HOUSTON — Thursday afternoon, the Houston Texans fired David Culley as coach after one season. The Texans went 4-13 under Culley, winning the same number of games as the year prior.
Outside of finishing in the top-10 in takeaways, Houston ended the 2021 campaign near the bottom of every statistical category. But despite their on-field struggles, general manager Nick Caserio believes the Texans are in a better situation from the previous year because of Culley’s leadership.
“When you rewind and go back to a year ago when I took over, the organization was in a pretty rough spot, and I think we are in a lot better position now,” Caserio said when speaking to the media on Friday. “I think that is because of the leadership and guidance that David Culley provided this football team. I have a lot of respect and adoration for what he did for this team. And we will be forever indebted to him.”
When the Texans hired Culley in January of 2021, Caserio said his ability to motivate and work with others were the top attributes that led to his hiring.
Nearly a year since his arrival in Houston, the same qualities that Caserio first witnessed at a scouting combine is what ultimately earned Culley the respect and admiration of the locker room.
“I thought Coach Culley did a great job his first year as a head coach,” center Justin Britt said. “I feel like his leadership was consistent and who he was consistent, and that’s what we needed here as a leader, someone to run this team.”
“Obviously, things didn’t go the way we wanted it to, and we are going home early,” wide receiver Brandin Cooks said. “But at the end of the day, he brought some great energy to the team and kept that consistent throughout the year and helped us continue to fight given everything that was going on this whole year.”
Caserio said firing Culley was a tough decision, and he felt the 66-year-old coach was the right man for the job at the time. But Caserio felt moving on from Culley after finishing the year with the league’s third worst record was the most suitable decision for the franchise.
