Houston Texans: Three things to know about new QBs coach Carl Smith

Thing #1: The early successes of his career

Carl Smith’s coaching career has spanned the likes of four decades filled with all sorts of challenges within the jobs that he’d accept.  Although he’s never been a head coach, he certainly has had his hands in just about every offense you could imagine.

Here’s a list of notable quarterbacks that he’s had the opportunity to coach: Bobby Hebert, Jim Everett, Drew Bledsoe, Tim Couch, Matt Leinart, Byron Leftwich, David Garrard, Colt McCoy and Russell Wilson.

Hebert, the first NFL QB that Smith coached, had his most productive seasons of his career from 1986-92 where he threw for a career-high 3,287 yards with 19 touchdowns to 16 interceptions back in 1992, starting all 16 games and leading the New Orleans Saints to a 12-4 record and a playoff berth before bowing out to the Philadelphia Eagles 36-20 in their Wild Card game.  His stats indicate a trend upward through his career demonstrating the level of development Smith invests in his quarterbacks.

When Smith coached Bledsoe in his lone season as QBs coach with the New England Patriots in 1997, he passed for more touchdowns (28) than any season in his career and threw just 15 interceptions to those TDs.  He also had 3,706 yards to his credit, leading the Pats to a AFC East division championship, a 17-3 Wild Card win over the Miami Dolphins but fell to the Pittsburgh Steelers in the divisional round 7-6.

Pete Carroll and Smith go back to their days of coaching together with the Pats and they joined forces once again at USC in 2004, coaching Leinart to one of the best of seasons of his collegiate career with a college football championship and a Heisman Trophy to boot, the last under Carroll.  Leinart passed for 3,322 yards with 33 touchdowns to six interceptions, helping the Trojans barrel through the competition with a 13-0 record.