A native Tennessean, David Culley, has been selected to be the next Houston Texans head coach in the NFL.
Culley, born in Sparta, TN, has been in the NFL for quite some time, but he came from familiar grounds in Tennessee. He led his high school team, the Sparta Warriors, to a 10-1 record earning himself The Tennessean’s Midstate player of the year in 1972. He passed for 1,055 yards and gained eight touchdowns while rushing for 192 yards and gaining seven touchdowns.
Culley graduated from Vanderbilt in Nashville, TN, and was one of the first Black quarterbacks to sign with Vanderbilt. In addition, he became the first to remain in a quarterback position throughout his career. He has coached colleges throughout Tennessee. He was a coach at Austin Peay, Vanderbilt, Middle Tennessee State, and Chattanooga. Additional colleges he coached at were Southwestern La, Texas El-Paso, and Texas A&M.
He has completed 27 seasons as an NFL coach. He spent his past two seasons with the Baltimore Ravens as the passing game coordinator and wide receiver’s coach. The Ravens have decided to trade Culley to the Houston Texans.
The rest of his time in the NFL has been spent on multiple different teams such as the Buffalo Bills, Kansas City Chiefs, Philadelphia Eagles, Pittsburgh Steelers, and Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
According to ESPN, The Ravens will receive “two third-round compensatory picks in 2021 and in 2022 for getting Culley hired on their staff. Coaches such as Andy Reid of the Chiefs have spoken about Culley as a “great person” and “very loyal” says ESPN.
“David is a genuine guy,” Ravens coach John Harbaugh said to ESPN, ending with “He will be who he is every day. Has been that guy every day of his career. I’m thrilled for him. Great person. Genuine. Full of energy.”
The Texans fired their previous coach, Bill O’ Brien, before week 5 of the last season after going 0-4 to begin the season back in October. This set a search for a new head coach in the future. Culley was the guy they finally chose.
The Houston Texans are coming off a 4-12 season. They were not able to make the playoffs this year despite having their star QB, Deshaun Watson, having career highs in touchdowns, passing yards, and completion percentages. They are hoping to bounce back from this record with a new head coach.
