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Welcome to Houston David Culley, Head Coach

Earl34

Hall of Fame
Just because you help the man, doesn’t mean you qualify to be the man.
Right, everyone at some point has been the man helping the man, even you.
Just because you helped the man doesn’t mean you are qualified to be the man.

Some people just aren’t leaders.
Well you can tell everybody
Yeah you can tell everybody
Go ahead and tell everybody
I'm the man, I'm the man, I'm the man
Aloe Blacc - The Man

 

steelbtexan

King of the W. B. Club
Contributor's Club
The coaches will obviously not answer our questions. We need someone like 610's Stoerner is for quarterbacks, who is a former NFL offensive lineman who can analyze each OLman and evaluate their performance and give us a clue.

We have three players new to their position (on the Texans line) and one who underperformed last year and whose play is still questionable.

So the question for me is, what should be our expectations for how long it takes for our players to gel and start performing as a cohesive unit in sync with the RB's?
Totally agree

What are posters expectations going against the NFL'S #1 ranked defense with a rookie QB making his 1st start? Thing is, it isn't going get any easier with the Bills/ Pats on the schedule. I'm just looking for weekly improvement.
 
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Texansballer74

The Marine
Yes, but they should be able to do better than 15-37.
Like I posted in another thread. When the offensive linemen are whiffing on blocks, losing badly in the trench. I don't care if you had Bo Jackson back there, he's not going to be successful. The offensive line has to win the battles in the trenches. So far they're getting destroyed and our running game is suffering significantly because of it.
Well I got a little deeper with this response.
 

TheRealJoker

Hall of Fame
Culley laid the blueprint for this team in offseason press conferences. He is going into more generic coach speak during in season but the blueprint is the same. The three ingredients for this team to win are…

1) The team needs to win (not tie) the turnover battle to win games.

But until Justin Reid gets back from injury the team just doesn’t have any “x factor” type playmakers to reliably force turnovers.

2) The team needs to play penalty free football and dominate that measure (a lot less penalties than their opponent) to win games.

Completely controllable and easiest goal for team to attain. Simply put, play smart football. Not dumb football.

3) The running game needs to be productive to win games.

This team has to run the ball to be successful, especially with Mills in over Tyrod right now. It is not running the ball well.

What could be done differently to get it going?

Hopefully a long week for the OL to gel can help improve that.

I think definitely less predictable play calling will assist. Opening up the offense more for Mills next game instead of super conservative short week mode (which Culley said they will do… running more similar to one Tyrod was running).

Will letting Phillips get some carries help? I don’t know but i’d like to find out.

How is Lane Taylor progressing? Currently on practice squad but was expected to compete with Scharping for a starting job when signed. Missed all of training camp due to rehabbing previous injuries. Is he in game shape and ready to show he can be an upgrade on the OL?

Fix the running game and that goes a long way to getting the next W.
 

thunderkyss

Just win baby!!!
Staff member
Contributor's Club
The offensive line has to win the battles in the trenches. So far they're getting destroyed and our running game is suffering
I don't believe that's completely true. They played well against Jacksonville & Cleveland. They were moving the line. IMO, the second level blocking & our RBs inability to make the first guy miss or break a tackle were big issues.

Against Carolina the OL failed miserably.
 

thunderkyss

Just win baby!!!
Staff member
Contributor's Club
I think definitely less predictable play calling will assist. Opening up the offense more for Mills next game instead of super conservative short week mode (which Culley said they will do… running more similar to one Tyrod was running).
The first play from scrimmage was a reverse. They tried to throw at least three screens. & overall I didn't think they called a conservative unimaginative game considering the rookies 1st start & two days of walk through practices.

& yes, there was a concerted effort to protect the game, playing not to lose, because they knew they were limited with a rookie QB.
 

TheRealJoker

Hall of Fame
The first play from scrimmage was a reverse. They tried to throw at least three screens. & overall I didn't think they called a conservative unimaginative game considering the rookies 1st start & two days of walk through practices.

