HOUSTON -- The Houston Texans have hired Lovie Smith to join new head coach David Culley's staff as the team's defensive coordinator and associate head coach, the team announced on Wednesday.
In December, Smith was fired after five seasons as head coach at the University of Illinois, where he went 17-39. Before becoming the head coach at Illinois, his last two stops were NFL head coaching jobs: from 2004-12 in Chicago and 2014-15 in Tampa Bay.
In 2020, the Texans defense ranked 24th, according to Football Outsiders' DVOA (defense-adjusted value over average). Houston's secondary especially struggled after losing top cornerback Bradley Roby in November when he was suspended for violating the NFL's policy on performance-enhancing substances.