DeMeco Ryans - OC Nick Caley can help Texans get 'over the hump' - ESPN

HOUSTON — Coach DeMeco Ryans said Thursday he believes his new offensive coordinator, Nick Caley, can help get the Houston Texans «over the hump.»

In Ryans' two seasons in Houston, the result has been the same. Both seasons, the Texans clinched the AFC South title and won a wild-card playoff game. But they suffered losses in the divisional round as the Texans' offense struggled to score points.

«We've had a lot of good success these first two years,» Ryans said Thursday. «The reason we're doing this is I think there's another level that we can go to. And as I said earlier, my job is to take this organization to new heights, and I think hiring Nick will help us to get there.»

The Texans' loss to the Kansas City Chiefs in the divisional round this year wasn't the sole reason Ryans fired former offensive coordinator Bobby Slowik. But that loss did encapsulate why Ryans said that the offense had to improve after an underwhelming year under Slowik. After an impressive 2023 debut, the Texans' yards per game (342.4 to 319.7) and points per game (22.2 to 21.9) went down under Slowik while sacks went up (47 to 54)

Quarterback C.J. Stroud took 52 sacks (second most) and was pressured on 38.6% of his dropbacks (third most according to NFL Next Gen Stats). The pressure on Stroud also got to him quickly as his time to pressure rate was 2.59, the seventh fastest according to NFL Next Gen Stats.

Ryans fired Slowik, a head coaching candidate in each of the past two offseasons, on Jan. 24 in search of improvement. Then, on Feb. 3, he landed on Caley as the new designer of an offense featuring Pro Bowlers in left tackle Laremy Tunsil, running back Joe Mixon, wideout Nico Collins and Stroud.

«It was very hard to let Bobby go,» Ryans said.