& yes, there was a concerted effort to protect the game, playing not to lose, because they knew they were limited with a rookie QB.
Agree on first drive. I said in the game night thread “I liked the play calls but not the execution”. Aside from that though it was unimaginative vanilla playcalling for the most part.
 

thunderkyss

Just win baby!!!
Staff member
Contributor's Club
Four games in, what do you think about coach David Culley?

I like the way he handles the media. So far they have not been able to frustrate him.

2nd, I was impressed with his ability to get this team prepared. However, the last two games there have been more penalties than I care for. Some of those I believe is because we're out talented in most situations & you gotta do what you gotta do. But... some of them, there's no excuse & he needs to correct those.

choosing to go for it, not choosing to go for it... eh.

One thing that really bothers me though. Sunday there was a 3rd & short yardage situation & David Johnson was in, Mark Ingram was out. We were right there, around the 5 yard line. Can't do nothing about it. Perhaps he was just as surprised as I was to see DJ out there. But, they decided to go for it on 4th down & Dj was still out there. After the first play, where Dj did what Dj does, Culley should have been chewing out whoever is in charge of substitutions & packages or whatever & Dj should not have been out there on the 4th down play.
 

steelbtexan

King of the W. B. Club
Contributor's Club
Four games in, what do you think about coach David Culley?

I like the way he handles the media. So far they have not been able to frustrate him.

2nd, I was impressed with his ability to get this team prepared. However, the last two games there have been more penalties than I care for. Some of those I believe is because we're out talented in most situations & you gotta do what you gotta do. But... some of them, there's no excuse & he needs to correct those.

choosing to go for it, not choosing to go for it... eh.

One thing that really bothers me though. Sunday there was a 3rd & short yardage situation & David Johnson was in, Mark Ingram was out. We were right there, around the 5 yard line. Can't do nothing about it. Perhaps he was just as surprised as I was to see DJ out there. But, they decided to go for it on 4th down & Dj was still out there. After the first play, where Dj did what Dj does, Culley should have been chewing out whoever is in charge of substitutions & packages or whatever & Dj should not have been out there on the 4th down play.
I like what Culley is doing. The team plays hard and has been in every game except the Bills game. He's made a few bad calls like not accepting the penalty and trying again on 3rd down instead of punting on 4th down. But he's a rookie HC and rookie HC's make mistakes regardless of their age. Culley's an upgrade over BOB in this regard. Culley also has put together a much better staff than BOB had. Even though I'm really disappointed in the OL play. I'm starting to think regardless of where Howard and Scharping were drafted they may just be avg talented players. Hopefully this is just a there are a bunch of new guys and it will take some time to jell type thing.

Love what Lovie is doing with the defense. He's developing the young guys like Blacklock and Greenard unlike the previous staff. I also like the fact that a guy getting paid ain't gonna play if he cant produce and especially if he has an entitled attitude. (Looking at you Cunningham) Speaking of LB's, it's amazing (Not really) how much better a defense will look when you've got LB's that can run.

The DB's are either young guys trying to find their way or older guys with avg athletic ability.

So how I will be judging the coaching staff for the rest of the yr will be, does the team play hard? Are the young guys on both sides of the ball improving and how long will it take for the OL to jell, if they jell at all. If they dont then drafting some new OL is a top priority for me as painful as that might be since all of those high OL draft picks Gaine/BOB drafted will have been wasted picks. But hey admitting mistakes and moving on is what good teams do.

If it were me, in the draft I would be looking at drafting a bad azz edge a couple of CB's and a slot WR/stud S and that's if the OL jells. Main thing I want is competent drafting throughout the draft. If say Stingley's there in the 1st pick him because he's the most talented player. Dont reach beause you need an QB.
 

