HOUSTON — Although there are many other cities in the area, Houston TexansAfter the season, they fired their coach and offensive director. Davis Mills won’t have to go far to find some continuity from his rookie season.
Pep Hamilton was promoted to the position of offensive coordinator by the Texans when Lovie Smith became defensive coordinator. After the season, Mills said Hamilton taught him “a ton this year” and helped him “really learn this offense fast and perform it at a high level.”
“I can understand why teams would want him to coach their team, but he’s been great, and I hope he’s back with us next year,” Mills said the end after the season ended.
Mills got his wish, which Smith said “was a must” when he took over.
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“One of the first things I did right away [was say], ‘Pep, we need you,’” Smith said. “But we have a relationship too. Pep Hamilton was able to travel to many different places, and had many opportunities. Talk about the question, “Can you get it done here?” Because we’ve been around here and we kind of see what we can do.
“But Pep has an expertise. Take a look at his history and what he did. [Los Angeles]With [Chargers quarterback Justin] Herbert to what he did with Davis here, he’s a fundamental coach that has a defensive mentality on toughness with the running game and all of those things. And I’m excited about him being on our staff and seeing with our Houston fans what he’s going to be able to do.”
Mills was drafted in the third round by the Texans, just a few weeks after quarterback Deshaun WatsonHe was unhappy with the direction of the company and asked for a trade shortly after. 22 lawsuitsWatson was accused of sexual assault and inappropriate conduct.
While general manager Nick Caserio declined to name Mills his starter for next season at his end-of-season news conference, Hamilton said he feels because of what the quarterback was able to do last season, the Texans “have something to build on.”
The No. 3 pick is also available to the Texans. However, Caserio could trade down in order to get his pick of quarterbacks. ESPN’s Todd McShay has three quarterbacks in the first 27 slots — Liberty’s Malik Willis (No. 17), Pittsburgh’s Kenny Pickett (No. 19) and Ole Miss’ Matt Corral (No. (No. 27) — In his most recent draft rankings.
While the Texans could start over at the position, it’s likely the front office feels none of the signal-callers in this draft would give Houston an advantage over Mills.
Mills, who was injured in the first week of last season’s finale, was replaced by an injured participant. Tyrod TaylorHalftime. He struggled in six of his first six starts. This included a Week 4 in Buffalo, where he threw five interceptions. Mills finished his season strong despite Taylor’s struggles in his recovery from injury. He threw nine touchdowns in those five starts and only two interceptions.
“We felt Davis was a good player when we drafted him, and some of the things that you saw from him this season were confirmation of that,” Caserio said in his end-of-season press conference. “He’s got a long way to go as well, and he’d be the first to tell you that. He’s got to learn, more than anything, defenses and what the other team is trying to do.”
The Texans’ offense as a whole needs to show improvement next season, which is one reason Caserio fired offensive coordinator Tim Kelly this offseason. The offense, which ranked 30th in Football Outsiders’ DVOA, lacks proven playmakers outside of veteran wide receiver Brandin Cooks. Smith believes Hamilton will be able not only to help Mills, but also develop a running strategy.
“It always starts with a quarterback, right?,” Smith said. “… And I know it’s a little broad right now, but being able to run the football, and Pep has a lot of experience in a lot of different ways, it’s not just one thing you’re going to do. But what’s it going to look like? We’re going to have an offense that’s going to score points, put our guys in position. There were times, as you look over the course of the past year, we were really doing it the right way — you got a chance to see what we could possibly be.”