The Houston Texans were dealt the unexpected when special teams coordinator Brad Seely announced his retirement from the NFL after 31 years of professional coaching.
Seely, who spent the past two seasons with the Texans, leaves the job vacant. Now, Houston has to come up with an answer as to who will replace the three-time Super Bowl-winning coordinator.
The solution could be already on the staff. When Seely came over to Houston from the Oakland Raiders, where he had been the special teams coordinator under Jack Del Rio from 2015-17, he brought with him Tracy Smith.
Smith, an LSU graduate, has been an understudy of Seely’s for the past 10 years. In 2010, Smith’s first job came with the Cleveland Browns as Seely was in his second year with the AFC North club as their special teams coordinator
In 2011 when Seely took the same job with the San Francisco 49ers, Smith followed and stayed there through the 2014 season.
Smith, whose father, Carl Smith, is still on the Texans’ staff as an offensive assistant, is known throughout the league for his ability to work with special teams. Ahead of the Texans’ Week 16 encounter with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, coach Bruce Arians, who was the Arizona Cardinals coach from 2013-17 and went against the 49ers twice a year, was complimentary of Smith.
“Extremely, extremely well coached,” Arians told Houston reporters on Dec. 17, 2019. “Brad Seely and Smith, those young guys, they have such a great tandem of coaches. Everywhere they’ve been together, the special teams have been outstanding.”
The band is breaking up with Seely going into retirement, but the acquisition of safety Michael Thomas may ease the transition from Seely to Smith. The former 2018 Pro Bowler played for the 49ers from 2012-13 and has experience with the Seely and Smith system.
“You’re talking about a guy that has always been considered one of the top special teams players in the league,” coach Bill O’Brien said on April 24. “He’s played very well, he has experience with Brad Seely, Tracy Smith, most recently with the Giants. He played for the Giants, done a good job.”
Thomas earned his Pro Bowl selection with the New York Giants in 2018, but his formative years in the NFL were with Seely and Smith.
If the Texans want to keep the continuity in systems in the transition phase of the game, then promoting Smith is the logical move.