The Texans are hiring former Los Angeles Rams assistant coach Nick Caley as their next offensive coordinator, NFL Network reported Monday afternoon.
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00:00So, clearly, this will be a talking point as we just, as I'm saying it here, Tom Pellicero with the same thing, long-time Patriots assistant as you just talked about.
00:08Kaylee spent the past two seasons with the Rams. He clearly has a connection with Nick Casario as well as they were in the building for several years together.
00:16I know we'll talk about this. I do, as this is happening, as we are in the crosstalk, and hell, I believe this is why we have a crosstalk.
00:25Initially, we'll go with the vet here. OG, your thoughts here? We've seen a ton of names, including that Stavanovich name. I'm glad I don't have to try to say.
00:37We don't have to worry about that anymore.
00:39What's your feeling right now, Nick Kaylee? A lot of people liked him, but what's your feeling here?
00:45I feel what the ultimate thing for Nick Kaylee was he had a varied history of offenses in people with whom he's worked.
00:54Now, Gerrard has had that as well, but maybe there was a part of the Texans that sort of still felt, even though Gerrard didn't come in with Bobby Slowick, they came in together.
01:07He wasn't a Bobby Slowick guy. They were like, okay, maybe we need an overhaul here, a new look.
01:13The most interesting thing to me, and maybe I'm just sort of putting this out there in the ether for you guys to talk about at some point, is Gerrard, how does he feel about this in terms of long-term, short-term, hanging around or not?
01:30He's going to stay, but that's an awkward situation. That's a job he applied for and wanted desperately.
01:35Do you think this is a Gerrard decision? If Gerrard wants to stay? Or is this a Nick Kaylee decision?
01:41It better be a Nick Kaylee decision. You don't hire somebody and then handstring them. If he wants another quarterback coach, then he will hire another quarterback coach.
01:48That's the other side of it, yeah.
01:49That is 100% the way that this has to go.
01:51What does it do with a guy that D'Amico loves?
01:54Wait, what did I just miss?
01:58And CJ loves.
02:00You're talking about Nick Kaylee hiring somebody?
02:02Yeah, well, he was talking about the possibility of Gerrard Johnson now that he's not the quarterback.
02:07The quarterback coach position, a guy who went for the same job as Nick Kaylee.
02:13That's why I said, is this a deal where it's up to him?
02:17No.
02:18It shouldn't be.
02:19Unless he would take himself out.
02:21But you're not ruling out that this...
02:23Nick Kaylee needs to bring in anybody that he feels he needs to bring in.
02:27But at the same time, D'Amico loves Gerrard and CJ loves Gerrard.
02:32And it might be helpful for Nick Kaylee to have...
02:34This is kind of an awkward...
02:35How do we play this?
02:37Nick Kaylee ain't never called plays, much less hired a staff.
02:40Right?
02:41Yeah.
02:42If you're looking for an offensive coordinator to come in here and hire a staff,
02:46that ship sailed when Chip Kelly got hired.
02:48Well, and keep in mind, Bobby Smoak didn't bring in his staff.
02:50Bingo.
02:51Yeah.
02:52Who brought that staff in?
02:53It was Nick and D'Amico.
02:55Bingo.
02:56Yeah.
02:57Who do you think brought this in?
02:58Oh, it was Nick.
02:59Bingo.
03:00Yeah.
03:02This ain't a hire where you turn the reins over and say,
03:05Hey, man, do your thing.
03:06Man, I'm out to mix.
03:07But then that leads to the other side of it.
03:10This is why this is creative.
03:12That leads to the other side of it.
03:14Man, if I'm Gerrard, I wanted that job.
03:17Sure.
03:18Absolutely.
03:19I interviewed for that job.
03:20I was in line for that job.
03:21I interviewed for the Las Vegas job.
03:23I interviewed last year for two other offensive coordinator jobs.
03:26And now they're bringing in Nick Kaylee?
03:27Yeah.
03:28Yeah.
03:29But, I mean, look, man, we've all had disappointments in life.
03:32And what you're going to do is you're going to look at the
03:33circumstance and make the best decision.
