which seems like a pretty important difference as he gets his new program off the ground in Las Vegas.

• The Saints were the last team with an opening—and they filled it early Monday night with clubhouse favorite Dennis Allen. As for why, his dozen years working under Sean Payton are a good place to start. His ability to keep the current infrastructure in place is another plus, with the likelihood that 13-year offensive coordinator Pete Carmichael could easily slide into a new role as play-caller and the respected Darren Rizzi would be back to run special teams. And Allen’s in concert with Jeff Ireland and the scouting department.

From the start, it would have taken a lot to push New Orleans off its de facto succession plan and away from the Payton infrastructure. So here the Saints are, going forward by doubling down on what they’ve built.

• I missed this in the morning column—big hire for Matt LaFleur, to lure special-teams coach Rich Bisaccia to the Packers. Obviously, Maurice Drayton’s ouster told you all you needed to know about how badly the Packers’ special teams needed fixing (if the divisional playoff loss somehow didn’t), and to bring in a guy with instant credibility like Bisaccia will get everyone’s attention.

• If you take stock in New England, now having lost McDaniels to Vegas, a lot of brainpower has left the building over the last few years, both on the coaching side (McDaniels, Flores, Joe Judge and, though he’s back now, Matt Patricia) and the scouting side (Caserio, Dave Ziegler, Monti Ossenfort, Pat Stewart, DuJuan Daniels, James Liipfert). That’s why the moves coming to replace McDaniels and Ziegler loom as big ones. Alabama offensive coordinator Bill O’Brien, who called plays in Foxboro from 2009 to ’11, seems ideal for McDaniels’s seat. We’ll see if Bill Belichick and Nick Saban agree, and work something out (I don’t think Belichick will straight up poach from his buddy). And Eliot Wolf, who helped revamp the team’s scouting approach last year, would seem to be lined up to take Ziegler’s spot. Two others to keep an eye on as internal risers: Nick Caley on the coaching side and Matt Groh on the scouting side.

• My first glance at my first Los Angeles Super Bowl (the last one was held the day after I turned 13): This is going to be really spread out, à la Phoenix or Dallas. The Rams are at their home facility, about an hour away. The Bengals will be practicing at UCLA starting Wednesday. The media center/radio row is downtown. And I wish there was more stuff happening on the water (but that’s my problem, not yours).

• The health of the tight ends is going to be the biggest injury story line this week. Rams coach Sean McVay said on Monday he doesn’t think that Tyler Higbee will be able to practice this week, and is uncertain on his status for Sunday. Kendall Blanton has given L.A. some depth at the position in the playoffs. And Bengals TE C.J. Uzomah said he’s “feeling great … It’s been a lot of early mornings, late nights of just rehabbing, and fighting through some stuff. But I feel good. I feel really, really good.”

• One leftover I’ve been meaning to pass along: Getting Aaron Donald a ring would mean a lot to a lot of his teammates, given Donald’s status as an all-time great player and near-certain Hall of Famer (I usually don’t feel comfortable calling guys future HOFers, because I don’t have a vote, but I feel O.K. in this case). “I’m a perfect example of you never know if you’re gonna get another shot at this, right?” safety Eric Weddle told me. “I went to my first conference championship 15 years ago, and now I was in my second. I’m just trying to reiterate to these guys, it doesn’t happen every year. And for guys like AD, Von [Miller] and all these other guys, Odell [Beckham] and myself, Whit [Andrew Whitworth], we gotta take advantage of this chance. And especially for guys like [Donald], who’ve done so much individually in their career. … When AD speaks, we all listen. I mean, that’s the bottom line: He's the best player in this generation.”

• One of Sunday’s coordinators, Kevin O’Connell, is set to become a head coach the day after the Super Bowl, with the Vikings having identified the Rams’ OC as their guy. But there are three others who interviewed for jobs over the last month and are positioned to be prime candidates going into 2023. Rams DC Raheem Morris should be on the precipice of a second chance at being a head coach, and Sunday should be a nice showcase for the work he’s done in replacing Brandon Staley. And both Cincinnati OC Brian Callahan and DC Lou Anarumo emerged from under the radar to interview with the Broncos and Giants in January, and should have good momentum head into next year.