One of the downsides of being a team as successful as the Houston Texans have been over the past three seasons is that teams around the NFL take note of what you're doing, and when the right time comes, those teams look to poach members of the coaching staff who have contributed to that sustained success.
Although this coaching cycle could've been far less kind to the Texans than it has been thus far, Houston is still in the process of playing the waiting game, seeing if various members of its coaching staff will soon depart for promotions with different organizations around the NFL.
One of those coaches who has been the recipient of plenty of interest around the league has been defensive backs coach Dino Vasso, who has been instrumental in the success and development of a Texans secondary that includes Derek Stingley Jr., Kamari Lassiter, Jalen Pitre and Calen Bullock, and prior to that was on an Eagles coaching staff that helped bring a Super Bowl to Philadelphia for the first time in the city's history.
Fortunately, for the Texans, as they continue to work toward the ultimate goal of bringing a Super Bowl title to Houston, Vasso will be part of that pursuit for at least one more year.
According to Aaron Wilson of KPRC 2 Houston, Dino Vasso has decided to pass on the opportunity to interview for the Arizona Cardinals' defensive coordinator opening, instead opting to extend his contract with the Texans. Vasso had already interviewed for the Tennessee Titans defensive coordinator position, which ended up going to Gus Bradley, and he had been linked to positions in Las Vegas and Cleveland as well.
Speaking of Cleveland, while Vasso is now off of the Browns radar for their defensive coordinator vacancy, Cleveland has set their sights on another member of the Texans coaching staff. According to Browns beat reporter Ashley Bastock, as new head coach Todd Monken begins to assemble his coaching staff, Texans defensive pass game coordinator Cory Undlin has emerged as the new favorite to become the next defensive coordinator in Cleveland.
"The most popular (candidate) is Cory Undlin," Bastock said during a recent appearance on 92.3 The Fan. "It wouldn't surprise me to see an external hire, and Houston runs a similar defense to Cleveland."
Not only does Undlin have past experience in Cleveland -- he spent four seasons with the Browns from 2005 to 2008 as a defensive assistant -- but perhaps more importantly, he has experience serving on a coaching staff with Monken. In 2009 and 2010, Monken (wide receivers coach) and Undlin (defensive backs coach) were assistants on Jack Del Rio's staff in Jacksonville.