It’s official: Lovie Smith is a head coach again. The former Illinois head coach has been announced as the Houston Texans’ new head coach.

“I am excited to introduce Lovie Smith as our next head coach,” Texans General Manager Nick Caserio said in a released statement. “He is one of the most respected coaches in the NFL and an established leader. A proven winner, Lovie has shown the ability to develop players both on and off the field for years. We had numerous discussions with countless coaches, executives, and players, and what revealed itself is that Lovie has both the leadership and people skills it takes to lead us forward. We both understand how much work is in front of us, but we embrace the responsibility and look forward to continuing to build a program that can have sustained success.”

Smith is entering his second season in Houston. He joined the Texans coaching staff as defensive coordinator after being fired at Illinois.

“I want to first thank Nick Caserio and the McNair family for giving me this opportunity,” Smith said. “I’m humbled to be the next head coach of the Houston Texans and incredibly excited to continue to work with Nick. I have so many friends, family, teammates and coaches to thank for supporting me and helping me continue to do what I love, which is teaching and developing players. I understand the responsibility I have to this organization and this city to develop a championship-level program. I’m ready to get to work and build it together.”

This is Smith’s third NFL head coaching gig. Smith coached the Chicago Bears from 2004-to-2012, posting an 81-63 record. He then coached the Tampa Bay Buccaneers for 2 seasons (2014-15), going 8-24.

Smith was Illinois’ coach for 5 seasons from 2016-to-2020. He was fired after 7 games in 2020 when the Illini were 2-5. The team went 17-39 overall and 10-33 in Big Ten play during Smith’s tenure.