The Houston Texans’ hire of David Culley is a shocker to football fans everywhere.
Few were familiar with Culley’s name, and Culley has never previously been mentioned as a head coaching candidate. Why? He doesn’t have any previous experience as an NFL offensive coordinator, which is a typical stepping stone to becoming a head coach (or being a defensive coordinator). That is why the hiring came out of nowhere.
Beyond that, it’s very fair to question whether Culley was a better choice than Leslie Frazier or some of the other candidates the Texans interviewed.
Culley was the passing game coordinator for the Baltimore Ravens the last two seasons. Baltimore was last in the NFL in pass attempts and passing yards this season, though they were 13th in passing touchdowns. Last season they were last in pass attempts and 27th in passing yards, but first in passing touchdowns.
Before Baltimore, Culley was the quarterbacks coach in Buffalo from 2017-2018. Josh Allen only had 10 touchdown passes and 12 interceptions, with a 52.8 completion percentage in his rookie year under Culley. Allen has vastly improved since then.
But the real blemish on Culley’s coaching record came before that, when he was the wide receivers coach and assistant head coach under Andy Reid in Kansas City from 2013-2016. As Rotoworld pointed out in a blurb about the new Texans head coach, Culley was the wide receivers coach for the Chiefs in 2014, which was the season they had zero (yes, zero) touchdowns scored by a wide receiver.
The Texans did their homework on Culley and like his experience and ability to connect with players. They’re hoping that their outside-the-box hire pays off.
