HOUSTON — Pep Hamilton is becoming a very popular man within the Texans' ranks.
“Pep is the same person every day,” quarterback Davis Mills said. “He’s very unique, and I think the control of the offensive unit he has right now is amazing. I'm really excited to see what he can do in year two calling the plays.”
The Texans' new offensive coordinator is generating a lot of buzz as the team continues its work during training camp. Hamilton, who served as the team’s quarterbacks coach a year ago, is anxious to see what his scheme will look like with this group of players.
“Well, it's our offense, and as we've said from the beginning, it's about our ability to put our playmakers in a position to make plays,” Hamilton said. “It has nothing to do with anything else. It's our job to score at least one more point than the opponent, but ultimately you score points by getting the ball to the right guys, and we have the right guys.”
Hamilton’s resume in the coaching ranks is long. From college, the NFL and even a stop in the XFL in 2020, the Howard University graduate has a proven track record of success, especially with the work he’s done with quarterbacks.
Davis Mills is his next project and the growth that he’s seen from year one to year two has been impressive.
“We feel like he's playing faster, and that's really just processing information as you drop back as opposed to just saying, okay, what happened pre-snap is the determining factor in where we start,” Hamilton said. “You've got to be able to make post-snap reads, and we'll continue working on that, but that's something that I feel like he's improving that.”
Hamilton takes over play-calling for a group that in 2021 ranked 30th in scoring offense in the NFL. They were tied for last in the league in rushing touchdowns and were towards the bottom of the league in passing yards.
From the players' perspective, the creativity that Hamilton has brought to the unit is already noticeable.
“You know, it's been great. Got a lot of respect for Pep,” veteran wide receiver Brandin Cooks said. “Pep's seen a lot of ball, played with a lot of great players. To be able to feed off him and learn from him and the offenses he's been in before was helpful for me and to be able to have that feedback for one another has been great.”
Hamilton knows that there’s a lot of work still needed with this young group, but an improved offensive line, some more talent in the backfield, experience in the receiving corps and a quarterback showing improvement should lead to better results in 2022.
“We have a depth of experience, but a diverse group of coaches with regards to our backgrounds,” Hamilton said. “Having the opportunity to go back and coached college football as well as the time that I spent in the XFL, it gave us a good outlook, a different outlook on different ways to really stress the opponent. So, we'll see. We'll see when it gets to game day.”