Texans expected to hire David Culley as next head coach

The Houston Texans are reportedly expected to hire Baltimore Ravens assistant David Culley as their next head coach.

The Houston Texans were the first team to have a head coaching vacancy and are the last to have the position filled. After a highly-publicized interview process, it appears the AFC South team is closing in on their choice for new sideline boss.

According to NFL Media’s Tom Pelissero, the Texans and Baltimore Ravens assistant head coach David Culley are working on a deal to make him their new head coach. Earlier, John McClain of the Houston Chronicle wrote that he expected Culley to be hired over Buffalo Bills defensive coordinator Leslie Frazier to be Houston’s next head coach.

Culley interviewed well with Texans

Earlier in the day, the talk in Houston was that the choices for head coach were narrowed down to Culley and Frazier. According to Josina Anderson of ESPN, Culley interviewed with Houston on Wednesday morning and was called back to have another meeting that same day. Hours later, the two sides were working towards finalizing a contract.

Culley was a relative unknown in this year’s coaching carousel, as his only interview request came with the Texans. The 65-year-old has been a coach in the NFL since 1994, where he was the wide receivers coach with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. After a three season stint with the Pittsburgh Steelers, Culley joined Andy Reid’s Philadelphia Eagles coaching staff. Culley worked alongside Reid for 16 seasons with the Eagles (1999-2012) and Kansas City Chiefs (2013-16), where he coached the wideouts. Culley would then work alongside fellow members of the Andy Reid coaching tree in Sean McDermott with the Buffalo Bills (2017-18) and John Harbaugh of the Ravens (2019-20).

With this hire, now the immediate question many want answered is what quarterback Deshaun Watson thinks about it. The fourth-year quarterback was reportedly upset with the Texans for how they handled their head coach and general manager searches, specifically for not taking his suggestions into consideration. But Watson does have a connection with Culley.

Watson and Culley both worked together in last year’s Pro Bowl, and “built a really good connection that week,” sources told Aaron Wilson of the Houston Chronicle. There will be some continuity in Houston with Culley’s hiring, as offensive coordinator Tim Kelly will keep his job, per NFL Media’s Ian Rapoport. It remains to be seen how the Culley hire will affect Watson’s future with the team, which is still up in the air.

After 27-years coaching at the pro level, Culley finally gets his shot as a head coach in Houston.