After the Tampa Bay Buccaneers fired Lovie Smith at the end of the 2015 season, the former 2005 NFL Coach of the Year took his defense to the University of Illinois.
Although Illinois compiled a 17-39 record during Smith’s tenure from 2016-20, the college experience may have been the booster the Tampa 2 needed to stay relevant in today’s NFL.
Houston Texans linebackers coach Miles Smith doesn’t see the scheme they deploy as being brothers with other Cover 2 schemes as much as it is cousins.
“At this point, our defense has kind of turned into something unique, and it helped out being in college,” Smith said. “We were able to see elements that were going to come to pro football a little bit sooner where we were able to adjust things a little bit. Going into my seventh year in the system, I’ll say we’re a very different defense than we were in 2015, our first year.”
The Texans defense was bottom-tier in terms of points allowed (27th) and yards (31st), but Smith, who was defensive coordinator under coach David Culley, who lasted one year, delivered on his philosophy to create takeaways. The Texans finished with 25, tied for the 10th-most in the NFL, and the only team with a losing record to finish in the top-10.
As the Texans deploy Smith’s version of the Tampa 2 for a second year, the younger Smith believes the longer the system is in place, the better it will perform.
“We did a lot defensively last year for year one, but when you’re in a system for multiple years, that’s when you’re able to build up on other things,” Smith said.
Houston had success with a bevy of defenders on one-year contracts. As the Texans work through free agency and the draft, general manager Nick Caserio’s goal is to provide more stable players who can stay in the system.
