Talent at the NFL level is exceptionally high. Rarely is a player added to a pro football roster who isn’t a physically capable, pro football caliber athlete. It happens, but not as often as unhappy fans might suggest.
The player’s mindset, motivation and attitude are another matter. As is their mental ability to grasp the scheme, concepts and plays, then remember them all in the heat of the moment.
The first paragraph above falls on the general manager to gatekeep. Nick Caserio’s job is to add physically
capable, pro caliber athletes to the Houston Texans roster. One can argue that Caserio needs to find players that fit the scheme, which is valid, but the EP system is very adaptable to the roster.
The player’s mindset, motivation and attitude, plus their ability to understand the mental aspects of the game falls to the coaching staff. Coaches, after all, are first and foremost teachers and mentors.
When we see an offensive line full of NFL caliber athletes unable to open holes for an NFL caliber running back, odds are it’s not due to the players. But, as fans watching a game, the easiest vent for frustration is the “tip of the spear”, i.e. the player involved in the failed play.
When the Houston Texans fired former offensive coordinator Bobby Slowik, the presumption was they were making a major upgrade. The reality begs to differ:
Slowik is dead last, Caley is bottom 5. This is not a quarterback problem, a running back problem, an offensive line problem. This isn’t due to the Houston Texans wr depth chart, the injury report or the fact they haven’t yet pulled the trigger on a Marvin Harrison Jr. trade.
This is a coaching issue.
Unfortunately, most fans can’t easily see coaching issues. We do see quarterbacks taking sacks and committing turnovers, or tailbacks running right into defensive linemen. What often gets collectively missed is the coaching decision that put the player in a bad situation in the first place.
But, here’s a snapshot of insight from someone who does see what the casual observer often misses:
Want to keep blaming C.J. Stroud, or the o-line or receiving corps? Last weekend, Stroud earned a place in the NFL record books as the only quarterback to throw for over 350 yards in an offense that scored less than 10 points.
Jacob Barzilla, an awesome voice for Texans Nation, recently X’d (tweeted?) a list of OC play calling hires in the last 2 seasons. Of them, all but 1 are doing better than Caley (with the exception of Chip Kelly who has an NCAA gig currently).
Jacob Barzilla (via X)
The OC hires for experienced guys that call plays over the last 2 offseasons:
- Drew Petzing
- Zac Robinson
- Brian Daboll
- Matt Nagy
- Frank Reich
- Chip Kelly
- Klint Kubiak
DeMeco Ryans and the Texans brass hand the defense over to Matt Burke and it goes from really good to elite. They hand the offense to Caley and it goes from not so good to still not so good.
Which brings us to this week’s poll:
During a recent Masthead discussion, I posed the idea “what if Stroud didn’t sign the $50 mil extension offer a few weeks back because he doesn’t want to spend his career in a crap Slowik/Caley offense?”
The narrative of Stroud betting on himself, being greedy, whatever is all out there. But what if he simply doesn’t want to play in H-Town due to the abysmal offensive coaching? Say what you will about his decision making under pressure, his demeanor when things go wrong, how his stats/production have fallen since his rookie season. The fact is, if he was a free agent today, some other team would back up a dump truck full of dollars to sign him. And, he’d likely have several teams to choose from, including several offensive coaching staffs.
And, more pointed: drop him on a team with a quality OC and he might already have a ring.
The next narrative, which is certainly valid: firing an OC mid-season tanks the year.
But Houston already has Jerry Schuplinski on staff. He has 3 Super Bowl rings, is widely regarded as a key asset in Stroud’s 2026 offseason improvements and is very well versed in the Erhardt-Perkins offensive scheme.
Could Schuplinski excel at play calling? Well, odds are he couldn’t be any worse than Caley.
