HOUSTON — After the Houston Texans announced the firing of head coach Lovie Smith Sunday, ESPN NFL analyst and former Heisman Trophy winner Robert Griffin III had something to say about the team’s latest move.
“The Houston Texans have fired Lovie Smith after 1 year. Using 2 Black head Coaches to tank and then firing them after 1 year shouldn’t sit right with anyone,” Griffith tweeted Sunday night after the news broke.
This is the second year in a row the Texans fired their head coach after just one season. David Culley, who was then a first-time head coach, was Smith’s predecessor before being fired. Smith even served as Culley’s defensive coordinator before being elevated to head coach.
Smith was let go after going 3-13-1 as the Texans coach while Culley went 4-13 in his one season at the helm. Both coaches oversaw what many be deemed a rebuilding project for the Texans.
“(Nathaniel) Hackett was fired for the team (Denver Broncos) underperforming MASSIVELY after trading for Russell Wilson. Roster was SUPER BOWL Contender level like the Rams and Bucs were after getting Stafford and Brady. Texans hired Culley and Lovie knowing the roster was bad, then fired them for being bad,” Griffin said in the Twitter thread.
“Idk how anyone produces different results in that situation,” Kurt Benkert, who is listed as a reserve on XFL’s Houston Roughnecks and spent three years in the NFL, said in response to Griffin’s tweet.
Griffin said it did not make sense to fire either Texans coach if the expectation was that they were to prepare the roster for the next step in the rebuilding process.
“It makes no sense bro. Everyone knew the job for both of them was to build the roster and prepare it for the QB of the future. Just disingenuous to have them do that and fire them back to back like that,” Griffin said in the thread.
Griffin’s take has garnered a wide range of responses: