Former Eagles quarterback and NFL journeyman Josh McCown was nearly named the Texans' next head coach, but Houston backed out at the last minute after Brian Flores' lawsuit over the league's racist hiring practices rocked the football world.
That's the story the Houston Chronicle's John McClain is reporting Tuesday morning. McClain has been covering football in Houston for decades and is considered one of the most plugged-in beat reports in the league.
It's a fascinating development for McCown, who just 765 days ago was still playing quarterback in the NFL but seemed fast-tracked towards a head coaching opportunity in Houston based on his reputation around the league as a surefire future head coach.
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Here's what McClain reported Tuesday morning, with regard to Houston's decision-makers opting to hire veteran NFL coach Lovie Smith instead of McCown:
"Once [Texans GM Nick] Caserio fired Culley after a 4-13 season, he began the search for the new coach. McCown was highly recommended by executive vice president of football operations Jack Easterby.
"McCown, Flores and Philadelphia defensive coordinator Jonathan Gannon were the finalists. They interviewed two times each. Gannon was informed over the weekend he was no longer in the picture.
NFL
"Once Flores filed his lawsuit, pointing specifically to the Dolphins, Giants and Broncos but including the Texans and every other team, he wasn’t going to get hired by the people he was suing.
"[...] The Texans knew they were going to get ridiculed for hiring McCown with no college or NFL coaching experience. Hiring him at the expense of a more experienced minority became a deal-breaker, so they reached out to Smith.
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"There were reports McCown turned down the job, which isn’t true. Although he’ll never admit it, Caserio changed his mind. And the general manager has it in his six-year contract that he gets final say. The McNair family approved his pivot from McCown to Smith."
Talk about chaos.
It's an unseemly look into the behind-the-scenes ways that a lot of coaches get their jobs in the NFL. McCown might one day be a good head coach, but the guy has never coached a down of pro football in his life.
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Pretending he was the most qualified candidate for a dang head coaching job in the NFL was always a hilarious lie, and the Texans realized just before they pulled the trigger that everyone knew what they were doing: fixating on an under-qualified white man instead of conducting a legit coaching search that would give equal opportunity to all candidates.
That wasn't going to fly in the court of public opinion in the immediate wake of Flores' lawsuit, so they changed direction and hired a seasoned veteran who also happens to be a Black man.
It's the ugly truth: even in 2022, teams around the league have to poked and prodded and persuaded to give minority candidates the time of day.