List of Houston Texans head coaches

Gary Kubiak led the Texans to their 1st division championship and 1st playoff win.

There have been six head coaches of the Houston Texans, a professional American football team based in Houston, Texas, United States. The Texans play in the South Division of the American Football Conference (AFC) in the National Football League (NFL).

In 2002, the Texans entered the NFL as an expansion team, with Dom Capers (2002–05) as the team's first head coach. Capers was selected, in part, due to his success in having led the expansion Carolina Panthers to the playoffs in just their second season in the league.

After three straight seasons of consistent improvement, the Texans took a major step backward in 2005 with a 2–14 finish. At the end of the season, Capers was fired and replaced with Gary Kubiak (2006–2013), then the offensive coordinator for the Denver Broncos. Kubiak, a Houston native and alumnus of nearby Texas A&M, would eventually become the longest-tenured head coach in franchise history, coaching 125 games and posting a 61–64 record.

Kubiak earned several distinctions as head coach, having led the Texans to their first non-losing season (2007), their first winning season (2009), and their first division title, playoff appearance, and playoff win (2011). In both 2011 and 2012, the Texans won the AFC South and the first game of the playoffs but lost the divisional game the following week.

In 2013, the Texans started the season 2–0, but then lost their next 11 games. Kubiak was fired mid-season, on December 6, 2013[1] and was replaced on an interim basis by defensive coordinator Wade Phillips (2013, 3 games).

During the 2013 off-season, Bill O'Brien (2014–2020) was hired to be the Texans' next head coach.[2] O'Brien had previously served as head coach at Penn State and as offensive coordinator under Bill Belichick with the New England Patriots.

In the 2020 season, the Texans started 0-4, and O'Brien was fired and replaced by interim head coach Romeo Crennel during the regular season on October 5, 2020.[3]

During the 2020 offseason, David Culley was hired as the Texans' next head coach.[4] Culley had previously served as an assistant head coach and wide receivers coach with multiple NFL franchises, most recently the Baltimore Ravens. However, he was fired after just one season, with the team posting a 4–13 record during his brief tenure.[5][6]

During the 2021 offseason, Lovie Smith was hired as the Texans' next head coach.[7] Smith had previously served as associate head coach and defensive coordinator during the 2021 season. Smith was previously the head coach of the Chicago Bears and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, as well as the Illinois Fighting Illini. Smith, however, was fired after posting a 3–13–1 record, becoming the second-straight Texans head coach to be fired after one season.[8]

During the 2022 offseason, DeMeco Ryans was hired as the Texans' next head coach;[9] Ryans served as defensive coordinator with the San Francisco 49ers. Ryans also was drafted in 2006 by the Texans where he played for six seasons.

Key

# Number of coaches[N 1]
Yrs Years coached
First First season coached
Last Last season coached
GC Games Coached
W Wins
L Loses
T Ties
Win% Win – Loss percentage
00* Spent entire NFL head coaching career with the Texans

Coaches

Note: Statistics are accurate through end of 2023 NFL season.
# Image Name Term[N 2] Regular season Playoffs Accomplishments Ref.
First Last GC W L T Win% GC W L
1 Dom Capers 2002 2005 64 18 46 0 .281 — [10]
2 Gary Kubiak 2006 2013[N 3] 125 61 64 0 .488 4 2 2 2 AFC South Championships (2011, 2012)
2 Playoff Berths 		[11]
– Wade Phillips 2013[N 3] 3 0 3 0 .000 — [12]
3 Bill O'Brien* 2014 2020[N 4] 100 52 48 0 .520 6 2 4 4 AFC South Championships (2015, 2016, 2018, 2019)
4 Playoff Berths 		[13]
– Romeo Crennel 2020[N 4] 12 4 8 0 .333 — [14]
4 David Culley* 2021 17 4 13 0 .235 — [15]
5 Lovie Smith 2022 17 3 13 1 .206 — [16]
6 DeMeco Ryans* 2023–present 17 10 7 0 .588 2 1 1 1 AFC South Championship (2023)
1 Playoff Berth		 [17]

Notes

  1. ^ A running total of the number of coaches of the Texans. Thus, any coach who has two or more terms as head coach is only counted once.
  2. ^ Each year is linked to an article about that particular NFL season.
  3. ^ a b After 13 games of the 2013 season, with the Texans at 2–11 (.154), Kubiak was fired as head coach and replaced by defensive coordinator Wade Phillips on an interim basis. Phillips had earlier served as interim coach against the Arizona Cardinals, after Kubiak took a medical leave of absence after collapsing during a game against the Indianapolis Colts.
  4. ^ a b After 4 games of the 2020 season, with the Texans at 0–4 (.000), O'Brien was fired as head coach and replaced by Assistant head coach Romeo Crennel on an interim basis.

References

  1. ^ "Houston Texans fire coach Gary Kubiak". Fox Sports. Retrieved December 6, 2013.
  2. ^ "Texans reach agreement with Bill O'Brien". USA Today.
  3. ^ "Romeo Crennel brings wealth of experience as head coach". Retrieved October 5, 2020.
  4. ^ Public Relations, Houston Texans (January 29, 2021). "Houston Texans Hire David Culley as Head Coach". www.houstontexans.com. Retrieved January 29, 2021.
  5. ^ "Statements from the Houston Texans". Houston Texans. January 13, 2022. Retrieved January 13, 2022.
  6. ^ "Houston Texans fire head coach David Culley after one season". NFL.com. January 13, 2022. Retrieved January 13, 2022.
  7. ^ Public Relations, Houston Texans (February 7, 2022). "Houston Texans Hire Lovie Smith as Head Coach". www.houstontexans.com. Retrieved February 7, 2022.
  8. ^ "Statement from Texans Chair and CEO Cal McNair and General Manager Nick Caserio on Lovie Smith". Houston Texans. January 8, 2023. Retrieved January 9, 2023.
  9. ^ Public Relations, Houston Texans (January 31, 2023). "Houston Texans hire DeMeco Ryans as Head Coach". www.houstontexans.com. Retrieved January 31, 2023.
  10. ^ "Dom Capers Record, Statistics, and Category Ranks Record, Statistics, and Category Ranks". Pro Football Reference. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved February 14, 2011.
  11. ^ "Gary Kubiak Record, Statistics, and Category Ranks Record, Statistics, and Category Ranks". Pro Football Reference. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved February 7, 2017.
  12. ^ "Wade Phillips Record, Statistics, and Category Ranks Record, Statistics, and Category Ranks". Pro Football Reference. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved February 4, 2014.
  13. ^ "Bill O'Brien Record, Statistics, and Category Ranks Record, Statistics, and Category Ranks". Pro Football Reference. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved January 5, 2021.
  14. ^ "Romeo Crennel Record, Statistics, and Category Ranks Record, Statistics, and Category Ranks". Pro Football Reference. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved January 5, 2021.
  15. ^ "David Culley Record, Statistics, and Category Ranks Record, Statistics, and Category Ranks". Pro Football Reference. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved January 28, 2021.
  16. ^ "Lovie Smith Record, Statistics, and Category Ranks Record, Statistics, and Category Ranks". Pro Football Reference. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved February 7, 2022.
  17. ^ "DeMeco Ryans Record, Statistics, and Category Ranks". Pro Football Reference. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved December 10, 2023.