On Sunday, the Houston Texans fans will finally get an opportunity to witness what they have been waiting for since February.
The “Nick Caley Era.”
The former Los Angeles Rams tight ends coach and passing game coordinator returns to California as the Texans’ offensive coordinator, facing his former mentor and Rams head coach, Sean McVay, as the Texans open their season against Los Angeles at SoFi Stadium.
“We want to go out and compete,” said Caley when asked about his offensive identity as a first-year play caller. “We want to go out and play physical, we want to play tough, we want to play fundamental, sound football. That’s the expectation, that’s been the expectation since we got here in February, and our guys have been working hard and trying to get better every single day.”
Houston is coming off a down year offensively, finishing the 2024 regular season 15th in passing yards, 30th in rushing yards, and 30th in scoring.
Note that the offensive line ranked last in the league, and quarterback C.J. Stroud was sacked 52 times, second only to Chicago Bears quarterback Caleb Williams’ league-leading 68 sacks, making it clear why the Texans had to replace former offensive coordinator Bobby Slowik.
Texans head coach DeMeco Ryans, who has an excellent personal relationship with Slowik that began during their coaching days with the San Francisco 49ers, knew they had to make a change to reignite the offense, which boasts superstar power with Stroud and wide receiver Nico Collins.
“Talking to people and going through my process, it was very clear that Nick was the right guy for our team,” said Ryans during Caley’s introductory press conference in February. “His energy, his leadership ability, and with him being able to understand the run game, pass game, with him being in multiple schemes, multiple schemes that were successful, understanding how to tailor the offense to the players that we have, that led me to Nick.”
There is a lot of excitement surrounding the offense that Caley has installed throughout training camp, which utilizes the skillset of the players on the field on any given play.
Outside of the energy that Caley brings, the most essential character trait that he possesses and that has excited the offensive players is his attention to detail when it comes to what they bring to the field.
“I feel like a lot of times in the NFL, from what I’ve learned, a lot of coaches or teams try to make the player fit the scheme instead of the scheme fitting the player,” said Stroud about his new offense. “I think it’s sometimes a good thing because you get to challenge yourself to try new things, but also, I think you should come in and try to have the scheme fit the players in a way.
“I think there’s a balance you need to have to challenge yourself to try new things but also doing things that you’re already naturally good at. So, this offense does a good job at that, of doing things that guys are naturally good at, but also challenging to try new things.”