03:35And, I mean, if there's a place that loves you,
03:38that is willing to have you, I mean,
03:40are you going to go get another quarterback job somewhere else
03:42with a quarterback that you have to develop a new relationship with?
03:44No.
03:45But that's also beside the point.
03:47The breaking news is that Nick Kaylee is the offensive coordinator.
03:49He's the new guy.
03:50And I know you went kind of that route and the Gerrard route.
03:53But I'll go with you, Reggie, before you guys get out.
03:56How do you feel about him?
03:58How do you feel about, like, we looked at all the candidates,
04:00to be honest with you, outside of Bill Lazor,
04:02outside of Brian Johnson, who called plays before
04:05and had been an OC before.
04:06These were all young guys that didn't –
04:09that basically were Bobby Slowick before he came in,
04:11didn't have a lot of experience.
04:13Now that it is Nick Kaylee, who I believe turned down the Jets job,
04:18was up for the Patriots job but got beat up by Patricia and –
04:26You can't even finish saying it.
04:27You can't judge a special team coach.
04:30But how do you – what's your thought about him being a guy?
04:33Not the Gerrard stuff, not all that.
04:34No, of course.
04:35Your thought about him being a guy.
04:37Look, he is well-rounded.
04:39I think one of the things that I was hoping for is somebody
04:41that has some versatility to him.
04:43And he has, like, some schematic versatility to him.
04:45He's seen a few different ways of calling offense in this league.
04:50The hem of the garment of the golden boy, which is Sean McVay.
04:53And I hope for one thing, especially when I'm looking in coaches,
04:56he is detail-oriented.
04:57Well, you remember that time where everybody that touched the hem of
05:01Sean McVay's garment was getting some level of job.
05:04It's back.
05:05It's back.
05:06But I do think that, like, those guys have all shown to be
05:09fairly detail-oriented.
05:10So I like this higher.
05:11And on top of this, this might be where I just lean on the wisdom of the masses.
05:16There's been enough people that have told us that he is smart,
05:19he is good at this.
05:20And so I would lean on that idea that, hey,
05:22he has a good reputation around this league.
05:24It seems like he has the versatility necessary.
05:26And it's not like you were interviewing very many people that had a whole
05:28bunch of play-calling experience.
05:30So if you weren't going to have that,
05:31all of those other things I'm willing to lean on and feel comfortable going
05:34into.
05:35All right, fellas.
05:36Appreciate the show.
05:38And appreciate the breaking news right here at the crowd.
05:42Nothing, really.
05:43I guess the thing I'm supposed to do here is that you're listening to KLT-AM,
05:46KLT-FM, HD2, Houston, and Odyssey Sports Station.
05:49And right now, I mean, as you've already been able to hear,
05:51the drive is live.
05:53We just made it in front of that 205 marker.
05:55There you go.
05:56Way to do it as we just roll in here.
05:59And listen, we are live.
06:01We are live here on Radio Row here in New Orleans.
06:06But this show has taken a turn.
06:09We were obviously the number one thing in terms of stories,
06:14was the offensive coordinator situation.
06:17You see Chip Kelly go to the Raiders for $6 million.
06:20You see moves being made.
06:22And you say, well, where are the Texans going to go?
06:25With everything they have.
06:30We have Rappaport coming from Tom Pellicero as well.
06:33The Texans are hiring Rams tight end coach
06:36and passing game coordinator Nick Kaley as their new OC.
06:40As CJ Stroud and the Houston offense get a new play caller right now.
06:44He drew interest from the Jets and the Patriots, as we just talked about before.
06:48He was selective, didn't even interview for the Jets, turned it down.
06:51He is now going to be the guy.
06:54First time play caller.
06:55He is the guy here for the Texans.
06:57Clint, your thoughts.
06:58Have you been able to kind of sit through this and hear everything?
07:01Nick Kaley is the guy.
07:02Now, your thoughts.
07:03Yeah, look, I think it's rinse and repeat with Bobby Slowick,
07:05another guy that came out of a very similar system.
07:07One was Shanahan.
