Last Season's Disappointments Will Need to Be This Season's Successes
The new offensive coordinator is charged with stepping up where Slowik failed
The Houston Texans weren’t good enough on offense in 2024 and it was all Bobby Slowik’s fault.
That doesn’t sound right, does it?
As it stands now Slowik and the also-fired offensive line coach Chris Strausser seem to bear the brunt of the blame for last season’s shortcomings. Slowik’s failed offense was predictable and stagnant, and he couldn’t create answers to problems. Strausser’s offensive line failed to execute what is almost assuredly a failed blocking scheme.
The Texans believe the offense isn’t as far away as we thought. The changes have been far from wholesale on the coaching staff despite hiring new offensive coordinator Nick Caley.
Plenty of the co-conspirators on the offensive failure are sticking around. Assistant offensive line coach Cole Popovich, quarterbacks coach Jerrod Johnson, and maybe even senior offensive assistant Bill Lazor will get cracks at the 2025 staff, and a chance to right the wrongs of 2024.
Popovich, promoted to offensive line coach, gets an opportunity to recapture some of his success with the Patriots as the new but familiar leader in the disappointing offensive line room. Johnson’s relationship with C.J. Stroud is likely his tether to the team, let’s see what a third season together gets the pair.
Caley’s task is to improve what he has and elevate the disappointing elements while improving on the solid ones.
There will be some player changes, but again, not wholesale. Bloated contract commitments mean moving on from Shaq Mason and Tytus Howard is fiscally irresponsible, only one should go. Dalton Schultz’s uninspiring 2024 will not be his last for the Texans with a contract that costs more to terminate than keep.
Coaches matter in the NFL. They always have and they always will. Caley, though, can only do so much. These players he has, the holdovers and additions, will need to play much better. Plenty of them, especially the linemen, require the right situation for success.
That’s where Caley, and his staff, come in.