Maintaining a winning streak for the Texans will depend on the Bobby Slowik succession plan.
To ensure that the Houston Texans can maintain their success under the direction of coach DeMeco Ryans, they need to make certain that they have a strategy in place to choose who will take over as offensive coordinator after Bobby Slowik.
The Houston Texans are one of the few teams in the National Football League (NFL) who did not win the Super Bowl and can confidently state that their 2023 season yielded an incredible amount of success.
The Houston Texans won the AFC South championship with a perfect 10 victories and dominated the Cleveland Browns in the first round of the playoffs. This came after the team had won a total of 11 games in the three seasons before this one.
In the very short future of the Texans, there is every reason to assume that the quarterback C.J. Stroud and coach DeMeco Ryans era is going to be a fantastic one, and maybe even yield the first Super Bowl championship for the team.
However, a season that was truly remarkable for the Houston Texans came to an end on Saturday evening in the AFC Divisional Round. The Baltimore Ravens, led by the likely Most Valuable Player Lamar Jackson, were able to pull away in the second half and ultimately defeat Houston by a score of 34-10.
Additionally, Ryans and general manager Nick Caserio won’t have much, if any, chance to take a step back and reflect on an amazing season since they won’t have much time with which to do so. Because there is work that has to be done shortly to ensure that there will not be a significant disappointment during the next season.
Now, the most important issue that Ryans and Caserio are dealing with is the question of what the future holds for Bobby Slowik, who serves as the offensive coordinator for the club.
On the one hand, Ryans hit the nail on the head with his selection of Slowik, who oversaw a season that was likely to be the Offensive Rookie of the Year for Stroud. Additionally, he oversaw remarkable growth from other players, including running back Devin Singletary, receivers Nico Collins and Tank Dell, and receivers Overall.
The other side of the coin is that Slowik performed such an excellent job that it’s probable that he’s finished with his tenure as the offensive coordinator for the Texans.
Slowik has already finished interviews with the Tennessee Titans and the Carolina Panthers, and it is anticipated that he will also finish interviews with the Washington Commanders, the Atlanta Falcons, and the Seattle Seahawks on Sunday.
It is likely that all of the clubs who have openings will come to the conclusion that Slowik, who has just finished his first year calling plays in the National Football League, requires further experience. However, the majority of clubs who have openings own a young quarterback or are planning to pick a young quarterback in the near future. The fact that Slowik had time on the coaching staffs of both Mike and Kyle Shanahan previous to joining the Texans is certainly beneficial, and it is difficult to argue against the job that Slowik performed with Stroud during this season.
There is a good chance that Slowik will not be long for Houston, even if he is not employed during this cycle. When everything is taken into consideration, it is absolutely necessary for Ryans, Caserio, and the Texans to have a succession plan in place.
Although the Philadelphia Eagles learned this year with Brian Johnson that just because someone has success as a quarterbacks coach does not imply that it would be a simple transition to them calling plays, it is possible that this may signal that Jerrod Johnson, who is now the quarterbacks coach, will be promoted to the position of offensive coordinator.
Both Bill Lazor and Shane Day, who are both senior offensive assistants, have extensive track histories in the National Football League, which means that it is possible that they will be promoted.
Ryans may potentially go back to the Shanahan well and attempt to grab a lower-level coach to become the next offensive coordinator. However, there has been such a significant loss of talent in San Francisco over the past several years that it is not a certainty that there is someone now working for the 49ers who would be a good match for the position.
However, the fact of the matter is that Ryans comes from a defensive background, which means that if the Texans do well on offense, his offensive play callers will be hired to coach other teams. This is despite the fact that Ryans has done an excellent job of altering the culture in Houston.
This is an issue that coaches who come from defensive backgrounds face on a consistent basis. There was a lot of difficulty for Mike Vrabel in replacing Arthur Smith with the Tennessee Titans. As the head coach of the Buffalo Bills, Sean McDermott had a difficult time replacing Brian Daboll. One of the factors that led to Bill Belichick’s resignation from the New England Patriots was his failure to find a suitable replacement for Josh McDaniel’s.
The Pittsburgh Steelers have not won a playoff game since the 2016 season, and it is possible to claim that Mike Tomlin’s inability to get the offensive coordinator job right in recent years has played a significant role in that. This is despite the fact that the Steelers have never failed to finish in the bottom of the standings.
When their offensive coordinators are hired away, even very excellent to outstanding coaches with defensive backgrounds have suffered to varied degrees. These struggles have occurred in a variety of situations.
Therefore, we are not taking the position that Ryans will not be able to effectively take Slowik’s place. The Texans will most likely lose Slowik, regardless of whether it is during this offseason or the following one. One of the first significant challenges that the Ryans government will have is going to be finding someone to succeed him.