07:08One was McVeigh.
07:09Both, I believe, had the passing game coordinator title.
07:13Neither had ever called plays.
07:15Neither had ever managed grown men that are making million dollars.
07:19None of them had ever put together an entire game plan
07:22and play designed for who the best players are
07:26and who the best weapons are for that team.
07:29And so, it's a roll of the dice.
07:31I mean, you're hoping that these guys in the moment can get it done.
07:34There's no way.
07:35You can't get in a simulator somewhere and let these guys call plays
07:39and all of a sudden you know how they're going to handle situations
07:43and how they're going to handle people
07:44and how they're going to handle, most importantly, their quarterback.
07:48And so, it's a roll of the dice.
07:50And as I've said before, I'm not a fan.
07:52I didn't like the list that they – the candidates.
07:56I didn't like the process.
07:59You know, it's underwhelming, I think, to say the least.
08:04Now, he may end up being a grand slam hire.
08:07We've seen – obviously in those two systems, whether it's McVeigh or Shanahan,
08:13we've seen them absolutely kill it and be, you know, be the next best thing.
08:17But we've also – we've damn sure seen one that was supposed to be, you know,
08:21the smartest guy and this guy that had been in the advanced stat world forever
08:25and he could apply that part to offense and this and that,
08:28and he wasn't good enough.
08:30And so, I think it's a huge gamble.
08:34I understand it's a trend in today's NFL is this is the way a lot of teams,
08:38you know, do things instead of going after the retreads.
08:41But the fact that there was never a link to Chip Kelly,
08:45the fact that there was never a link to the Doug Petersons of the world,
08:48the fact that there was never a link to anybody.
08:51You wanted more – someone –
08:52I wanted somebody that would walk in and say,
08:54this is my offense, shut the door, I got this, period.
08:58And instead, you got a Nick Casario guy that's going to allow everybody –
09:02there's going to be ten different cooks in the kitchen,
09:04as there was with Bobby Slowick,
09:06and you're going to hope that it all comes together
09:08and you get you a nice New Orleans style southern Louisiana cage on seafood gumbo.
09:20Gumbo.
09:21All right, and I think I want to throw this out to the people
09:24because Clint clearly is saying where he is in his mindset.
09:28Now that they have moved on, and when they moved on from Bobby Slowick,
09:34and now that you know the name, right?
09:36Other names.
09:37Clint just spoke of some guys that had experience.
09:39From Chip Kelly, when that name came out,
09:41I think that was a sexy name for a lot of people.
09:44You named Doug Peterson.
09:45We've seen a lot of names roll in here.
09:51Is this one acceptable to you?
09:52Nick Caley.
09:53In your mind, Nick Caley, never called plays.
09:56Is this the guy where you're like, all right, we have C.J. Stroud.
10:00He is heading into, you know, year three.
10:04We are a win now.
10:05We've been in the divisional round.
10:06We've lost back-to-back years to the one seed,
10:09and the offense is what needed to be fixed,
10:11and when you were thinking about it when you closed your eyes at the time
10:14and you were like, yes, Bobby's gone.
10:16Many of you who wanted Bobby gone.
10:18Was this what you were thinking?
10:22Was this what you were thinking?
10:25A guy that apparently is well-respected, a guy that people have liked,
10:30a guy that has been up for jobs or at least wanted to be talked to,
10:34but a guy, as Clint just said, doesn't have play-calling experience,
10:38hasn't hired a staff, doesn't, you know, any of that.
10:41Very Bobby Slowick-like.
10:43Is this what you felt and expected?
10:46Some people texting in, this is some B.S.
10:49Hell, yeah, we got us the number one guy, Nick Caley.
10:52Love it.
10:53Someone else text in, underwhelming.
10:55Caley was the top name on the market.
10:58Where are you at?
10:59Is this something that feels good to you?
11:02I'll tell you where I am, Clint, is, look, he very well may work.
11:08We are seeing a trend of young guys that are working, and we have seen guys,
11:13and for the Texans, hopefully, this is more Matt LaFleur.
