The Houston Texans are shopping for their fourth head coach in four years after moving on from a coach in his mid-60s for the second straight offseason. Texans general manager Nick Caserio is again heading the search as he enters his third year at the helm. The Texans have thus far requested interviews with a variety of coaching candidates, both more experienced and younger alike.
Houston’s willingness to change its approach from its last two searches is a positive. Their wide net could bring a surprise result. We’re ranking all of the Texans’ head coach candidates from best to worst.
Update: the Texans hired 49ers defensive coordinator DeMeco Ryans as their head coach on Jan. 31.
Texans Head Coach Candidates Ranked
Because the Texans are a rebuilding team that is flush with draft capital and cap space, they’re a unique opportunity for the right coach. Caserio’s standing with the team could be in question for a more veteran coach but otherwise appears entrenched if a younger candidate is brought on board. Let’s rank the franchise’s best options.
1) Sean Payton, Former Saints Head Coach
On one hand, I don’t love the idea of a young team with few foundational pieces hiring a 59-year-old head coach who has to be traded for. The Texans could have to give up their 12th overall pick in the 2023 NFL Draft to land Sean Payton‘s rights from the Saints, plus hand him the keys to the front office. Caserio would seemingly take a step down in power or be forced out with Payton’s arrival.
However, Payton’s résumé is extremely strong. He won 63% of his games in New Orleans, producing a winning record in 10 of his 15 years with the Saints. He never went below 7-9, and of course, won the Super Bowl in 2009.
Payton struggled to figure out the Saints’ defense while he had Drew Brees in his prime, then eventually developed one of the better defenses in the league by the time Brees reached the end of his career. Giving Payton a highly-drafted quarterback from this year’s class could quickly revitalize the franchise.
2) DeMeco Ryans, 49ers Defensive Coordinator
The Texans clearly settled on their two previous coaches, David Culley and Lovie Smith, as the two men were out of their depths. Culley admitted the position was too much for him, which made sense given he had a career being a positional coach, and Smith was too far removed from high-level NFL coaching.
But Houston was trying to use each to build a culture from their personalities, and both men seemed to have a good temperament to succeed if everything else was right.
DeMeco Ryans is a dramatically stronger candidate than both were but shares the same strong foundation as a culture-setter. The longtime Texans linebacker has maximized a talented but not flawless 49ers defense, showing he knows how to mitigate positional weaknesses and build a unique scheme around available personnel.
Houston lacks any semblance of similar talent, but Ryans can be trusted to have his fingerprints on how they build it. The two biggest questions for him are whether he can identify foundational defensive pieces, and what are his plans to resuscitate the Texans’ woeful offense. Having a strong offensive mind will be critical for Ryans’ success here.
3) Mike Kafka, Giants Offensive Coordinator
There wasn’t an offensive coordinator who did more with less this season than Mike Kafka. After spending five seasons under Andy Reid in Kansas City, Kafka has taken full advantage of his opportunity with the Giants as the offensive coordinator.
Kafka’s role in Daniel Jones’ leap in development, the improved offensive line play, and quality production from receivers Isaiah Hodgins and Darius Slayton needs to be investigated. On the surface level, Kafka has simply done an incredible job getting this unit to this point. Kafka would be a home-run hire as head coach if he can eventually do the same thing in Houston.
4) Shane Steichen, Eagles Offensive Coordinator
This year’s crop of head coaching candidates is especially young, making Shane Steichen‘s two-year stint in an impressive Philadelphia offense notable. Steichen’s done a wonderful job maximizing a unique group of talent. While it’s a huge advantage to work with the offensive line and playmakers he’s had, building the unit around Jalen Hurts’ skill set wasn’t easy.
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Houston has very little in common with the Eagles’ offense from a personnel standpoint, begging the question as to whether Steichen would perform as well without the elite blocking and receiving talent. However, he could quickly collect talent with Houston’s assets available to him. Steichen could craft a productive and entertaining offense quickly if he hits on his picks.
5) Jonathan Gannon, Eagles Defensive Coordinator
It’s probably fair to call Jonathan Gannon the early favorite to land the Texans’ head coach job, considering he was the runner-up in 2022. Since then, the 39-year-old produced the NFL’s third-best scoring defense and stingiest unit in terms of yards allowed. Gannon’s résumé suddenly is a lot stronger.
Two key questions that Gannon must answer if he’s given the opportunity are whether he can replicate that success without arguably the most talented defenses in the league, and what will be his strategy to form his own explosive offense. It’s not fair to punish him for the Eagles’ deeply talented group of personnel, but Houston has little to offer in terms of their own building blocks on that side of the ball.
If Gannon has time to develop the unit and is given the right personnel, he has the chance to be successful. However, I think the Texans could do better by grabbing an offensive mind who has fewer hurdles in order to build a winning franchise model.
6) Ben Johnson, Lions Offensive Coordinator
I’d argue Ben Johnson was a better schemer than even Steichen this past season, but that doesn’t promise he’d be a great head coach. Johnson worked under uninspiring coaches like Joe Philbin, Adam Gase, and Matt Patricia, so his lineage is a bit concerning. Still, Johnson created a top-five offense with personnel that was solid but unspectacular, and Houston has to see if he’s the next offensive genius.
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Barring a jaw-dropping interview, it makes more sense for teams to allow Johnson to return to Detroit for 2023. If Johnson again produces a top-line offense after defenses have had the chance to adjust to his trends, then he’ll be a major name this time next year. I’m not sure Houston has a strong enough infrastructure to take the risk that comes with Johnson.
Update: Johnson has decided to return to the Lions for 2023 instead of considering any head coaching jobs.
7) Ejiro Evero, Broncos Defensive Coordinator
Much like Gannon and Ryan, Ejiro Evero doesn’t have a résumé that shows he can have early success with the Texans’ current personnel. That’s not a big knock, as few teams have as little talent as Houston does, but it’s something that makes it hard to project how coordinators will perform.
Evero was masterful at pulling the strings in Denver but has only one year of experience. If he can put together a strong offensive staff and compensate for the lack of front-seven playmakers in Houston, Evero can prove to be a more viable option for the franchise.
8) Thomas Brown, Rams Tight Ends Coach
Thomas Brown could end up as a wunderkind candidate, but we don’t know a lot about him. The 36-year-old assistant head coach was in college football for eight seasons before promoting to running backs coach in LA. Brown earned the assistant HC moniker in 2021 and switched to coaching tight ends in 2022.
This would be an uninspiring announcement, but the Texans are rightfully exploring their options.