Houston Texans quarterback C.J. Stroud will be working with a new offensive coordinator after Bobby Slowik was fired two seasons into his tenure.
On Monday, Lance Zierlein of ESPN 97.5 recalled a story in which Stroud and Slowik got into a "contentious" confrontation at a 2023 pre-draft meeting regarding terminology, to the point where the ex-Ohio State star told another team that his sitdown with the Texans was "terrible."
In essence, the two were talking X's and O's, and Stroud referred to some terms by how they called things at Ohio State.
"Maybe it happened a couple times," Zierlein said regarding Stroud's remarks. "And Bobby Slowik just kind of jumped him, said, 'I don't give a f--k what you call it at Ohio State. This is pro football.' And Bobby kind of got in his face about it."
"And C.J.'s not one to back down at all," Zierlein added. "I don't know if Bobby was testing him, I don't know what the deal was. But C.J. jumped up and got in his face. And it was very contentious. It had to kind of be broken up."
Zierlein also reported earlier in the conversation that Stroud's relationship with Ohio State offensive coordinator Kevin Wilson was such that "he didn't think he knew ball," to the point where he'd communicate directly with head coach Ryan Day instead.
Then the next team Stroud visited asked him how his visit went with the Texans, and he said his meeting was "terrible" and that he didn't think he'd be drafted there.
He was, in fact, drafted there and won Associated Press Offensive Player of the Year honors in 2023 while leading Houston to a seven-win improvement, an AFC South title and a spot in the AFC Divisional round. The Texans finished 13th in scoring (up from 30th the year before), and Slowik became a hot head coaching name.
The Texans had the same exact results as a team in 2024 (10 wins, AFC South title, AFC Wild Card win), but the offense regressed to 19th in scoring. Stroud took a step back statistically, although he wasn't helped by a struggling offensive line.
Significant injuries to wide receiver Stefon Diggs (season-ending torn ACL after eight games), wide receiver Nico Collins (hamstring injury that put him on injured reserve for five games) and wideout Tank Dell (dislocated knee cap as well as a torn ACL, MCL and PCL on Dec. 21) also hit the team hard. Running back Joe Mixon also missed three games with a right ankle injury after a hip-drop tackle.
In the end, Slowik is gone, and now Stroud will work with a new OC as the team looks to take that next step past the Divisional Round.
Read 175 Comments
Download the app for comments Get the B/R app to join the conversation