Texans offensive coordinator Bobby Slowik is not just a trendy head coaching candidate after his first season calling plays in Houston.
Slowik was named a finalist for the Associated Press Assistant Coach of the Year Award, which was won last year by Texans head coach DeMeco Ryans, who was the San Francisco 49ers defensive coordinator at the time.
Slowik is credited in part with the development of rookie quarterback C.J. Stroud, who had a historic rookie season at the position. Houston's passing offense consistently ranked among the league's best throughout the season.
Prior to joining Ryans' staff in Houston, Slowik worked with him in San Francisco as the passing game coordinator for 49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan. Now, teams with with head coaching vacancies have at the very least started to pick Slowik's brain.
He interviewed for at least five of the seven head coach openings, though only the Washington Commanders and Seattle Seahawks remain unfiled as of Saturday morning.
While we wait to see if Slowik lands a head coaching job, Stroud spoke glowingly this past week about the offensive coordinator, as well as quarterbacks coach Jerrod Johnson, who's been interviewing elsewhere for coordinator positions.
"Bobby is somebody, who when I came in, I knew he was going to push me hard. He was going to be hard on me. He held me at a standard all year. Held me accountable," Stroud said. "A lot of times when you're playing good ball, guys, they kind of let you do what you do and leave you alone. Bobby was always on me about the little details in my position and I appreciated that because you don't always get that. He was always just hard on me, but also showed me a lot of love – a ton of love.
"Very knowledgeable, can really dice a defense up. Puts a lot of trust in his players and really just never got away from what he knows. Of course, tailored his coaching to what was here at the Texans, but he did what was at the core of his heart and I could appreciate that. Whatever happens with those guys, they deserve whatever is coming to them. It's been a blessing working with them, but if they come back, that would be cool too."
