Pep Hamilton may continue as an offensive coordinator in 2023 after all.
According to Albert Breer from Sports Illustrated, the New York Jets are considering Hamilton as part of a “wide net” for their offensive coordinator position, which came open with incumbent Mike LaFleur parting with the organization.
Hamilton’s job status is up in the air as the Texans work through their search for the sixth full-time coach in team history. The Texans had Tim Kelly as offensive coordinator from 2019-21, a holdover from the Bill O’Brien regime who transitioned to David Culley’s staff. However, the Texans promoted Hamilton from quarterbacks coach and passing game coordinator to offensive coordinator following the promotion of Lovie Smith from defensive coordinator to coach in February 2022.
General manager Nick Caserio met with the remaining coaching staff following the firing of Smith on Jan. 8 and kept them as much up to date about the current situation as possible.
“There are some coaches that we may want to keep here,” said Caserio. “There are some coaches that might want to move on because of their own volition. There may be some coaches that we have to move on from because of whomever the new coach is. We try to be honest with them and try to be pretty open, but this is a pretty fluid situation.”
Caserio noted that the next few weeks, with the NFL providing parameters on when teams can interview potential candidates, as being a reason for why there aren’t firm answers at the moment.
Said Caserio: “Frankly, it’s probably going to be hard to get any clarity for the next two to three weeks because of the way the hiring practices are set up because of the teams that are playing, depending on who you are going to have a coaching discussion with. But we’ll try to be as open and communicative with them as possible and try to keep them abreast of the situation as best we can.”
If the Jets are interested in Hamilton, and he wants to take the job, the Texans may allow him to go, pending input from the new coach.