Texansballer74

The Marine
Coach is doing good with the cards that’s been dealt to him. This is looking just like the Rockets last season. The Superstar quit on them and demanded to be traded. Coach took the job expecting to have one of the best players in the league. Unfortunately the quitter bounced and coach had to deal with a lot of injuries, never having the same lineup all year long. Coach Culley is having to put his fate in a very inexperienced quarterback. His offensive line is terrible in run pro. But overall he’s doing just fine.
 

Speedy

Former Yeller Dweller
Four games in, what do you think about coach David Culley?
I would say the Texans look better prepared, but the bar there has been so low for so long.

I still can’t get over the declining the penalty and not replaying the down and instead punting. I don’t care what the excuse was or that it was just a brain fart, that’s something that really requires zero thought. And where was a coach at, Lovie who’s been a HC, or Shane Lechler, somebody, to tell him to take the penalty when he decided not to?

I thought waiting to officially name the starter before the season started was pretty silly.

There’s been some questionable go for it or not calls. Didn’t have a problem going for it against Buffalo on that 4th down near the end zone. The Carolina game they had a 4th and 4 at the Carolina 39 that they decided not to go for it, or kick the FG, but instead took a delay penalty and punted. Did not like that decision.

Other than that, I’d say he’s been about average through 4 games. But again, the bar has been pretty low around here for awhile to where mediocre looks good.

Not directly on Culley, but is Mike Devlin dressed up in a James Campen suit and Campen is tied up in a closet somewhere? Because this OL looks worse than it ever has under Devlin.
 

TexansBull

Hall of Fame
Four games in, what do you think about coach David Culley?
Doing better than this guy:


Seriously though: I remember someone saying that the Texans should hire this guy. To go after proven winners. The Texans ownership and GM was ridiculed for not following what the Jags were doing.

I just feel bad for Urban Meyer’s wife and family.

Cameras are everywhere people. The internet is forever. There are no aliases. You are not anonymous. Do everything in life like you are being watched because you are.
 

Number19

Hall of Fame
So only 3 teams have been penalized more. Texans are the 4th most penalized team.
I have a theory that bad teams are penalized more because lesser talent can't beat better talent, therefore resort to holding and such. If you're good you simply don't have to resort to such techniques to control your opponent. It really takes discipline for someone who knows he's not as good as his opponent to not get penalized.
 

banned1976

sleeper mode
Culley is a worse head coach than Bill O’Brien. There. I said it.

Now, I can be disingenuous and say “but, he’ll get better”. But there’s a real reason he’s just now getting a job of this caliber after so many years in the NFL.

Bottom line is, despite what some early theorists believed, you can’t take just any person and mold them into what you want them to be. No matter how much the McNair’s and Caserio like Culley, he’s not cut out for this job. If they say he is, then they’re being disingenuous. For the McNair’s, they’ve become experts at that.
 

Texansballer74

The Marine
Culley is a worse head coach than Bill O’Brien. There. I said it.

Now, I can be disingenuous and say “but, he’ll get better”. But there’s a real reason he’s just now getting a job of this caliber after so many years in the NFL.

Bottom line is, despite what some early theorists believed, you can’t take just any person and mold them into what you want them to be. No matter how much the McNair’s and Caserio like Culley, he’s not cut out for this job. If they say he is, then they’re being disingenuous. For the McNair’s, they’ve become experts at that.
I agree with you 100%
 

Lucky

Ride, Captain, Ride!
Staff member
No matter how much the McNair’s and Caserio like Culley, he’s not cut out for this job.
A lot of us, if not most, felt that way at the time of his hiring.

Still, does it really matter, right now? The team was going nowhere, even if the ghost of Vince Lombardi took the job. To me, it's a no harm, no foul situation. Culley is a caretaker for a year or two. When the team gets ready to compete, he can retire as the team ambassador or something.
 

Double Barrel

Texans Talk Admin
Staff member
Contributor's Club
Culley is a worse head coach than Bill O’Brien. There. I said it.

Now, I can be disingenuous and say “but, he’ll get better”. But there’s a real reason he’s just now getting a job of this caliber after so many years in the NFL.

