The Houston Texans are running new coach Lovie Smith’s defense, and he will be calling the plays.
According to Ian Rapoport of the NFL Network, the Texans are not planning to hire a defensive coordinator.
It isn’t exactly ruled out that the Texans may need to use the title, Rapoport says, but the plan is to not hire a defensive coordinator.
The Texans have not had a coach double up as defensive coordinator since Wade Phillips was the interim coach for the final three games of the 2013 season. Coach Bill O’Brien was the last Texans coach to serve as a coordinator concurrent with his duties as he was Houston’s de facto offensive coordinator from 2017-18.
Houston converted from a 3-4 defense to Smith’s patented Tampa 2 scheme with a 4-3 front throughout the 2021 season. Although the Texans finished 4-13 and were 31st in yards as a defense, Houston managed to finish tied for the 10th-most takeaways in the NFL with 25. The Texans were the only team with a losing record to finish in the top-10, which was an immense rebound from 2020 when the Texans were at the bottom of the league with nine takeaways.
If the Texans’ defense can build upon their success in 2021, then there will be more calls from the fans for Smith to continue to hold the defensive play sheet.
