Texans coach DeMeco Ryans discusses C.J. Stroud, quarterback coaching change from Jerrod Johnson to Jerry Schuplinski
From left to right, C.J. Stroud , DeMeco Ryans, Jerrod Johnson and Jerry Schuplinski with Tom Brady– The last time that C.J. Stroud threw a football during an actual game, he experienced arguably his toughest day as a quarterback.
In an epic playoff meltdown at snowy Gillette Stadium, the Texans quarterback and former NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year uncorked a career-high four interceptions with one returned for a touchdown while finished with a career-low 28.0 passer rating.That uncharacteristically rough performance triggered heavy criticism, and Stroud was disappointed and accountable about the setback. Since that game, the Texans and Stroud have taken several steps to move on from that game. That includes his approach to the offseason and working a plan to upgrade what’s surrounding him on offense along with who’s coaching him. Change has been the watchword for the Texans’ overhauled offense with a heavy emphasis on injecting established players with significant investments in the offensive line and acquiring powerful running back David Montgomery in a trade from the Detroit Lions. The Texans’ top-ranked defense is Super Bowl caliber. In a quarterback league, they need Stroud and a rebooted offense to do their part to advance further in the postseason. The Texans are 0-7 in the AFC divisional round, including going winless at the stage of the playoffs three years in a row under Ryans’ leadership. “C.J. is a young quarterback,” Ryans said during the NFL meetings at the Arizona Biltmore. “Being young in his career, he’s gained a ton of valuable experience and a ton of playoff experience and seeing that it hasn’t gone as we would like it to go there in the playoffs. Of course, you always want to win it all. But when you go through those difficult moments, those tough times, you learn from them. I know C.J. has learned from those moments. “Now, we got to go out and improve and show it on the field. To see the manner in which he’s attacked the offseason, he’s working hard. He’s throwing every day. He’s been dialed in. So, I’m excited to see how this continues to transition to him having a really great year for us.” One of the most significant moves involving the Texans’ offense, beyond retaining offensive guard Ed Ingram on a three-year, $37.5 million deal and signing guard Wyatt Teller to a two-year, $23 million contract and right tackle Braden Smith to a two-year, $25 million pact, has been the decision to mutually part ways with quarterbacks coach Jerrod Johnson. The Humble native and former Texas A&M quarterback had worked with Stroud since his Elite 11 days in high school. Stroud had hit a wall, though, and Ryans felt like it was time for a new voice in the quarterback room. So, he shifted former New England Patriots and Las Vegas Raiders assistant Jerry Schuplinski from senior offensive assistant to quarterbacks coach. Johnson, rather than stay with the Texans in a different role after interviewing for several offensive coordinator jobs, including the Philadelphia Eagles opted to leave with one year remaining on his contract. He’s now a senior offensive assistant with the Eagles. Ryans didn’t criticize Johnson while explaining the decision, saying he’ll be a good coach in the NFL. “For me, sometimes a change of scenery is good,” Ryans said. “Sometimes, a change of voice is good. For me, it’s, ‘How can we help C.J. the best?’ Maybe it’s change of the voice, right? Who’s leading that room? Who’s really giving him that information? Who’s coaching him up?Can that move the needle a little bit more? “So everything that we do, from my perspective as a coach, it’s a lot of tough decisions that have to happen. A lot of people don’t always agree with it, and that’s okay. It’s my role to really make sure the Texans are in as best a position as we can be in. So, some change has to happen for that. Hopefully, change helps us out.” Now, Johnson is working with Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts and coach Nick Sirianni after previously working together with the Indianapolis Colts.The offense regressed in his second season as the offensive line struggled mightily. Then, offensive coordinator Bobby Slowik and offensive line coach Chris Strausser were dismissed.The pass protection improved markedly last season as Stroud was sacked a career-low 23 times. When the offensive line had to shuffle against the Patriots with Trent Brown out along with wide receiver Nico Collins and tight end Dalton Schultz, his top downfield targets, sidelined with injuries, the offense was overmatched against a talented Patriots defense. So, the Texans are turning to Schuplinski, a senior offensive assistant and pass game specialist last season with the Texans after a stint with the Los Angeles Rams and Sean McVay and Matthew Stafford, as their new quarterbacks coach. Schuplinksi, a former John Carroll University football player and teammate of Texans general manager Nick Caserio, was an assistant quarterbacks coach and offensive assistant in New England where he worked with Tom Brady. He has a long background in the Caley system from his time with the Raiders under Josh