HOUSTON – A year of inconsistency along with lower scoring and yardage.
Plenty of hard hits and sacks endured by quarterback C.J. Stroud.
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A lack of adjustments to defenses that read the Texans offensive tendencies and stayed a step ahead of their strategies.
Way too many injuries to key players, including wide receivers Stefon Diggs, Tank Dell suffering season-ending knee injuries and Pro Bowl selection Nico Collins missing five games with a pulled hamstring after a 5-1 start to the season.
Not enough growth shown by Bobby Slowik as a play-caller and game plan builder ultimately cost him his job as the Texans’ offensive coordinator on Friday, according to league sources.
A loss of confidence in him, including from key players frustrated with the regression of the offense, per sources, was another key factor in a difficult decision made entirely by coach DeMeco Ryans, who once shared an office and is close to Slowik from their time working together as assistant
Now, one year after Slowik had emerged as a head coaching candidate interviewing with the Washington Commanders, Atlanta Falcons, Seattle Seahawks, Tennessee Titans and Carolina Panthers and not landing any offers only to return to the Texans on an upgraded contract with a much higher salary, he’s out.
It’s a dramatic, all-in type of move from the defending AFC South champions who also parted ways with veteran offensive line coach Chris Strausser, who contemplated retirement before last season and now won’t be back.
Assistant offensive line coach Cole Popovich’s contract is expiring soon, but he wasn’t fired, per sources, and is a candidate to coach the Texans’ offensive line and is under consideration with the New York Jets and other NFL teams. Three assistant coaches’ contracts have expired and they are not expected to return: offensive assistants Jarrod James and Leander Wallace and defensive assistant Ryan Milus.
“Yeah, with coaches it is the same thing,” Ryans said. “Teams change, the room never stays the same. Players, coaches, support staff, it never stays the same. That’s how this business has been since I’ve been involved in almost 20 years now, it changes every single year. So that happens, there’ll be difficult conversations to have but that is the nature of what we do.”
'We're close but close isn't good enough' #Texans coach DeMeco Ryans said @KPRC2 pic.twitter.com/yhxZCJRUdx
— Aaron Wilson (@AaronWilson_NFL) January 20, 2025
There is considerable interest in the Texans’ offensive coordinator vacancy around the NFL. It’s regarded as an outstanding opportunity to coach quarterback C.J. Stroud, Pro Bowl wide receiver Nico Collins and Pro Bowl left tackle Laremy Tunsil and instill a new vision and philosophy into an offense that regressed last season and won largely because of an aggressive, athletic defense whose architect is Ryans, the defensive signal caller.
It’s a clean slate for the Texans, who dipped to 19th in scoring offense as they averaged 21.9 points per game to rank 19th in scoring and 22nd in total offense with an average of 319.7 yards per contest, 21st in passing offense and 15th in rushing offense.
“Overall, offensively, we have to improve,” Ryans said. “It wasn’t where we wanted to be. There were challenges throughout the year, that is every year. You have challenges, you have ups and downs where you try to figure out the course, who we have and how to make it work. We have to improve.”
Now, the Texans are looking for a reset and fresh start heading into the third season of the Ryans era after winning two consecutive AFC South division titles and losing each year in the AFC divisional round to the Kansas City Chiefs this season and the Baltimore Ravens last year.
The hope internally is for a dynamic offense capable of beating elite teams while working in tandem with a strong defense and special teams unit.
The Texans are going to conduct a wide-ranging, thorough search.
That will include internal candidates already on the staff and under contract as well as external candidates in what’s expected to be a plum job with the presence of Stroud, Collins, Pro Bowl running back Joe Mixon and Tunsil returning as four top starters.
Highly regarded Texans quarterbacks coach Jerrod Johnson remained with the AFC South champions under an upgraded contract that includes a major raise, according to league sources, after he interviewed last year for offensive coordinator jobs with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, New Orleans Saints, Cleveland Browns, Philadelphia Eagles, Pittsburgh Steelers and New England Patriots.
Johnson is expected to be requested for an interview for the New York Jets offensive coordinator job, per a league source. The Jets are now coached by Houston native and former Texas A&M All-American cornerback Aaron Glenn.
The Humble native and former Texas A&M starting quarterback is considered to be instrumental to Stroud’s development and he is expected to be interviewed for the offensive coordinator job, per league sources.
Stroud has consistently praised Johnson and referenced their strong relationship that goes back to Elite 11 work together when he was in high school. They first started collaborating when the Rancho Cucamonga, California native was 16 years old. Stroud finished with 3,727 passing yards, 20 touchdowns and 12 interceptions one year after being named NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year when he led the league in passing yards per contest and touchdown-to-interception ratio. This season, a lack of protection as he was sacked 52 times led to a step back statistically and more throwing off his back foot, missed reads and decreased accuracy. All of those issues are regarded as fixable if the offensive line is upgraded.
“One thing that I can say about Jerrod, you talk about somehow who knows how to play the position of quarterback and knows how to relay something, but also just a great person, man,” Stroud said. “A guy who loves football, he loves Houston, he loves Texas. He loves his family, he’s a great family man. Someone who has just taught me a tremendous amount of information, but on top of that, put a lot of confidence into me as well.”
