GREEN BAY, WISCONSIN – AUGUST 14: Lovie Smith of the Houston Texans looks on before the preseason game against the Green Bay Packers at Lambeau Field on August 14, 2021 in Green Bay, Wisconsin. (Photo by Quinn Harris/Getty Images)
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Houston Texans associate head coach/defensive coordinator Lovie Smith —or rather, his beard — became the primetime star of Thursday Night Football.
The Houston Texans have gotten mixed reviews in recent years: there’s a Bill O’Brien scandal, an unresolved Deshaun Watson scandal, and the general creepiness surrounding Jack Easterby.
But one good thing to come out of Houston (besides that glorious locker room remodel) is associate head coach/defensive coordinator Lovie Smith’s beard. And when Smith’s beard got the prime-time spotlight it deserved, NFL fans took to Twitter to shower Smith with praise.
Texans coach Lovie Smith is praised for his impeccable beard
While the love for Lovie’s beard was overflowing, reviews were mixed on his actual coaching abilities.
The Texans defense being half decent is so weird dude. Lovie Smith is fr a genius.
— Payton (@paytonisnotroll) September 24, 2021
Texans might need to fire Lovie Smith at the bye week. Their offense has been mildly creative and interesting enough (with Tyrod at least) but this much Tampa 2 with this personnel can’t work. Baffling hire from the start
— Ian Wharton (@NFLFilmStudy) September 24, 2021
Lovie Smith is the Arsene Wenger of the NFL.. great innovations that the game caught up to and far surpassed, but still clinging to those ideas, because that’s what put them at the top.
— Coach Vass (@CoachVass) September 24, 2021
Smith was the longtime coach for the Chicago Bears from 2004-2012, leading the Bears all the way to the Super Bowl in the 2005 season. That year, Smith won Coach of the Year, but tumultuous years followed amid many leadership changes and a mistaken trade for quarterback Jay Cutler. Smith actually interviewed for the Texans head coaching job in 2013 before settling for a disappointing season with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in 2014.
Still, Smith is remembered for being the first Black coach to lead his team to the Super Bowl, hours before Indianapolis Colts coach Tony Dungy became the second. While Dungy made history for becoming the first Black coach to win the Super Bowl, Smith will always be remembered for his own historic NFL coaching contributions — and, of course, his illustrious beard.
