Houston Texans: OC’s to target and avoid to replace Tim Kelly

The Houston Texans need a witty offensive coordinator to be a contender again.

Every Houston Texans fan witnessed the pain of having to endure Tim Kelly as the offensive coordinator. Inconsistency was his only consistency, as game plans would range from impeccable (Chargers game) to downright confusing (49ers game).

So why did Kelly never let Davis Mills cook or let him throw it more than the team would run? Houston had zero ground game all year, and it affected the team negatively for all seventeen games (minus Rex Burkhead’s career day).

With the utmost urgency, Houston Texans sort out which offensive coordinators they should pursue and avoid. These candidates aren’t ranked in any particular order as they will be placed under their category and analyzed from there.

First on the list of offensive coordinators that the Houston Texans should stay away from:

Joe Brady

Joe Brady was heralded as the next best thing when he was hired to be the Carolina Panther’s offensive coordinator after being LSU’s passing game coordinator in 2019. He led Joe Burrow’s squad to a National Championship that year and seemed like a great hire.

However, asking Sam Darnold to be your number one guy at the quarterback position is a terrible idea. Not to mention that the offense is nothing without Christian McCaffrey, and it resulted in Brady being fired just a year and a half into his tenure.

Brady’s numbers were not that good, ranking near the bottom third of the league. Brady might be suited for college football more than the NFL.

Ronald Curry is another OC the Houston Texans should avoid

Ronald Curry has been one of the reasons that the New Orleans Saints even had a shot at the playoffs this year, guiding three different quarterbacks to get them into a spot where they needed help to get in.

Of course, the L.A. Rams lost, and the Saints’ postseason hopes were dashed, but that doesn’t mean Curry should be looked at like a serious contender for an OC job. Again, mark this as an intuition kind of analysis, but Curry, to me, doesn’t feel right. New Orleans has had tons of play calls that make no sense, which may not be Curry’s fault.

However, instructing his QB’s to be good in their technique and not turn the ball over by throwing interceptions at the wrong time killed their season. Of course, those three QB’s he worked with aren’t anything to go crazy over, but I think Curry needs one more to prove that he can take one QB and elevate him to a high level.

The “50/50” or “Iffy” candidate: Houston’s own Pep Hamilton

Pep Hamilton has an interesting case. On one hand, the Carolina Panthers are interested in him being their own offensive coordinator (irony after we talked about Joe Brady). Hamilton did a good job with what he had with Davis Mills and the talent around him.

But is this situation a little iffy because of the absence of talent around Mills, Kelly’s incompetence, or that Mills already hit his ceiling? Another factor to consider is that whoever is hired as the head coach will most likely bring in their chosen OC.

So I wouldn’t get too excited about the possibility of Hamilton being the OC for Houston. The new head coach will determine who that is.

Houston Texans should target Buffalo’s Ken Dorsey

Taking Josh Allen and transforming a team into a serious Super Bowl contender takes a ton of work and luck in getting the right player. However, everything Buffalo has done (minus the running game) has been fantastic. Former NFL QB Ken Dorsey serves as Buffalo’s QB coach and passing game coordinator.

Now Mills isn’t the type of player Allen is, but they are similar in stature. Mills’ progress would surely be a more linear climb than Allen’s (exponential), but it could be done. Houston would have to give this offensive line a facelift and get more weapons before that even became a possibility.

It’s hard not to like what Dorsey brings to the table, and Houston should try to give him an interview once their season is over.

Duce Staley rounds out the list for the Houston Texans

If running the ball is where Houston would like to improve, then Duce Staley should get the call. Now before the fact that he currently coaches for the Detroit Lions sends readers off the wall, let’s look back on his resume.

Staley was behind LeSean McCoy’s breakout success for Philadelphia and even got the best out of a handful of runners en-route to their Super Bowl LII victory over the New England Patriots. Staley also showed that despite Detroit’s record, he had his guys running hard (just look at this run from their game against the Pittsburgh Steelers).

Staley would be a great hire that would help take the pressure away from the passing game, ultimately letting the defense get more rest.