Houston Texans Terminate Lovie Smith Making Him Second Black Coach Fired After Only One Season

For the second year in a row, the Houston Texans have fired a coach after only one year at the helm.

According to a statement released by The Houston Texans, head coach Lovie Smith has been terminated after the team posted a dismal record of 3-13-1 this past season. After the Texans posted a victory in their season-ending game, the team informed Smith of the decision to let him go.

Cal McNair, the Chair and CEO of the Houston Texans

stated, “Nick Caserio and I spoke with Lovie Smith tonight and informed him that we will be moving in a different direction as an organization. I appreciate Coach Smith and his entire family for their contributions over the last two seasons. We are grateful for his leadership and character, and we wish him the best moving forward. While we understand the results have not been what we had hoped for, we are tom-banner ampforwp-incontent-ad2"> committed to building a program that produces long-term, sustainable success. Our fans and city deserve a team that they can be proud of. I will work alongside Nick Caserio throughout this process and I’m confident we will find the right leader for our football team.”

According to Houston Public Media, Smith is not only the second straight head coach to be fired after one season, but he is also the second straight Black head coach to be terminated from the team in two years. After posting an almost identical record of 4-13 last season, the Texans got rid of David Culley after the only season he led the team.

The firing of two Black head coaches in two consecutive years didn’t go unnoticed. Former Washington Redskins quarterback, Robert Griffin III, made mention of it on his Twitter account.

USA Today reporter, and former track and field athlete, Tyler Dragon, stated the same sentiment.

Sports Columnist, Marcus Hayes had something to say as well.

Yahoo Sports reported that Smith was only hired after news broke of former Miami Dolphins Brian Flores filing a discrimination lawsuit against the NFL last year.

The Texans were reportedly set to hire Josh McCown, who had no NFL coaching experience. After Flores filed the lawsuit, the team shifted its attention and went with a Black coach, Smith, instead.