David Culley had been an assistant coach in the NFL since 1994. With the Houston Texans, he is getting his first shot at being an NFL coach at the age of 65.
Culley met with Houston media on a Zoom call on May 27 and reflected on the biggest change going from being an assistant to now a full fledged coach.
“Before I came here, I used to make suggestions,” Culley said. “Now I’ve got to make decisions. That’s the biggest thing that has happened. That’s been fine. I knew when I got the job, I knew that was what was going to happen and wasn’t going to change. I can just remember when I used to make all those suggestions, when I made them, if they take them, good. If they didn’t, that was okay, too. But that wasn’t me having to make that decision.”
The highest Culley had gotten was an assistant head coach with the Kansas City Chiefs from 2013-16 and the Baltimore Ravens from 2019-20. Culley played a support role for coaches Andy Reid and Jim Harbaugh.
“Well, that thing has flipped now and being flipped, I understand exactly what it’s all about,” said Culley. “I understand now when that decision is made, that decision is made because that’s what I felt like was best for the football team to do and I embrace that.”
The Texans seek to recover from a 4-12 record and a third place finish in the AFC South in 2020. To make the shift from an also-ran in the conference to a contender, Culley will have to make the right decisions.
“I’ve been looking forward to that,” Culley said. “I’m finally glad that I’m here to be able to make those decisions.”
