Lovie Smith had to go.

It was obvious after a season where there was little improvement from a young team and a horrendous record that Smith was not the head coach of the future for the Houston Texans and that it was time to move on.

But for many, this was readily apparent from the moment that Smith hired. He was never going to be a long term fit with the organization or with a team rebuilding from the ground up.

Which leaves the question, why was he hired in the first place, and where do the Texans go from here.

This will be a hugely important hire for the Texans to get right, but it is also a job that many top candidates might be wary of after the direction of the Houston organization in the past few years.

Prior to Nick Caserio coming aboard as General Manager in 2021, the Texans had never fired a coach, now they will have fired two in two seasons and will be on their fourth head coach in four years after the new hire.

Caserio talked up the job at a press conference earlier this week, talking about the multitude of picks the Texans have, the salary cap space available to the team and the chance to mold a young and talented roster.

But why would any up and coming coach who has options choose the Texans? An organization that has been in so much turmoil over the past few years with firings of coaches, infighting among staff, a new owner in Cal McNair that has struggled with making big decisions and a general manger that is feeling the pressure to make the right hire if he wants to keep his own job?

These are questions that Caserio and McNair will have to question to any potential head coach as they attempt to build a new coaching staff from the ground up once again.

The Texans have become a laughingstock to people in the greater Houston area and it’s on Caserio and McNair to take the steps to repair the teams image. The scene at Texans final home game this year against the Jaguars was among the saddest I have seen, with more empty seats than full as the fans that were in attendance booed the team off the field after the final whistle.

The Texans past two head coaches were ones no one else wanted. Houston hired David Culley when no other team was interested. Then they hired Smith, who also didn’t get a head coaching interview with any other team last offseason.

Now it’s do or die for Caserio and McNair, there isn’t Jack Easterby to blame any more, there isn’t a quarterback less team to blame.

Make a good decision, or lose the fan base.