The Houston Texans have had quite a season. After hitting what initially seems to be a grand slam with CJ Stroud at quarterback, alongside other impressive rookies, Will Anderson Jr, and Tank Dell and Juice Scruggs, the Texans won the AFC South and made it all the way to Divisional round of the playoffs, in what was meant to be a rebuilding year for the team.
Instead, Houston has established themselves as a true force in the AFC, and moving forward with an excellent quarterback and a young, up-and-coming roster core; one that, incidentally, has the 5th most cap space going into this offseason; could position themselves as one of the elite teams in the NFL for years to come.
Bobby Slowik and Jerrod Johnson: Coaches In Demand
However, a downer on all this was the January coaching hype for two of the Texans’ stand-out offensive coaching talent: offensive coordinator, Bobby Slowik, and QBs coach, Jerrod Johnson.
Slowik is a head coaching candidate for both of the remaining coaching vacancies, Washington Commanders and Seattle Seahawks, and seems poised to get one of the jobs after Detroit Lions OC, Ben Johnson, decided upon staying in Motown for another year.
Jerrod Johnson, on the other hand, has taken interviews with both the New Orleans Saints and Tampa Bay Buccaneers for their respective vacant offensive coordinator jobs. In fact, Johnson is a finalist and frontrunner for the Saints job after the Rams’ Zac Robinson was hired to the rival Falcons, being the sole coach to have a second interview scheduled for the position.
Will The Houston Texans Manage To Retain All Their Key Staff Members?
Despite big potential opportunities for both coaches, especially Johnson, who would likely have taken on play-calling responsibilities at New Orleans, they have communally decided to remain in Texas, per Ian Rapoport and Albert Breer.
Texans OC Bobby Slowik has agreed to a new deal in Houston within the past few days, one that includes a significant raise, per sources. Slowik impressed multiple NFL clubs thru the interview process.
But he’s sticking in Houston. He’ll be a hot name in 2025.
— Albert Breer (@AlbertBreer) January 30, 2024
Sources: #Texans QBs coach Jerrod Johnson has informed teams interested in hiring him as an OC that he plans to return to Houston. A big development for the #Texans, as Johnson wants to finish what he started with CJ Stroud, DeMeco Ryans, OC Bobby Slowik and the organization. pic.twitter.com/mpMoKThYsy
— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) January 30, 2024
Why Are Both Coaches Staying In Houston?
Whilst at this point we do not have the full ins and outs of what comprised of both coaches’ respective decisions, it should be noted that these stories broke within 30 minutes of each other, so it seems rather likely that some discussion was had between the pair for both to decide to stay in Houston.
Although Slowik had opportunities at other franchises, Houston does seem to be uniquely well positioned for a strong future over the next half decade, and to be able to not only garner a ‘significant’ pay raise but the opportunity to both compete for a championship and bolster his resume must have been too tempting for the former Shanahan disciple.
As for Johnson, whilst there is no report of a large raise, one would imagine that the Texans would treat him right, considering the accelerated growth of Stroud. And again, the opportunity for another year or two working with CJ and Slowik may position him better to succeed in the future as a play caller for an NFL franchise.