David Culley may have been with the Houston Texans for just one season, but he left an impression on general manager Nick Caserio.
The Texans’ general manager met with the media on Jan. 14 to address the state of the franchise after firing Culley on Jan. 13. The search commences for the team’s fifth full-time coach in club history.
According to Caserio, the Texans are actually looking for a coach who has some of the same traits that Culley had.
“Honestly, I’d say a lot of the qualities that David possessed,” said Caserio. “Those aren’t going to necessarily change. But I think the head coach position really is a probably a leadership position more than anything else. I think we get caught up in the X’s and O’s. Now, there’s an X’s and O’s strategy component to that, but again, it’s within the context and the construct of everything else that surrounds that.”
Culley was hardly an X’s and O’s coach as he had never been a coordinator at the NFL level. Instead, Culley’s calling card was mostly as a receivers coach in his 27 season prior to becoming the Texans’ coach in late January of 2021.
What Culley did possess was a consistent, upbeat attitude on a daily basis, which was one of the reasons he made an impression on Caserio at the NFL scouting combine years ago. Culley was also a “players coach” in that players loved to play for him.
“Our responsibility and my responsibility is to continue to provide support and create structure so that our entire organization and operation can succeed,” Caserio said. “I would say honestly a lot of the qualities that David possessed, those more than likely will not change.”
The Texans finished 4-13 in the only season with Culley on the sidelines. Houston sports fans are hopeful Caserio finds a coach with his second hire that has better staying power and stacks more wins in his first season and beyond.