McDaniels. “He has the experience in the system, he knows exactly what we’re looking for from the coordinator perspective with Caley,” Ryans said. “He knows how to speak it. Jerry has coached quarterbacks in this league before. It puts him in that role where I feel the flow of communication is going to be really good.” “Jerry was great. He’s been a great guy to work with. He’s another guy that brings great energy to the building. Always positive energy every single day, so I’m excited to see Jerry working with C.J., Davis , Graham and seeing how he can really move the needle with that group.” The Texans are expected to exercise the fifth-year club option at a cost of $25.9 million guaranteed in 2027 for Stroud rather than do a long-term extension at this time, per league sources. They are expected to strike a blockbuster contract extension for All-Pro defensive end Will Anderson Jr. as soon as this offseason with discussions already underway with no deal imminent, per sources. The Texans are hoping for the best with Stroud, but aren’t making a long-term commitment right now as this pivotal season approaches. “My support hasn’t wavered from met to C.J.,” Ryans said. “I let him know that again, just reaffirm that support for him. I see a guy who’s dialed into the offseason. The past couple offseasons, he hasn’t had that full time to really, whether it was injury or other things, he hasn’t had that full time to dedicate himself. “So, I see a guy he’s in full grind over right now. So, I’m excited to see what comes from the work that he’s putting in. It’s only going to be better. The mindset is right. Physically, he’s in a really good space. Mentally, in a really good space. So, I’m excited to see him get back to work.” As the Texans were signing players, including Teller, they referenced getting text messages from Stroud.“The investments we made in offensive lines really enhance our team, and C.J. should be the beneficiary of it as well,” Ryans said. “He’s excited about the moves we made. What I love about C.J, the guys we are signing in this time of free agency. He’s the first guy like, ‘Can I get a guy’s number? Can I reach out?’ “He wants to reach out to those guys and welcome them to the Texans family. And it means so much to him, and it means so much to us. And I know from a free agent perspective, going into a new situation, when you hear from the starting quarterback from that team, it carries a lot of weight. So, I’m really thankful for him and his mindset of having that on his mind while he’s working, I want to make sure I welcome all of our new teammates.” At the NFL scouting combine, Caserio threw cold water on unfounded trade speculation surrounding Stroud. Stroud is a former NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year who was named in trade rumors previously dismissed by KPRC 2 as unfounded. Stroud will remain the Texans’ QB1 going forward, Caserio emphasized during an interview with Houston reporters at the NFL scouting combine. “It’s moronic,” Caserio said in response to a question from KPRC 2. “We’re not trading him. He’s our quarterback. He’s going to be playing quarterback for the Houston Texans in 2026. Anything beyond that, you guys can speculate on that, but we’re not trading C.J. Stroud.” Stroud had five interceptions and five fumbles in a disastrous two-game playoff total. He committed seven turnovers overall in the playoffs. Stroud completed 64.5 percent of his throws as he passed for 3,041 yards, 18 touchdowns and eight interceptions while missing three games due to a concussion last season. A former Pro Bowl selection who declined an alternate invitation to the Pro Bowl, Stroud has passed for 10,876 yards, 62 touchdowns and 25 interceptions in three NFL seasons. “He’s been a good player, and won a lot of football games,” Caserio said. “Quarterback is the hardest position to play in sports. He had some ups and downs. That’s natural for a position, but, overall, he’s had a pretty significant impact on what we are as a program. He’s not going anywhere. “He’s still a young player. He’s only 24 years old. There’s always room for growth and development. Glad he’s here, glad he’s our quarterback and looking forward to a productive offseason. I don’t think there’s any concern whatsoever. C.J. has played a lot of good football. He’s not going anywhere.”Stroud is looking to bounce back from a tough ending to his third NFL season. “I’m still growing this league,” Stroud said. “Still a player that has a lot to learn from, a lot to look forward to in my career. So, I’m excited to do that. “But yeah, I’m just going to take my best foot forward, and move on, and learn from it. I just add fuel to the fire. Makes the story a little sweeter. I know this ain’t the end of C.J. Stroud. This ain’t the end of my career.” Stroud is 3-3 all-time in the playoffs and 28-18 in the regular season in three NFL seasons. He reduced his interceptions from 12 interceptions in 2024 to eight interceptions during the regular season this past year, finishing with 3,041 yards and 19Stroud led the Texans to a 10-game winning streak, seven wins by him, three by backup Davis Mills. “He’s our quarterback,” Caserio said. “He isn’t going anywhere. We have a lot of confidence, a lot of belief. I’d say the philosophy