Steadily, the Texans are learning their new offense and defense.
General manager Nick Caserio met with the media on Monday at the 18th annual Houston Texans Charity Golf Classic, and covered a range of topics. Rookie minicamp begins this weekend, but over the last few weeks, the Texans coaches and players have met online to go over the new wrinkles on offense and defense.
"We have a set period of time during the course of the day where we've allocated to our meetings, our virtual meetings where we're installing our system," Caserio said. "Players are on, we're going through our terminology, what the call means."
David Culley is the new head coach, while Tim Kelly remained on as offensive coordinator. But Pep Hamilton was added to the mix as the passing game coordinator, and Lovie Smith is now in charge of the defense. With those changes comes a difference in the way both sides of the ball communicate with the coaches, and with each other.
"Again, a lot of it is just teaching a language," Caserio said. "What does this word mean? This word might have meant something somewhere else, but here this is what it means. So, understanding what that communication consists of, what that word means and then when you say it, who does that apply to? Is it back to front? Does it go from the linebacker to the front? It is front to back? Who does it affect? OK, if we say this offensively, it affects this receiver, it affects his route. So really, it's learning a new language."
Caserio likened it to picking up a foreign language in high school, pointing out that "you're not going to learn it all at once." This time of the year, before the squad gets on the field to practice together, is all about teaching.
He's liked the way Culley has led, remarking that the head coach's "consistency day-to-day is phenomenal".
Caserio, Culley and the Texans will learn their 2021 regular season schedule on Wednesday at 6 p.m. CT.
