Battle Red Blog Groupthink: Bobby Slowik stays as Houston Texans Offensive Coordinator

Texans keep their offensive coordinator for one more season.

With the news that Bobby Slowik will be returning to Houston as the Houston Texans Offensive Coordinator, the writers quickly got together to determine if he’s in fact ready to be a head coach somewhere else.

L4blitzer:

Short answer: I would say the guy needs another season as a coordinator. While he is quite intelligence and was able to implement a lot of concepts that paid dividends for this team, I am not sure about how effective a head coach/team leader he would be at this point. He is older than Sean McVay was before he became Head Coach, but McVay was also an offensive coordinator for 3 years before the Rams hired the Uber Wunderkind. I get that teams want an offensive guy that has shown he can work with QBs to get the best out of them. Slowik has earned those interviews. Yet, I don’t get a Vrabel-like vibe off of him (aka where even after one year as a coordinator, you knew Vrabel was ready to be a head coach. Also see Ryans, DeMeco). This doesn’t mean that Slowik was perfect as an OC. You could certainly question his playcalling actions (see some rather uncreative overadherence to running all the time when that was not in the best interest of the team). I think the team could replace Slowik if he gets hired and be ok. However, for Slowik, and his future employer, I think both would be better served to wait for at least another season to give Slowik more seasoning before he takes the Head Coach whistle.

Vballretired:

I’d say he needs another season than for no other reason than I’d want to see how he grows as a play caller. Most things went well but there were portions of the offense (running game) that were disappointing. Do those things improve in year two or do they continue to be festering issues? Plus, defensive coordinators now have a book on him. How does he respond to their adjustments? I don’t know that he can’t do these things but seeing him do it would make me more comfortable if I were hiring him.

Patrick.H

I personally don’t think Bobby Slowik is ready yet, he needs a little longer to cook, in every sense of the word. I know if he stays it won’t be for long, but there’s something to be said for continuity in offensive coordinators, especially when you have a young quarterback like Stroud. I mean Stroud would probably be fine, but I’m a coward and I wouldn’t want to chance it.

Kenneth L.:

Considering it’s his first year as an OC, I’m glad the league agreed he wasn’t ready. I assume the last game of the postseason had a major impact on that as the Texans offense looked dumbfounded against the Ravens dominant secondary. Slowik needs another year to demonstrate that it wasn’t just dumb luck he ended up with C.J. Stroud; he both needs to show that Stroud can continue to develop but also distinguish his play calling beyond that of Stroud’s performance. That extends to the run game, the creativity of the offensive play calling, and the efficiency in the red zone.

Slowik also has the unique position of being an offensive coordinator with a defensive minded head coach. He essentially has a higher status as an OC here than most team would offer him as a head coach or OC anywhere else. He’s free to run the offense without the purview of another coach or have to deal with an OC under him who has their own ideas.