11:17This is more Sean McVay who came from that, you know, original tree with Kyle.
11:27And some of the other young guys, Ketner under Sean McVay.
11:32Hopefully, it is that.
11:35But to me, I was hopeful because of who you have in CJ Stroud,
11:42who you have in Nico Collins, Joe Mixon,
11:45that it would be somebody that you had a little bit more day one confidence
11:51that they knew exactly what they were doing
11:53and what they were going to implement.
11:55I'm not saying he doesn't, but it's just hard to say you've got day one confidence
11:59for somebody who's never done it.
12:02And day one confidence that it appears that the entire process was designed
12:07around getting a guy that everybody in the building could keep their hands
12:11on the going zones on the offensive side of the football.
12:15The good here, I will say, I think the terminology will probably stay the same.
12:20I know it will be very similar, but it will probably stay the same.
12:24And so, again, you're taking a team that if you bring in a whole new offense,
12:27you're starting back over at football 101 and having to grow the offense
12:30and be patient with growing the offense.
12:34This is one where you should be able to take off, you know,
12:37from really where you left off with Bobby.
12:39This should be a step in and keep this thing rolling and hopefully get better.
12:45Yeah, it is not as easy as one would think that you just step in
12:52and start calling plays, man.
12:54This is an absolute monster job for somebody that's never done it to step in.
13:00Because here's the truth of the matter.
13:01The truth of the matter with the Houston Texans is this is the last offensive
13:05coordinator that's going to be hired.
13:10The advantage of C.J. Stroud being on a rookie contract.
13:13You've got $45 million advantage right now for the next two years.
13:20If Nick Caley goes in there having never called plays,
13:23and it's not I'm talking about gangbusters from the jump,
13:30the dynamic changes significantly once C.J. Stroud gets 60 per.
13:34Right?
13:35So this isn't just a hire, yeah, you've got the best candidate.
13:37I mean, this is a bigger risk than hiring Bobby Slowick the first time,
13:42a guy that had never done this.
13:44Oh, I definitely agree with that.
13:45Right now for where your team is.
13:47Absolutely.
13:48And, again, I'll reiterate, this is exactly what my fear is.
13:52When you hire a defensive-minded head coach,
13:54you start churning the offensive coordinator position,
13:57whether it's because it's good and he gets hired somewhere else as a head
14:00coach or he's bad and he gets fired, that turnover at the O.C. position,
14:04and even more so the turnover at the O.C. position when it's a guy that's
14:07never done it, and even more so when it's a guy that appears to be a plug
14:12and play that he's not going to bring his own staff,
14:15he's not going to bring his own people.
14:17And I don't know that.
14:18I'd be willing to bet a good amount of money on it that Nick Caley's not
14:21hiring the offensive staff for the Houston Texans.
14:25And that's a huge gamble, man.
14:29It's a huge gamble.
14:31Yeah.
14:32I see some people texting in, hey, Drive Men,
14:34today's O.C. pick is disappointing, another no O.C. experience
14:41in a roll of the dice.
14:45Who do you all like, Slowick back or the Nick guy?
14:51I mean,
14:52I think you have a little understanding more of what Slowick has done in his
14:56two years.
14:57I'll just – I mean, I'm just – I'm not saying that.
14:59I'm just saying when you had – in my mind, I'm thinking out loud, all right,
15:04we got C.J. Stroup.
15:05Okay.
15:06All right.
15:07All right.
15:08How many quarterbacks, young quarterbacks on a rookie deal do you think
15:14coordinators would love to have?
15:16All right.
15:17What else you got?
15:18We got an all-pro left tackle.
15:20I don't know how you feel about it, but we got an all-pro left tackle.
15:23Well, damn.
15:24Okay.
15:25He's under contract too.
15:26What else you got?
15:27We got a top-five receiver potentially in the league at Nico Collins.
15:31Wow.
15:32Okay.
15:33All right.
15:34What else you got?
15:35We got a great defense.
15:36We got all this.
15:37Like, we've got this,
15:38and we've got a little something that we can spend to get things to get
15:40help in.
15:41What else you got?
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