Seven new head coaches were hired in 2021, including Houston Texans head coach David Culley, now in his 28th season of NFL coaching.
According to the NFL, there are 12 head-to-head matchups between new head coaches on the 2021 regular season schedule. The Texans and Culley, named the fourth head coach in franchise history on January 29, will play in three of those games.
Sunday, September 12 at 12 p.m. CT: Jacksonville Jaguars at Texans (Week 1)
The Houston Texans will kick off the David Culley era in Week 1 at home against the Jacksonville Jaguars who, coincidentally, will begin the Urban Meyer era. Meyer becomes the team's sixth head coach in franchise history and brings a wealth of collegiate coaching experience in his first NFL season. Meyer, a three-time national championship winning coach, brings a 187-32 career college coaching record to the league.
After finishing with a 1-15 record and losing the final 15 games of the season, the Jaguars also earned the No. 1 overall draft pick in 2021. The Texans will not only get a first look at Meyer as an NFL head coach, they will also host quarterback Trevor Lawrence's debut into professional football.
Sunday, November 28 at 12 p.m. CT: New York Jets at Texans (Week 12)
A familiar face in Robert Saleh will be leading the Jets in 2021. Saleh comes from Kyle Shanahan's coaching staff where he served as the San Francisco 49ers. However, long before that, his first NFL coaching stint was in Houston where he worked for six seasons. In 2005, Saleh started his NFL coaching career as a Texans defensive intern before being promoted to defensive quality control coach for three years (2006-2008) and then finished his career with the Texans as their assistant linebackers coach in his final two seasons (2009-10).
Sunday, December 26 at 12 p.m. CT: Los Angeles Chargers at Texans (Week 16)
The Los Angeles Chargers didn't look far to hire new head coach Brandon Staley. In 2020, Staley served as the Los Angeles Rams defensive coordinator as an up-and-coming NFL coach with just four years of experience in the league. He helped overhaul the Rams defense to help it become the No. 1 ranked unit in the NFL in total defense, passing defense and scoring defense while also finished as the third-best rushing defense.
Other new head coaches hired in 2021 are Nick Sirianni (Philadelphia Eagles), Dan Campbell (Detroit Lions) and Arthur Smith (Atlanta Falcons).
To see the complete Texans 2021 schedule, click here.
