Lovie Smith In ‘Serious’ Danger, Texans & Eagles DC Jonathan Gannon Have ‘Mutual’ Interest

According to Aaron Wilson, Texans HC Lovie Smith is in serious danger of being fired after just one season on the job in Houston. 

He writes in addition to Houston’s poor record, which is worse than HC David Culley who was fired after a 4-13 season, Smith has come under fire for his old-school approach and not being receptive to suggestions regarding strategy, scheme, practice routines and the use of analytics, even though buy-in and effort from the players has not been an issue. 

“Lovie’s job is not safe,” a source said. “This has been a terrible season, but that’s not all that this is about.”

Smith has been lobbying Texans owner Cal McNair for a second season but it’s not clear if that will be enough to save him.

Wilson reports if the job opens, there is mutual interest between the Texans and Eagles DC Jonathan Gannon, which makes sense given Gannon went deep in the interview process with the team last year. 

Gannon, 40, got his start in the NFL as a defensive QC coach with the Falcons in 2007. He had a stint as a scout with the Rams from 2009 to 2011 before going back to coaching.

Gannon spent time with the Titans and Vikings before joining the Colts in 2018 as their DB coach. The Eagles brought him in as their defensive coordinator in 2021. 

In 2022, the Eagles’ defense ranked No. 1 in fewest yards allowed, No. 8 in fewest points allowed, No. 17 in fewest rushing yards allowed, and No. 1 in fewest passing yards allowed.

Smith, 64, began his coaching career back in 1980. He worked for a number of colleges before the Buccaneers hired him as their linebackers coach in 1996.

Smith was eventually hired as the Rams’ defensive coordinator before taking the Bears’ coaching job in 2004. He spent nine years in Chicago before the Buccaneers hired him in 2014.

After just two seasons with the Bucs, Smith was fired and eventually hired as the head coach at Illinois. The Texans hired Smith as their defensive coordinator in 2021 and he was promoted to head coach in 2022. 

During his NFL coaching career, Smith led the Bears and Buccaneers to a record of 89-87 (50.6 percent), which includes three playoff appearances and a trip to the Super Bowl in 2006. He has a 2-13-1 record so far in his first season with the Texans. 

At Illinois, Smith’s teams produced a record of 17-39.