David Wayne Culley (born September 17, 1955) is an

American football American football, referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada and also known as gridiron football, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular American football field, field with goalposts at e ...

coach who most recently served as the

head coach A head coach, senior coach, or manager is a professional responsible for training and developing athletes within a sports team. This role often has a higher public profile and salary than other coaching positions. In some sports, such as associat ...

of the

Houston Texans The Houston Texans are a professional American football team based in Houston. The Texans compete in the National Football League as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC South, South division. The team plays its home games at N ...

of the

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a Professional gridiron football, professional American football league in the United States. Composed of 32 teams, it is divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National ...

(NFL). Culley has 45 years of coaching experience in both collegiate and professional levels, including 27 years of NFL assistant coaching experience. He previously worked on Andy Reid's staff with the

Philadelphia Eagles The Philadelphia Eagles are a professional American football team based in Philadelphia. The Eagles compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC East, East division. The team plays its ...

, with whom he appeared in

Super Bowl XXXIX Super Bowl XXXIX was an American football game played between the American Football Conference (AFC) champion New England Patriots and the National Football Conference (NFC) champion Philadelphia Eagles to decide the National Football League (NF ...

, and Kansas City Chiefs from 1999 to 2016. Culley assumed his first head coaching position with the Houston Texans in

2021 Like the year 2020, 2021 was also heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, due to the emergence of multiple Variants of SARS-CoV-2, COVID-19 variants. The major global rollout of COVID-19 vaccines, which began at the end of 2020, continued ...

; however, he was fired after only one season, finishing with a 4–13 record.

Early years

Culley was born and raised in

Sparta, Tennessee Sparta is a city in and the county seat of White County, Tennessee, United States. The population was 5,001 in 2020.U.S. Census ...

. He attended White County High School, where he played point guard in basketball, pitcher in baseball and quarterback in football. Culley played quarterback at Vanderbilt, where he was the first African-American to play the position in school history.

Coaching career

Early career

Culley began his coaching career as a running backs coach at

Austin Peay State University Austin Peay State University (APSU) () is a public university in Clarksville, Tennessee, United States. Standing on a site occupied by a succession of educational institutions since 1845, the precursor of the university was established in 1927 ...

in 1978. In 1979, Culley joined

Vanderbilt University Vanderbilt University (informally Vandy or VU) is a private university, private research university in Nashville, Tennessee, United States. Founded in 1873, it was named in honor of shipping and railroad magnate Cornelius Vanderbilt, who provide ...

, his alma mater, as their wide receivers coach. Culley then joined as the quarterbacks and running backs coach at

Middle Tennessee State University Middle Tennessee State University (MTSU or MT) is a Public university, public research university in Murfreesboro, Tennessee. Founded in 1911 as a normal school, the university consists of eight Undergraduate education, undergraduate colleges as ...

in 1982. In 1983, Culley was hired by the

University of Tennessee at Chattanooga The University of Tennessee at Chattanooga (UT Chattanooga, UTC, or Chattanooga) is a public university in Chattanooga, Tennessee, United States. It was founded in 1886 and is part of the University of Tennessee System. History UTC was founde ...

as their wide receivers coach. Culley then served as the quarterbacks coach at the

University of Louisiana at Lafayette The University of Louisiana at Lafayette (UL Lafayette, University of Louisiana, ULL, or UL) is a Public university, public research university in Lafayette, Louisiana, United States. It has the largest enrollment within the nine-campus Universi ...

in 1985. In 1989, Culley was hired by the

University of Texas at El Paso The University of Texas at El Paso (UTEP) is a public university, public research university in El Paso, Texas, United States. Founded in 1913 as the State School of Mines and Metallurgy, it is the third oldest academic component of the Univers ...

(UTEP) as their offensive coordinator, running backs coach and wide receivers coach. In 1991, Culley then served as the wide receivers coach at

Texas A&M University Texas A&M University (Texas A&M, A&M, TA&M, or TAMU) is a public university, public, Land-grant university, land-grant, research university in College Station, Texas, United States. It was founded in 1876 and became the flagship institution of ...

Tampa Bay Buccaneers

In 1994, Culley was hired by the

Tampa Bay Buccaneers The Tampa Bay Buccaneers (colloquially known as the Bucs) are a professional American football team based in Tampa, Florida. The Buccaneers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC S ...

as their wide receivers coach under head coach

Sam Wyche Samuel David Wyche (; January 5, 1945 – January 2, 2020) was an American professional football quarterback and coach. He was a quarterback and head coach for the Cincinnati Bengals and a quarterbacks coach for the San Francisco 49ers. As hea ...

Pittsburgh Steelers

In 1996, a season after the Steelers lost

Super Bowl XXX Super Bowl XXX was an American football game between the National Football Conference (NFC) champion Dallas Cowboys and the American Football Conference (AFC) champion Pittsburgh Steelers to decide the National Football League (NFL) champion fo ...

to the

Dallas Cowboys The Dallas Cowboys are a professional American football team based in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex. The Cowboys compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC East, East division. T ...

, Culley was hired by the

Pittsburgh Steelers The Pittsburgh Steelers are a professional American football team based in Pittsburgh. The Steelers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC North, North division. Founded in 1933 P ...

as their wide receivers coach under head coach Bill Cowher.

Philadelphia Eagles

In 1999, Culley was hired by the

as their wide receivers coach under new head coach

Andy Reid Andrew Walter Reid (born March 19, 1958) is an American professional American football, football coach who is the head coach for the Kansas City Chiefs of the National Football League (NFL). Reid was previously the head coach of the Philadelphi ...

