The Trenches Shine at Senior Bowl as Texans Continue OC Quest
Two Thursday interviews as Texans creep closer to new OC
The Houston Texans continue to grow their interview list as their search for a new offensive coordinator continues.
Thursday the Texans will interview senior offensive assistant Bill Lazor off their staff for the coordinator job. They will also interview Rams tight ends coach/pass game coordinator Nick Caley.
Lazor’s interview covers similar ground to the interview with quarterbacks coach Jerrod Johnson. Houston should ask what went wrong in Lazor’s eyes, why he didn’t keep it from happening, and how he would fix it. Rarely are employees afforded opportunities to speak as freely as I hope Lazor and Johnson can in these interviews.
Caley’s interview will be much different.
Nearly two years ago to the day, Caley interviewed for the offensive coordinator position with the Texans. His main experience to that point had been coaching tight ends for the New England Patriots. The Texans were coming off a run where “Patriots South” had been a popular dig at their operating process. Caley’s experience was pretty light too.
Now Caley gets to display what he learned from one of the best minds in football: Sean McVay. He also gets to explain why he turned down almost $3 million a year to be the New England Patriots offensive coordinator last offseason. Then, the important part, he gets to reveal his plan to fix a broken Houston offense.
When you stack Caley up against the other candidates he looks like a clear favorite. Only Jeff Nixon, the Syracuse offensive coordinator, seems to hold a candle to the offerings of Caley.
Ohio State offensive coordinator Chip Kelly’s name has only been linked to the Texans on wishlists, social media, and one curious report that placed him as a candidate for the Jacksonville Jaguars. The job in Jacksonville didn’t include the duty of calling plays on offense. Kelly seems well-situated with the Buckeyes. Sure, the process is far from over, and an interview with Kelly isn’t impossible, but as each day passes without a concrete connection Kelly is likely to keep his real estate in Columbus.
Caley’s interview could be the last step in this journey for a new offensive coordinator to come to an end. If it goes well, he could be hired and get to work on re-tooling the offense for the Texans.
