49ers news: DeMeco Ryans fires Bobby Slowik after 2 seasons

One year after receiving rave reviews and being a potential head coaching candidate, Bobby Slowik is out as the Houston Texans offensive coordinator. NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport tweeted, “Despite reaching the divisional round, coach DeMeco Ryans hopes for more.”

Slowik followed Ryans to Houston from San Francisco, where he had been working on the offensive side of the ball since 2019 when the 49ers exploded for 13 wins and reached the Super Bowl. Slowik was promoted from offensive assistant to pass game specialist to passing game coordinator in successive years.

The Texans hit on their top draft pick, C.J. Stroud and their offense looked like it had a bright future in 2023 with Tank Dell and Nico Collins. This year, Stroud took a significant step back, often looked unsure of himself, and never seemed to have an out after his first target was covered.

The Texans added Joe Mixon this offseason to add the threat of a run. Still, the NFL is all about adjusting. During the second half of the season, Houston finished 25th in expected points added per play and 31st in success rate. On the season, the Texans finished 26th in schedule-adjusted efficiency. DeMeco didn’t have a choice.

Fans may want to bring Slowik back, but Stroud was pressured this season at the third-highest rate. There’s an obvious flaw in his dropback passing game that he could not solve. You would have liked to see Slowik get more out of Stroud and Nico Collins in Year 2 of a weak division. That did not happen.

Sports Illustrated’s Albert Breer said Stroud himself was frustrated with Slowik. Kyle Shanahan brought on Jerrod Johnson in 2017 as the ‘Bill Walsh diversity coaching fellowship.’ Johnson followed Ryans to Houston in 2023 and has been their quarterbacks coach for two seasons. He was an NFL quarterback for multiple years and likely knows how to get through to Stroud.