For the first time since the 2020 offseason, the Houston Texans will not be engaged in a search for a new head coach. In January of 2021, their search led to the hire of David Culley. In February of 2022, after nearly hiring Josh McCown, the Texans settled on Lovie Smith. Finally, last January, they landed the head coaching whale, rising star and franchise legend DeMeco Ryans, and unless something completely unforeseen happens, he’ll be the head coach here for a long, long time.
The Texans just finished up Ryans’ first regular season as the head coach, and it was a rousing success, with a 10-7 record, a division title, and a home playoff game coming up this Saturday afternoon. Rookie QB C.J. Stroud took the world by storm, and it feels like the Texans could be a relevant team for a long, long time.
Ryans will continue to oversee this era of Houston Texans football, but with success and relevance, it’s now his staff to which we turn our attention. Stroud’s aforementioned success is getting offensive coordinator Bobby Slowik quite a bit of buzz in head coaching circles. That’s normal for any offensive coach who has spent time around 49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan, which , like Ryans, Slowik did from 2017 through 2022.
As of this writing, there are five head coaching openings — Carolina, Las Vegas, Los Angeles Chargers, Washington, and Atlanta, with a couple more possibly coming. Reportedly, the Panthers and Commanders have already requested permission to interview Slowik. Meanwhile, the folks at BetOnline.ag have posted odds on who will eventually land three of those jobs, and Slowik is certainly a factor in two of the odds boards:
Next Falcons Head Coach
Bill Belichick 3/1
Ben Johnson 4/1
Eric Bieniemy 5/1
BOBBY SLOWIK 6/1
Jim Harbaugh 7/1
Kellen Moore 8/1
Raheem Morris 8/1
Brian Callahan 9/1
Mike MacDonald 9/1
Brian Flores 10/1
Dan Quinn 10/1
Ejiro Evero 11/1
Dave Canales 12/1
Ron Rivera 14/1
Deion Sanders 25/1
Next Chargers Head Coach
Jim Harbaugh 1/2 (-200)
Giff Smith 4/1
Ben Johnson 5/1
Bill Belichick 6/1
Mike Vrabel 10/1
Eric Bieniemy 11/1
Kellen Moore 14/1
Lincoln Riley 16/1
Dan Quinn 18/1
BoOBBY SLOWIK 20/1
Brian Flores 25/1
Frank Smith 25/1
Deion Sanders 50/1
Ryan Day 50/1
Brian Johnson 66/1
Jerod Mayo 66/1
Raheem Morris 66/1
Next Commanders Head Coach
Eric Bieniemy 4/1
Ben Johnson 5/1
Bill Belichick 5/1
BOBBY SLOWIK 6/1
Dan Quinn 8/1
Jim Harbaugh 9/1
Shane Waldron 10/1
Brian Flores 11/1
Frank Smith 11/1
Mike MacDonald 11/1
Antonio Pierce 12/1
Raheem Morris 12/1
Kellen Moore 14/1
Mike Tomlin 33/1
Arthur Smith 40/1
Of the three jobs posted above, the best one is probably the Chargers’ job, with a franchise caliber QB in place (Justin Herbert) and several talented pieces on the roster. Atlanta and Washington are both still looking for a franchise quarterback, and may find one in the upcoming draft.
If I had to guess, this coaching cycle probably won’t see Slowik land a job. HIs boss, DeMeco Ryans, actually took interviews back in 2022, but chose to stay in San Francisco as the defensive coordinator for one more season. I could see Slowik doing the exact same thing — take a few interviews to gain valuable job search experience, but ultimately stick around to see where C.J. Stroud can take all of us in 2024.
Regardless, it’s nice to have a head coach who can indentify assistant coaching talent that is sought after by other teams around the NFL.
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This article appears in Jan 1 – Dec 31, 2024.
