Texans Leaders Nick Caserio & Lovie Smith: Houston Needs Less Patronizing, More Evaluating
The Houston Texans players are confused.
The Houston Texans management is condescending.
And when the GM opts to dress up like "Jolly Ol' St. Nick'' Caserio by trying to fool Texans fans into thinking that moaning about 1-9-1 means they don't understand the true meaning of the holidays?
Confusing. Condescending. And absolutely evidence enough to ponder whether this franchise should scrap its leadership plans and - once again - start all over.
Coach Lovie Smith has proven to be tone-deaf on multiple occasions when answering questions about his team's failures. That occurred again in Miami after the Texans' 30-15 loss to the Dolphins on Sunday when he chastised media members who dared to challenge him, at one point saying, "Were you watching the same game? I guess not."
Yes, Coach. We were all watching the same game. We watched you fall behind 30-0, we watched your centerpiece running back Dameon Pierce rush for eight yards, we saw your vet Jerry Hughes kick a Gatorade cooler from Miami halfway to Cuba.
A more pertinent question, given that Lovie repeatedly makes claims along the lines of, "We're almost there'' and "I saw positives'' is ...
Are you, Lovie, watching these games?
Smith, at 64 a long-time head coach but in his first year in charge in Houston, shut down another valid line of questioning when he asserted, "I think it's little bit early'' to evaluate his leadership. But he's wrong again; the evaluation could in theory be so intense that GM Caserio pulls the plug immediately, realizing that as the worst team in football, Lovie being a "bridge'' coach is now quite likely a bridge to nowhere.
Part of that evaluation should be Smith's odd management of his QBs. Kyle Allen, who started in place of the slipping Davis Mills, testified that at practice last week, the two "split reps'' and that he wasn't informed he'd be the No. 1 guy until Friday. Given that it was clear on Wednesday that Mills was out and Allen in, why not given Allen all the first-team reps, thus giving him a better shot to knock off rust?
Lovie's response? "I don't think we split his reps in practice. ... It wasn't a split of the reps. ... Every time a guy goes out there and he gets more reps he's going to play better, but I can't say that that's the reason why."
So ... Allen is lying?
(Sidebar: There is a notion that all this will be fixed when in the 2023 NFL Draft, Houston drafts, say, Alabama QB Bryce Young with the No. 1 overall pick. But given how Lovie just fumbled Kyle Allen ... You trust him with Bryce Young?!)
Assuming Caserio is paying attention to all of this - he is "watching the games'' and not just "being thankful'' for the holidays, right? - every move and every word from this head coach must be scrutinized.
And not when Lovie deems it appropriate.
Now.
Surely Caserio, speaking recently on Sports Radio 610, didn't mean to deflect attention off the woeful job being done by the leaders of his franchise when he urged fans to recognize that "There's a lot to be thankful for. I think when you take a step back and put everything in perspective, Thanksgiving is a good opportunity for all of us to realize there is more than football and to enjoy the company of our loved ones. That matters more than what takes place on the football field."
Thanks, there, George Bailey, but how about if Texans are talked out of jumping off a bridge when they get around to watching "It's A Wonderful Life'' ... on their own time?
Lovie shouldn't be in charge of telling the media how to do its job; he's not good enough at his own job. And Nick shouldn't be in charge of lecturing fans about perspective when they have spend decades of time, money and love on a football team that has too rarely loved them back. ... because he also hasn't offered enough evidence that he knows what he's doing.
“Right now,'' Lovie said with another holiday helping of arrogance, "it’s kind of easy to take shots at us because we’re not there. We’ll take that, but, eventually, we’ll get over the hump.”
"Over the hump''? Fact is, the Houston Texans don't even know where the hump is. And it'll take more than forceful press conferences and holiday greeting cards to convince the audience otherwise.
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