The Texans have hired Vance Joseph, who coached the San Francisco 49ers' secondary, as their defensive backs coach, the *Houston Chronicle* reported Thursday, citing a person with knowledge of the situation.
Joseph has his work cut out for him. The Texans gave up an NFL-high 4,280 passing yards this season and tied the Dallas Cowboys for most touchdown passes allowed, with 33.
"We've got some serious problems that we've got to address," coach Gary Kubiak said after the Texans ended their season with eight losses in their final 10 games. "It definitely wasn't all coaching, in my opinion. We've got issues across the board. I had to make a decision on how we can get better, and so doing that, I made that decision to let those four guys go."
Joseph replaces David Gibbs, who was among the Texans' defensive staff purge that also included coordinator Frank Bush, linebackers coach Johnny Holland and assistant linebackers coach Robert Saleh.
The Texans hired former Dallas Cowboys coach Wade Phillips to run the defense.
The 49ers hired Stanford coach Jim Harbaugh as their new head coach last week, and much of the staff from this past season isn't expected to be retained.
Joseph will be counted upon to help a pass defense that struggled all season, yielding an average of 410.5 yards per game through the first six games. The Texans started 4-2 only because the offense topped 30 points in each of the victories.
The Texans elected not to re-sign free agent Dunta Robinson, instead starting rookie Kareem Jackson and second-year pro Glover Quin at cornerback. Houston's secondary was repeatedly beaten on long pass plays, most critically in the fourth quarter.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
