Houston Texans head coach Demeco Ryans has announced that he will pursue defensive play calling.
Offensive coordinator Nick Calley continues to make elementary “hat in the hat” comments as his brand of Erhardt-Perkins offense struggles. Mainly due to telegraphed formations, confused offensive linemen and Madden 95 level play calling. Mediocrity doesn’t win championships.
The players say the loss is on them.
The ex-Texans continue to dominate other teams.
Other teams with less talented rosters won.
A vocal minority of fans are calling for the resignation of general manager Nick Caserio.
Another group of fans are calling for a completely clean slate from the owner to the ball boys.
So, who is to blame for the worst failure of the Texans’ 25-year existence? Who do we pin the pain of going from Super Bowl contender to current #1 draft picker?
General manager of the Houston Texans
It’s easy to blame Nick Caserio for all of this, as he was mostly responsible for assembling the roster and hiring head coach Demeco Ryans. At the end of the day, the GM is at the top of the franchise food chain, the one responsible for everything that happens with regards to the actual football team.
Caserio hired Ryans, had a say in hiring his buddy and former college kegger partner, Caley. He also signed on to promote Cole Popovich to offensive line coach.
He was also the man behind the drafting of Will Anderson Jr., CJ Stroud and several other star players.
In the off-season, he built a roster based on the needs of the offensive and defensive schemes he signed.
In the end, it’s easy to blame him. And, some of that blame is very valid.
Nepotism does not win professional football games
Caserio bringing his friend Caley was probably his worst mistake so far. But, Caserio was brought along by another friend of his, Bill O’Brien, so maybe that apple didn’t fall far from the tree. Either way, sending Caley to Boston College for some lightly used harbor tea sounds like a good idea at this point.
Head coach of the Houston Texans
Speaking of nepotism, it’s really hard to root against the Demeco Ryans on almost anything. His impact on this team, as a player and a head coach has been mostly positive. He’s smart, passionate, charismatic and just the kind of guy you want to see win.
But liking the head coach doesn’t always equate to Lombardi Trophies. Not sure many people loved Bill Belichick, but his ring collection speaks for itself.
More than Caserio, Ryan should have a say in which coaches stay and go. Who gets hired, who gets fired, promoted and demoted. This means he has to blame, if not all, the coaching performances. In the end he has to take it all, because it’s his job to coach the coaches, as well as the players.
Houston Texans offensive coordinator
Many of us saw the writing on the wall with Nick Caley early last season. While many teams bring in first-time OCs and fly, Houston did and had more of the same. Caley’s play calling is geez, he is often out-football-knowledge’d by local football analysts, and brings a swagger to his press conferences that seems at odds with the Demeco Ryans brand of coaching mentioned above.
Quarterback CJ Stroud cited communication issues with Caley so often that Jerry Shuplinski was elevated to QB Coach in the off-season to act as a go-between.
Unlike Caserio and Ryans, it’s nearly impossible to plant a flag on a pivotal achievement in Caley’s H-Town career. Often, the offense seems to succeed despite, not because of, Caley’s efforts.
Defensive coordinator of the Houston Texans
When Matt Burke first took over as the Houston Texans DC, it seemed like the unit took an exponential step forward, from good to great. For those outside the building, it’s not easy to quantify what went down in that transition phase. Did the Ryans act as training wheels for Burke, proving that 2 heads are better than 1? The combination of both men working in sync leading to a light out D? And, maybe this off-season Ryans took a step back, thinking that Burke “got it” and his head coach didn’t need to stay focused on it?
Briefly describe how Burke went from “Matt who?” to the “hot head coaching candidate”, the fall in this season definitely refers to the lack of vitamin ‘Meco.
From a casual fan’s perspective, any player who fails to make any play they consider key to winning/losing a game, is an easy target. Missed the winning field goal? Blame the kicker. Throw a bad interception? Blame the quarterback. Give up a key touchdown? Blame the defense.
Unfortunately, it’s not that simple.
However, players have to do their jobs to the best of their ability on and off the field. Believing their own hype/reading their own press, is currently the trending reason why the Texans defense has fallen from grace.
Anyone who has watched the NFL for any number of years has likely heard stories of entire rosters being hit with the flu. Locker rooms are full of negative thinking players with big personalities who use their leadership to pull everyone down. Key members of the roster failed to buy into the coaching, leading the players who looked up to them to do the same. Or simply men who think they’ve arrived and don’t strive to get there every day.
Ultimately, it’s hard to definitively point to 1 person and definitively say that the 0-4 start is solely their fault. However, you can look at the facets listed above and narrow it down using logical conclusions.
Winning and losing depends on 2 things: the roster and how the roster is used to win games.
Roster Management: It’s not really an issue. This team is as talented as the Buffalo Bills, Minnesota Vikings, San Francisco 49ers, Kansas City Chiefs and just about any other 3+ win team right now. In some cases, more. However, getting the most out of said roster shows some disconnect. Grade: Pass
Head Coaching: Ultimately, the use of the roster is up to the coaching staff. And the use of the coaching staff is up to the head coach. Both facets this franchise has failed so far. Score: Failed
Offensive coordinator: Despite Caley’s charter school’s offensive approach, CJ Stroud is fighting back and the Texans are in position to win every game this season. Unfortunately, the run game still isn’t slow, the offensive line is still offensive and Caley continues to proclaim that it’s a matter of brute force. Score: Failed
Defensive coordinator: Burke is living the wrong end of the rags to riches to rags story this season. With Ryans stepping down from his play-calling defensive duties, it’s clear that the belief within NRG is that Burke isn’t making it through all phases of his career. Score: Failed
Player performance: Here’s where it gets tricky. CJ Stroud is having the time of his life. He is currently 6th in passing yards with 1141, with a 95.9 passer rating and he, along with Jared Goff is the only passer with over 1000 air yards who has thrown zero interceptions this season.
Will Anderson Jr. is on another tear, tied with TJ Watt for 3rd in total sacks (4.5), 11 QB hits and 7 tackles for loss.
Despite the rise of the team’s 2 leaders, mental errors, dropped passes, missed tackles and broken assignments seemed to mar every game. Grade: C-
Other teams also mentioned knowing what Houston was doing when they got to the line, on both offensive and defensive downs. Opposing D’s know when Caley calls for a run. Dak Prescott reads the defensive end like Rudy’s menu.
Blame the Houston Texans Coaching
Ultimately, it’s up to the coaching staff to:
- install and run offensive, defensive and special teams schemes.
- train the players how to perform individually
- teach players how to excel within the structure of these schemes
- call plays that put players in the right place at the right time
- make in-game adjustments early and often when your gameplan isn’t working
- analyze player performance, and coach to continually improve that performance each week
It’s pretty easy to say that many of these things don’t happen.