Bottom line is, despite what some early theorists believed, you can’t take just any person and mold them into what you want them to be. No matter how much the McNair’s and Caserio like Culley, he’s not cut out for this job. If they say he is, then they’re being disingenuous. For the McNair’s, they’ve become experts at that.
Yep. Unfortunately, the guy signing the checks is simply unqualified to judge personnel in any sort of way.

This is the guy that made O'Brien a GM after a playoff meltdown that might have gotten other coaches fired from other teams. And it's the same guy that made an utterly unqualified and dishonest camp counselor the Executive Vice President of Football Operations for his multi-billion dollar NFL franchise. So there should be absolutely zero confidence in Cal that he would know who to hire as a head coach.

Ultimately, Culley as HC is just a reflection of the dismal state of ownership.
 

Thorn

Dirty Old Man
The Texans have been a mess since their inception. There have been a few bright spots in the Texans history they accidently stumbled into, but that's it. Same as the Oilers. The NFL in Houston has been a historical failure. Or a hysterical failure, either works for me.
 

thunderkyss

Just win baby!!!
Staff member
Contributor's Club
I agree with your first two sentences but not sure about the third sentence.
Most here aren't worried about winning this year. They're fine letting Mills start the rest of the season. Let Culley make all the dumb decisions he wants this season.

If he's making better decisions next season, alls good, even if we're not winning next season.
 

banned1976

sleeper mode
Most here aren't worried about winning this year. They're fine letting Mills start the rest of the season. Let Culley make all the dumb decisions he wants this season.

If he's making better decisions next season, alls good, even if we're not winning next season.
I’m not worried about it at all. Just calling a duck a duck. And I was surprised this morning when this thread hadn’t been touched after Culley’s abysmal performance so far.

The only thing Culley has going for him is Urban Meyer has been worse.
 

Speedy

Former Yeller Dweller
Culley is a worse head coach than Bill O’Brien. There. I said it.

Now, I can be disingenuous and say “but, he’ll get better”. But there’s a real reason he’s just now getting a job of this caliber after so many years in the NFL.

Bottom line is, despite what some early theorists believed, you can’t take just any person and mold them into what you want them to be. No matter how much the McNair’s and Caserio like Culley, he’s not cut out for this job. If they say he is, then they’re being disingenuous. For the McNair’s, they’ve become experts at that.
Bill O'Brien was an average HC at best. A bad OC and godawful GM, but average or so HC.

Culley does things that don't make whole lot of sense, and his explanations make even less sense. I don't have a freaking clue what he was talking about when asked about letting the Patriots score to get the ball back.

Culley is Bo Porter. He's here to get through these lean times, then when the Texans get things rolling (they will, right?), they'll get a real coach in here.
 

Rich Schmidt

Myopicone
I would say DC and the staff have done a better job than BOB having the team prepared and game planning. It is not clear on his aggressiveness, it must be a feel, or maybe the game plan too. Some games and even in the same game he is a gambler and other times not, and it does not feel like he is riding with analytics. I am fine with being aggressive, this team probably needs to do that, but their is no consistency. The major flaw is his game management. He has some huge gaffs already in this area, dare I say worse than BOB who was bad for many years. We ain't beating top teams with poor game management, too much rides on that. So let DC run the lean years, but please be ready to get a real coach and not just someone developing the young uns and keeping the locker room together.
 

banned1976

sleeper mode
Bill O'Brien was an average HC at best. A bad OC and godawful GM, but average or so HC.

Culley does things that don't make whole lot of sense, and his explanations make even less sense. I don't have a freaking clue what he was talking about when asked about letting the Patriots score to get the ball back.

Culley is Bo Porter. He's here to get through these lean times, then when the Texans get things rolling (they will, right?), they'll get a real coach in here.
The way the Texans played against the Patriots, they may play just good enough to keep the fans in football purgatory for a very, very long time. Get some more talent for Culley, in a couple of years they could wind up being early round playoff losers with him as long as they were for O'Brien. With any luck, my grandchildren will have their own grandchildren by the time the Texans when the AFC.