The Texans are expected to also consider senior offensive assistant Bill Lazor. Lazor is a former Chicago Bears, Cincinnati Bengals and Miami Dolphins offensive coordinator.
Lazor has also coached quarterbacks with the Washington Commanders, Seattle Seahawks and Philadelphia Eagles.
He was previously a record-setting quarterback at Cornell and has coached with the Atlanta Falcons, his first NFL coaching job under Dan Reeves, and was an offensive coordinator at Virginia. He has also worked with Joe Gibbs, Mike Holmgren and Jim Mora.
The Texans could also look at receivers coach and passing game coordinator Ben McDaniels, but their priority within the staff is Johnson and Lazor.
Outside of the building, the Texans are expected to explore several options.
That includes New Orleans Saints offensive coordinator Klint Kubiak, the son of former Texans coach Gary Kubiak, who coached Ryans when he was a Pro Bowl linebacker and NFL Defensive Rookie of the Year.
Kubiak, 37, oversaw a Saints offense that ranked 21st in total offense and 24th in scoring offense, but was affected by a season-ending injury to quarterback Derek Carr.
Kubiak is a former Texas A&M assistant, 49ers passing game coordinator, Denver Broncos passing game coordinator and quarterbacks coach and Minnesota Vikings offensive coordinator well-versed in the Mike Shanahan offense.
Kubiak, while under contract after the firing of Dennis Allen, is being allowed to interview for jobs, per a source.
Nick Caley, the Los Angeles Rams passing game coordinator and tight ends coach, is regarded as the leading candidate for the Jets offensive coordinator job, per league sources.
It will be interesting to see if the Texans get Caley involved or if he’s far down the road with the Jets.
Caley has a relationship with the Texans through general manager Nick Caserio. He was an offensive assistant with the Patriots when Caserio was an executive in New England. He also coached the Patriots’ tight ends. Caley also attended John Carroll University, Caserio’s alma mater.
Caley worked closely with Rams coach Sean McVay, one of the best play callers in the NFL. Among the Rams assistants who has gone on to do well as a play-caller: new Jacksonville Jaguars head coach Liam Coen, who got a ton of production out of quarterback Baker Mayfield this season with the Buccaneers.
Rams offensive coordinator Mike LaFleur isn’t calling the plays for Los Angeles. That’s McVay’s job, but he does help him build the game plan and has input into the play calling.
The Rams run a sharp offense headlined by quarterback Matthew Stafford and wide receiver Puka Nacua. LaFleur was previously fired by former Jets coach Robert Saleh after running a struggling offense in New York.
There’s been speculation about Ohio State offensive coordinator Chip Kelly, a former Philadelphia Eagles and 49ers head coach with connections to Ryans as his former coach.
Kelly was masterful at running the Buckeyes offense. Whether he would want to go back to the NFL is a question mark.
Ryans is a big fan of Kelly, though.
“He was a master motivator, but he was always an innovator,” Ryans said when he landed the Texans’ head coaching job two years ago. “Chip Kelly, he was always on the cutting edge. Always looking for ways to get better with sports science, technology.”
Former Dallas Cowboys coach Mike McCarthy, not renewed by Jerry Jones, is a candidate for the Saints head coaching job. He is considered more likely to sit the year out rather than be an offensive coordinator again should he not land the New Orleans job.
Former Jacksonville Jaguars coach Doug Pederson is thought to be another coach who would prefer to be a head coach and not be an offensive coordinator again right away after being fired by owner Shad Khan.
The Texans nearly hired Minnesota Vikings quarterbacks coach Josh McCown as head coach three years ago before they hired Lovie Smith.
McCown has coached quarterbacks with the Panthers and Vikings, who revived Sam Darnold’s career this season. He’s a Texas native. It’s unclear if McCown would want to revisit the Texans situation after how things unraveled when he was on the goal line as their potential head coach.
Whomever the Texans ultimately hire, they need to lift this offense to a higher standard than this past season.
“I think we’re really close and to get to that level, it first starts with communication and hard conversations have to be had,” Stroud said this week before Slowik was fired. “There has to be things fixed and worked out, and really just honest conversation. I think that’s one of the biggest things that I’ve learned is like this team won’t look the same next year from top to bottom and you have to be okay with that and learn that from day one of offseason program there has to be a standard set.
“And that standard has to be, where I come from at Ohio State, was I’m not going to be the one to mess this thing up. Like I’m going to be the one to make this team to win the game. If that’s Week 1 all the way to the AFC championship, that standard from training camp has to be the standard. I feel like that’s what it needs to be for us to get over that hump. If you aren’t bringing it every day then you stick out like a sore thumb. I think that mentality has to be brought here, and I think we have the guys to do it and coaching and player-wise as well. I think we can get better at that as well.”
'I learned that you can't get comfortable' #Texans quarterback C.J. Stroud @KPRC2 pic.twitter.com/pyB4HVsnpC
— Aaron Wilson (@AaronWilson_NFL) January 20, 2025
Aaron Wilson is a Texans and NFL reporter for KPRC 2 and click2houston.com
