Why did the Texans fire David Culley after one year? The better question is why did they ever hire him?
It appears that Culley was hired to be fired. Given that the franchise was in shambles upon the arrival of G.M. Nick Caserio, it would have been difficult if not impossible to get a coach with options (like Josh McDaniels) to opt for a season that would have resulted in the attachment of a 4-13 record, or perhaps even worse, to his record.
So the solution was to pick someone who had no options. Someone who never was even regarded as a head-coaching candidate. Someone who would be thrilled to take the job, because it was the only one he was ever going to get.
The Texans likely knew from the get-go that another bad season would happen, making it easy to justify a one-and-done tenure for Culley.
The team is pushing to the media outlet that it partially owns the notion that the decision was made after four days of careful evaluation. Horsecrap. They knew what they were doing before a Week 18 loss to the Titans. The four-day delay was intended, in our view, to create the impression that they sat down, rolled up their sleeves, and engaged in a full and complete evaluation of Culley’s first year, even if they knew months ago what would happen.
If they truly engaged in a fair evaluation of Culley, he wouldn’t have been fired. To go 4-13 with arguably the worst roster in football is no small feat. To develop rookie quarterback Davis Mills into perhaps the best of the 2021 class, so far, is noteworthy.
Then there’s the fact that Culley was being micromanaged during games by Caserio. How can any in-game failures be pinned to him when he constantly was having his boss look over this shoulder and/or tell him what to do?
Waiting four days put the Texans behind the teams already looking for coaches. That would matter if the Texans didn’t know who they were hiring. If, as some believe, they’ll hire McDaniels, it’s a safe bet that Caserio and Jack Easterby planned this move not last week or last month but last year.
Hey, maybe I’m wrong. We’ll see what Caserio or Easterby (if he comes out of hiding) have to say when pressed for answers during a press conference.