. The Eagles made it to one Super Bowl during Culley's tenure; in

2005 2005 was designated as the International Year for Sport and Physical Education and the International Year of Microcredit. The beginning of 2005 also marked the end of the International Decade of the World's Indigenous Peoples, Internationa ...

and in 5 NFC Championship Games; 4 straight from the

2001 The year's most prominent event was the September 11 attacks against the United States by al-Qaeda, which Casualties of the September 11 attacks, killed 2,977 people and instigated the global war on terror. The United States led a Participan ...

2004 2004 was designated as an International Year of Rice by the United Nations, and the International Year to Commemorate the Struggle Against Slavery and Its Abolition (by UNESCO). Events January * January 3 – Flash Airlines Flight 60 ...

seasons and in

2008 2008 was designated as: *International Year of Languages *International Year of Planet Earth *International Year of the Potato *International Year of Sanitation The Great Recession, a worldwide recession which began in 2007, continued throu ...

. In 2011, Culley gained an additional role as a senior offensive assistant. Culley served in the Eagles coaching staff from 1999–2012, also Andy Reid's time as head coach of the team.

Kansas City Chiefs

In 2013, Culley was hired by the

Kansas City Chiefs The Kansas City Chiefs are a professional American football team based in Kansas City, Missouri. The Chiefs compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) West division. Established in 1959 ...

as the assistant head coach/wide receivers coach, reuniting Culley with new head coach

, who was fired by the Philadelphia Eagles the season prior.

Buffalo Bills

In 2017, Culley was hired by the

Buffalo Bills The Buffalo Bills are a professional American football team based in the Buffalo–Niagara Falls metropolitan area. The Bills compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC East, East div ...

as their quarterbacks coach under new head coach

Sean McDermott Sean Michael McDermott (born March 21, 1974) is an American professional football coach who is the head coach for the Buffalo Bills of the National Football League (NFL). He began his NFL coaching career as an assistant for the Philadelphia E ...

. Culley and McDermott both served as assistant coaches for the

under then-head coach

from 1999 to 2010. In Culley's first year with Buffalo, he coached quarterbacks Tyrod Taylor and rookie

Nathan Peterman Nathan Michael Peterman (born May 4, 1994) is an American professional football quarterback. He played college football for the Pittsburgh Panthers following a stint with the Tennessee Volunteers and was selected by the Buffalo Bills in the fif ...

and the team would make the playoffs for the first time since

1999 1999 was designated as the International Year of Older Persons. Events January * January 1 – The euro currency is established and the European Central Bank assumes its full powers. * January 3 – The Mars Polar Lander is launc ...

, which was previously the longest playoff drought in the 4 major North American sports leagues. In his 2nd year, Culley coached rookie and future Pro Bowl quarterback

Josh Allen Joshua Patrick Allen (born May 21, 1996) is an American professional American football, football quarterback for the Buffalo Bills of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the Wyoming Cowboys football, Wyoming Cow ...

, the 7th pick in the 2018 draft.

Baltimore Ravens

In 2019, Culley was hired by the

Baltimore Ravens The Baltimore Ravens are a professional American football team based in Baltimore. The Ravens compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC North, North division. The team plays its home g ...

as their assistant head coach, wide receivers coach and passing coordinator under head coach

John Harbaugh John William Harbaugh ( ; born September 23, 1962) is an American professional football coach who is the head coach for the Baltimore Ravens of the National Football League (NFL). Previously, he coached the defensive backs for the Philadelphia ...

. Culley and Harbaugh both served as assistant coaches for the Philadelphia Eagles under then-head coach

from 1999 to 2007. He missed the team's week 15 game in

2020 The year 2020 was heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to global Social impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, social and Economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, economic disruption, mass cancellations and postponements of even ...

against the

Jacksonville Jaguars The Jacksonville Jaguars are a professional American football team based in Jacksonville, Florida. The Jaguars compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC South, South division. The team ...

due to an illness.

Houston Texans

On January 29, 2021, Culley was hired to become the head coach of the

. Culley became the Texans' fourth head coach in franchise history. On September 12, 2021, Culley made his regular-season head coaching debut against the

and led the Texans to a 37–21 victory, marking Culley’s first victory as a head coach. The Texans would win three more games during the

2021 season 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number, numeral, and glyph. It is the first and smallest positive integer of the infinite sequence of natural numbers. This fundamental property has led to its unique uses in other fields, ranging from science to sp ...

, finishing with a 4–13 record and matching their win total from the previous season. Culley was fired by the Texans on January 13, 2022, with general manager Nick Caserio citing "philosophical differences over the long-term direction and vision for our program moving forward." He was replaced by

Lovie Smith Lovie Lee Smith (born May 8, 1958) is an American football coach. He has served as the head coach of the Chicago Bears, Tampa Bay Buccaneers, and Houston Texans of the National Football League (NFL) and the Illinois Fighting Illini. Smith has be ...

Head coaching record

References

External links

Houston Texans profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Culley, David 1955 births Living people People from Sparta, Tennessee Players of American football from Tennessee Vanderbilt Commodores football players Coaches of American football from Tennessee Austin Peay Governors football coaches Vanderbilt Commodores football coaches Middle Tennessee Blue Raiders football coaches Chattanooga Mocs football coaches Louisiana Ragin' Cajuns football coaches UTEP Miners football coaches Texas A&M Aggies football coaches Tampa Bay Buccaneers coaches Pittsburgh Steelers coaches Philadelphia Eagles coaches Kansas City Chiefs coaches Buffalo Bills coaches Baltimore Ravens coaches Houston Texans head coaches American football quarterbacks