that DeMeco and I have, we’re going to support our players and do everything we can to help them. This league is about ups and downs. Nothing’s perfect. You’re going to have some good plays. You’re going to have some bad plays. You’re going to have some good games. You’re going to have some bad games. How do you bounce back? How do you handle that? “No lost confidence. Look, the stock market’s been going down for five days. Everybody’s probably panic-selling. Really what you need to be doing is investing more. But, anyways, we have a lot of confidence in C.J. We’ve got a lot of confidence in our players. I’m glad he’s our quarterback.” Collins, who missed the Patriots game with a concussion, said he has offered his encouragement to Stroud personally. “Just keep your head up,” Collins said. “Like, it’s not the way we want to end, you know what I’m saying? Our goal was to go to the Super Bowl, but things happen. Just keep being you, brother. Don’t let this one game define who you are. We all know who you are. Keep being a star. Keep being a leader you are. Keep being the light in the room and just keep being you. “The dude’s a baller, man. One freak of an athlete. So, I’m excited for next year. Just can’t wait to get back on the field with the guys, get back grinding, and continue to be great.” No quarterback in NFL history has ever had five interceptions and five fumbles in the playoffs, until now. Stroud inexplicably managed to have five fumbles, two lost, and an interception in a blowout victory over the Pittsburgh Steelers. And he had four interceptions against an aggressive Patriots defense that hit him constantly while he tried in vain to operate an offense missing Collins and Schultz with a disappearing running game. “I look back and I just feel like I let people down, and I’m not happy with that,” Stroud said. “It hurts, and I’m not naïve to it. I didn’t play my best this year, but I’m going to respond. I’m going to keep my chest up, my chin up high, and I’m going to just keep battling forward. “If God be for me, who can be against me? I’m just going to rely on that. I think even today, just our team doing great, our defense getting stops, and just being careless with the football, I’ve got to get that fixed, and it’s something that I know I can, so I’m going to get that done.” During the regular season, Stroud had just eight interceptions and no lost fumbles. This postseason represented a clear and concerning regression. “I’m going to learn from this, the ball security and everything, especially the way our defense has played all year,” Stroud said. “It’s something that I had done a pretty good job of, you know, to this point. So I’m going to continue to be better in that area. But I’m not happy with myself when it comes to that, because I took points and opportunities away from our team.” Stroud had a minus 15.9 percent completion rate over expected, per Next Gen Stats, for the lowest of a starting quarterback over the past decade. Over the past quarter-century, just one quarterback has won a playoff game with four interceptions and those were Trevor Lawrence in 2022 and Russell Wilson in 2014.“All quarterbacks make mistakes,” Anderson said. “I told C.J., ‘Man, you’re still so early in your career,and the success that you’ve had in your career so far, man, don’t lose sight of that. Don’t lose sight of who you are. Don’t lose sight of all the great things you accomplished. He’s still early in his career. He still has a lot of ball to keep the team from hurting and he has great people to learn from. So, I’m excited about his future and excited about him being a part of this team.” Texans Pro Bowl linebacker Azeez Al-Shaair can empathize with Stroud. A year ago, he apologized to teammates after the loss to Kansas City. He felt like he fell short. “Last year, it was me,” Al-Shaair said. “Both of my knees were hurting. I gave up a touchdown. Dude was standing over me, taunting me. I played terrible. And so I know exactly what it feels like to feel like you let the team down. I remember sitting in the locker room in Kansas City literally saying that to the whole team. I couldn’t look nobody in the face. “So, you know, for me, I know what that pain and things are like. At the end of the day, I told C.J. already, it’s just the work. Just put the work in. Don’t forget the feeling because let it fuel you to where you want to go moving forward for this next season. But that’s what it’s about. Just putting the work in and just putting your head down and just blocking out the noise.”Copyright 2026 by KPRC Click2Houston - All rights reserved.Aaron Wilson is an award-winning Texans and NFL reporter for KPRC 2 and www.click2houston.com. He has covered the NFL since 1997, including previous stints for The Houston Chronicle and The Baltimore Sun. This marks his 10th year covering the Texans after previously covering a Super Bowl winning team in Baltimore.0:40Big City Wings, Big City DEALS | How to save $$$ on your next night out with Houston Life DealsBig City Wings, Big City DEALS | How to save $$$ on your next night out with Houston Life DealsChild dies in reported drowning in Cloverleaf areaHouston's Spark Parks at risk of permanent closureRainfall returns! 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