The Houston Texans hired Nick Caley as their new offensive coordinator Monday.
Caley, who has spent the past two seasons on Sean McVay's Los Angeles Rams staff, replaces Bobby Slowik, who was fired last month after two seasons in the role. Caley spent this past season as the Rams' pass game coordinator and tight ends coach. Before joining the Rams, Caley spent six seasons as the New England Patriots' tight ends coach.
Caley, 42, has never been an offensive coordinator before so this will be his first time calling plays. He will take over a group featuring four Pro Bowlers in quarterback C.J. Stroud, running back Joe Mixon, left tackle Laremy Tunsil and wideout Nico Collins.
But the reason why the Texans, who won the AFC South in 2024 and reached the divisional round for the second consecutive season, have a new playcaller is because the offense struggled throughout the year.
Last offseason, The Texans added Mixon and wideout Stefon Diggs to join Collins, who became a 1,000-yard receiver each of the past two seasons under Slowik, wideout Tank Dell and tight end Dalton Schultz. The expectations were high for Houston's offense, but the unit failed to live up to the hype as it ranked 22nd in total offense (319.7 yards per game) and 18th in offensive points per game (20.5).
Slowik struggled to find consistent answers to protect Stroud, who was sacked 52 times, second most in the NFL, and was pressured on 38.6% of his dropbacks, third most in the league, according to Next Gen Stats. Slowik struggled to counterpunch whenever opposing defenses adjusted, which is why the offense ranked dead last in second-half points (7.5).