Days after the Houston Texans dismissed their offensive coordinator Bobby Slowik, a story about his draft meeting with quarterback C.J. Stroud came out detailing the “contentious” interaction.
ESPN 97.5’s Lance Zierlein shared a story this week about how Stroud came into a pre-draft meeting with Slowik back in 2023 and compared some of Houston’s playcalling to his at Ohio State’s. Slowik didn’t appreciate that, and they both reportedly got in each other’s faces.
“Bobby Slowik just kind of jumped him and said ‘I don’t give a f— what you called at Ohio State, that’s college, this is pro football,’ and Bobby kind of got in his face about it,” Zierlein said. “C.J.’s not one to back down at all. I don’t know if Bobby was testing him, I don’t know what the deal was, but C.J. jumped up and got back in his face. It was very contentious, had to be kind of broken up.”
The interaction made Stroud believe he wasn’t going to be drafted by the Texans.
CJ Stroud & Bobby Slowik's relationship started with an altercation. Listen to ESPN 97.5 🎙️ Host Lance Zierlein's story ICYMI yesterday 👇 pic.twitter.com/tU2GcWELZp
— Robert Land | Houston Sports Talk Podcast Host (@HSTPodcast) January 28, 2025
“I asked this team, ‘Hey, did you hear anything this with C.J. Stroud?’ and they said ‘Oh, we asked C.J. how his last visit went,’ which was Houston, and he said ‘Terrible, terrible. I don’t think I’ll be going there,'” Zierlein continued. “C.J.’s whole crew did not want him to go to Houston. And, they didn’t think he was going to Houston because he and Bobby got into it.”
They seemed to have worked things out O.K., though, since Stroud is thriving in Houston. In his rookie year, he was named the Offensive Rookie of the Year and led the team to its first playoff run in four years. The Texans reached the divisional round.
Now, Stroud will work with a new offensive coordinator in 2025, and hopefully they don’t get off on the wrong foot like he did with Slowik.
