When the Houston Texans were looking at head coaches last offseason, there were jokes about their desire to hire Josh McCown, who had never coached above the high-school level. There was a serious candidate in Brian Flores.
Nobody considered Lovie Smith. When he suddenly emerged as the leading candidate, it was strange.
It was also a relationship that was probably doomed from the start. The Texans fired Smith on Sunday night, team owner Cal McNair announced. The news was first reported by NFL Network's Ian Rapoport and Mike Garafolo.