HOUSTON – The Texans coaching staff includes two outside hires for the defending AFC South champions beyond the addition of new offensive coordinator Nick Caley as the replacement for Bobby Slowik.
The Texans have officially hired veteran offensive assistant coach Jerry Schuplinski to help Caley build and execute game plans and former Las Vegas Raiders and Carolina Panthers defensive line coach Frank Okam as assistant defensive line coach as the replacement for Nate Ollie, per league sources.
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The Texans bring back defensive coordinator Matt Burke, special teams coordinator Frank Ross, assistant special teams coordinator Will Burnham, assistant head coach/running backs coach Danny Barrett, quarterbacks coach Jerrod Johnson, senior offensive assistant Bill Lazor, receivers coach/passing game coordinator Ben McDaniels, tight ends coach Jake Moreland, Cole Popovich, who was promoted to run game coordinator/offensive line coach, assistant offensive line coach Zach Yenser, offensive assistant Mike Snyder, defensive line coach Rod Wright, linebackers coach Billy Davis, defensive passing game coordinator Cory Undlin, defensive backs coach Dino Vasso, safeties coach Stephen Adegoke, defensive assistant Ben Bolling, defense/special teams assistant Sean Baker and Jake Olson, assistant to head coach DeMeco Ryans, per sources.
Johnson and Lazor both interviewed for the offensive coordinator position.
Former Texans offensive line coach Chris Strausser was dismissed after the season along with Slowik. Offensive assistants Jarrod James and Leander Wallace weren’t retained as their contracts expired along with defensive assistant Ryan Milus, per sources.
Schuplinski worked with Caley with the Los Angeles Rams on Sean McVay’s staff where he was their senior offensive assistant.
Schuplinski 47, a fellow John Carroll University alum, worked with Caley in New England for Super Bowl winning squads on the staff of coach Bill Belichick.
Schuplinski earned three Super Bowl rings with the Patriots as an assistant quarterbacks coach and coaching assistant when legendary quarterback Tom Brady was leading the offense.
Schuplinski was a college teammate of Texans general manager Nick Caserio, Patriots offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels and Tennessee Titans executive Dave Ziegler.
After a shutout win over the Texans eight years ago, Belichick credited Schuplinski for his work with quarterback Jacoby Brissett after his first NFL start.
“He’s definitely one of my favorite coaches I have ever had,” Brissett said when he was playing for New England.
‘A special coach,’ Texans hire Nick Caley as new offensive coordinator
Schuplinski coached the Las Vegas Raiders tight ends previously and was a senior offensive assistant.
He was the New York Giants’ quarterbacks coach for two seasons, coaching Daniel Jones during one of his better statistical seasons as he completed 64.3 percent of his throws for 2,428 yards and a team record for rushing yards by a quarterback in the Super Bowl era as he averaged 6.5 yards per carry.
In New England, Schuplinski had a six-year stint during the Patriots’ dominant run.
“He taught me all the ins and outs of the playbook,” former Patriots quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo said. “At the beginning, you’re going into a system where a guy has been doing it for however many years Tom has been doing it with Josh. So, they are kind of speaking a different language initially. You’re just trying to play catch-up when you are in there. And Jerry was kind of the guy. He knows all the stuff and he brings you up to speed. I probably wouldn’t be where I am at without him.”
Schuplinski has also coached quarterbacks with the Miami Dolphins, working with former Texans quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick as the offense finished 12th in passing yards.
A former linebackers and special teams coach at Case Western Reserve, Schluplinski coached running backs and special teams at John Carroll University where he played running back.
Schuplinski also coached high school football as the head coach at Trinity High School in his hometown of Garfield Heights, Ohio where he was the athletic director and a math teacher.
A former Texans fifth-round draft pick from the University of Texas, Okam has long-standing connections to Wright as his teammate with the Longhorns and was also teammates with Ryans, a former Pro Bowl linebacker, in Houston.
The Texans’ defensive line represents one of the biggest strengths of the roster with the presence of Pro Bowl defensive ends Danielle Hunter and Will Anderson Jr.
Okam, 39, who played for the Texans, Seattle Seahawks, Tampa Bay Buccaneers, New York Giants and the Carolina Panthers after being drafted in 2008, has coached Raiders star defensive end Maxx Crosby and standout defensive linemen Brian Burns and Derrick Brown in Carolina.
At Toledo, Okam coached NFL draft prospect Darius Alexander and first-team All-Mid-American Conference selection Judge Culpepper who led the team with nine sacks.
Okam got into coaching in 2014 initially as a graduate assistant at Rice working for coach David Bailiff before being promoted to defensive line coach and then being hired at Baylor by Matt Rhule as defensive line coach and going with him to Carolina.
Okam is a former All-American and All-Big 12 selection who won a national championship with the Longhorns in 2005.
In the NFL, Okam, listed at 6-foot-5, 352 pounds, played in 25 career games with six starts and recorded 33 tackles, five for losses with one fumble recovery.
At Texas, he had 160 career tackles, 28 tackles for losses, 10 sacks, a forced fumble five fumble recoveries and 12 deflected passes.
A former Parade All-American, Okam ran the 40-yard dash in 4.9 seconds and was ranked the second-best defensive tackle in the country as he chose Texas over Oklahoma, Florida, Oklahoma State and Stanford. He had a 3.9 grade point average at Lake Highlands in Dallas where he was an all-state and all-district selection who also played basketball and was a state finalist in the discus throw.
At the NFL scouting combine, Okam had one of the highest scores in the Wonderlic at any position.
Aaron Wilson is a Texans and NFL reporter for KPRC 2 and click2houston.com.