All joking aside, this is a franchise that has historically made bad coaching decisions, keeping mediocrity around even amidst their coaches yelling at fans. Culley is likable and as long as it appears the team is trying hard, who knows how long he'll be here making terrible game-day decisions?

I guess I'm just not as optimistic as you and Lucky.
 

steelbtexan

King of the W. B. Club
Contributor's Club
Bill O'Brien was an average HC at best. A bad OC and godawful GM, but average or so HC.

Culley does things that don't make whole lot of sense, and his explanations make even less sense. I don't have a freaking clue what he was talking about when asked about letting the Patriots score to get the ball back.

Culley is Bo Porter. He's here to get through these lean times, then when the Texans get things rolling (they will, right?), they'll get a real coach in here.
I've said Culley's a placeholder from the beginning.

Atleast he became a millionaire for his troubles.
 

Double Barrel

Texans Talk Admin
Staff member
Contributor's Club
The way the Texans played against the Patriots, they may play just good enough to keep the fans in football purgatory for a very, very long time. Get some more talent for Culley, in a couple of years they could wind up being early round playoff losers with him as long as they were for O'Brien. With any luck, my grandchildren will have their own grandchildren by the time the Texans when the AFC.

All joking aside, this is a franchise that has historically made bad coaching decisions, keeping mediocrity around even amidst their coaches yelling at fans. Culley is likable and as long as it appears the team is trying hard, who knows how long he'll be here making terrible game-day decisions?

I guess I'm just not as optimistic as you and Lucky.
Just think, they gave Culley a five year deal, so expect this mediocre (at best) nonsense for the foreseeable future.

Maybe this gig will be more appealing and have a larger potential coaching talent pool to draw from in 2025. Maybe. . .
 

OptimisticTexan

2024 / Rebuilding Block 4 After Playoffs / Texans
DC’s an old dog and a rookie NFL HC at the same time. His mistakes are coming in-game which one can only hope he’ll learn from. One thing we knew about OB….he didn’t learn shite from his mistakes b/c he always felt he was the smartest and most arrogant guy/idiot in the room. DC for sure gets the 2022 season but in all honesty, I think Caserio has his coach in mind and will wait to pull the hiring trigger until the team has gotten rid of the junk, has control of their cap, and has his draft assets healthy enough to help build this team. I think DC will go down as the perfect hire for this short time frame in Texans history.
 

vtech9

All Pro
So far, I think Culley has done a pretty good job with this team. His game management needs work, but he's never had to do that before, so he still has a lot to learn there. As far as getting the team ready for the season, and ready for each game, I think he is better than O'B. As the season goes on, his game management should improve as he gets more experience. The one thing I like about him over O'B is that he admits when he made a mistake. I also like that he is holding players accountable. Guys are getting to play based on their effort instead of the size of their paycheck.
 

Double Barrel

Texans Talk Admin
Staff member
Contributor's Club
You don't think there's any room for growth?
Sure. But, dude has been a coach in football since 1978. Just based on experience alone, he should be making better decisions than the average Madden player.

But, he's not. At least right now.

He's a really nice guy so I don't want to be gratuitous in my critical analysis. I honestly hope he improves as HC for all of our sakes.
 

Scooter

Funky
Culley is a worse head coach than Bill O’Brien. There. I said it.
It would hurt to agree with that statement if Culley wasn't so obviously out of his depth. I actually find it funny - the cameras keep following one guy but two people - Cully the Coordinator "this, there, after, and then, and backup plans A+B". And Culley the head coach ... "please don't make me have to make a decision".

If you're including more than those 3 hours on the field, NOPE. Culley has a reputation as a good teacher and is respected, and he hasn't blatantly destroyed a franchise, yet.
 
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