A blogger’s concerns rarely get addressed at all; it is even rarer for them to begin to be addressed immediately.
On Tuesday, I wrote about Mike McDaniel’s need to loosen his grip on the offense and seriously consider hiring someone to take the reins. My argument was that Eagle’s Coach Nick Siranni did just that this year with Kellen Moore, and it freed him up to focus on being the best head coach he could be, ultimately resulting in the Eagles winning the Super Bowl. Then, on Wednesday, the Dolphins hired former Texans offensive coordinator Bobby Slowik to be their senior passing game coordinator. If Slowik’s hiring results in another coach taking a more hands-on approach with the offense, and that leads to success in Miami, I will, of course, be taking credit; if not, well, let’s chalk it up to more organizational ineptitude.
So, who is Bobby Slowik? What can this 37-year-old coordinator bring to the Dolphins? Slowik, like McDaniel, is a member of the Mike Shanahan coaching tree, having both spent time on his staff in 2011 for Washington. When Kyle Shannah was hired to be the San Francisco 49ers head coach, they both moved with him to the Bay Area.
McDaniel was promoted to offensive coordinator in 2021. Slowik took over as offensive passing game specialist, and upon McDaniel’s departure to coach for the Dolphins, he became the offensive passing game coordinator. When former San Francisco defensive coordinator DeMeco Ryans was hired to be the Texans head coach, he brought Slowik with him.
In 2023, the Texans Texans offense ranked 13th in points per game, and 12th in yards per game. Rookie quarterback C. J. Stroud would win Rookie of the Year, passing for 4,108 yards, 23 touchdowns, and five interceptions. Slowik would gain the attention of teams around the league, and there was even some buzz around him becoming a head coach, though he would ultimately remain with the Texans.
The 2024 season wouldn’t be as kind to Slowik and the Texans offense as injuries to key players such as Steffon Diggs and Tank Dell would hamper the offense down the stretch. Both Stroud and Slowik would seemingly suffer from sophomore slumps, resulting in Stroud’s numbers taking a nosedive to 3,727 yards, 20 touchdowns, and 12 interceptions. The team posted a 5-6 record to close out the season as they limped into the postseason. The Texans would finish with the 22nd-ranked offense in yards per game and 19th in points per game.
The team’s struggles were especially evident in the playoffs, as it scored only 12 points in a 23-14 loss to the Chiefs.
Slowik interviewed for the Jets’ head coaching job in mid-January, but the role would ultimately go to Aaron Glenn. On January 24th, 2025, it was announced that he and the Texans would be parting ways, which led to his hiring in Miami this week.
His familiarity with McDaniel gives me hope that he will be heavily involved in revamping an offense that dropped in production this past season. If nothing else, it shows me that McDaniel is taking the criticism directed at him this season and into the offseason seriously.
He has to know that he is on the hot seat, and if things don’t improve this year, he will find himself looking for another job. We’ll have to keep a close eye on how things develop, and if McDaniel takes the ultimate step of handing off play calling to the likes of Darrell Bevell, a move that would make sense as Slowik could take on his quarterback coach & passing game coordinator duties.
For more sports opinions, you can follow me on YouTube @WickedGoodSports, and for opinions on reality TV, you can follow me on X @TheFakeBMarr
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