Ferentz brings Super Bowl rings and offensive line savvy to Houston, aiming to revitalize a struggling unit and boost C.J. Stroud's performance.
The Houston Texans and the other 29 NFL teams that are not preparing for Super Bowl LX are spending this time of the year evaluating ways to improve. This includes player personnel, certain operations, and the coaching staff. Coaches are bouncing all around the league as firings occur and various coaches are offered promotions elsewhere, and the Texans made a move and hired former center James Ferentz.
Ferentz was a center in the NFL and undrafted out of Iowa in 2014. He was signed by Houston as an undrafted free agent and then spent the 2014 and 2015 seasons on the team's practice squad. He then won Super Bowl 50 with the Denver Broncos before spending seven seasons with the New England Patriots and adding another Super Bowl victory to his resume. The former center has now moved into coaching, which happens to run in the family.
Aaron Wilson reported that the Texans are bringing Ferentz onto the coaching staff, where he will help out on the offensive side of the ball. He spent the last two seasons with the New York Giants as an assistant offensive line coach. Ferentz is the son of longtime Iowa Head Coach Kirk Ferentz. He has been the head coach there since 1999, and he has enjoyed a good amount of success at the college level.
James jumping into the coaching world makes sense, and he probably has a bright future ahead of him as a successful coach. He watched his dad coach throughout his life, and surely he picked up a thing or two. James carved out a long career in the league after going undrafted, and he is a good person to have in the building with a relatively young offense.
The Houston offensive line has left a lot to be desired in recent years. The unit's poor, inconsistent play is a big reason for the regression fans have seen from quarterback C.J. Stroud. Some personnel moves in the trenches, in addition to bringing in James, will hopefully get the group trending in the right direction and get Stroud back to playing like himself.
James was with the Giants for the last two years, and the Giants' offensive line was surprisingly good during his time with the team. He will now look to turn things around with his former team, which is something the fan base should be excited about. It is unclear what James' exact role will be, but it is fair to assume he will be heavily involved with the offensive line.