INDIANAPOLIS \u2013 The roots of Jerry Schuplinski run through familiar ground for a Texans employee with a background with the New England Patriots and John Carroll University.<\/p>\n
Schuplinski is the Texans\u2019 quarterbacks coach after the team mutually parted ways with quarterbacks coach Jerrod Johnson when his contract expired, per league sources. <\/p>\n
Schuplinski, 48, was hired last year as the Texans\u2019 senior offensive assistant-pass game specialist and works hand in hand with offensive coordinator Nick Caley, a former Patriots colleague who also attended John Carroll, a Division III football powerhouse.<\/p>\n
Now, Schuplinski is coaching Texans quarterback C.J. Stroud. Stroud, who\u2019s coming off a rough postseason with five interceptions and five lost fumbles, heavily praised Schuplinski last September.<\/p>\n
\u201cJerry is amazing,\u201d Stroud said last season.\u201cHe\u2019s somebody who is very vocal, challenging. He\u2019s very old school. He reminds me of a long-lost uncle, just how he approaches how he coaches. I think he\u2019s done a great job of challenging us to push other guys and also push ourselves to be great.\u201d<\/p>\n
Texans general manager Nick Caserio is a record-setting JCU quarterback alum. Texans special teams coordinator Frank Ross and director of pro personnel and former Patriots scout D.J. Debick also attended John Carroll.<\/p>\n
Schuplinski has extensive experience with quarterbacks, including as a former Patriots assistant quarterbacks coach working with legendary quarterback Tom Brady. He was a senior offensive assistant with the Los Angeles Rams, working with Caley in the Sean McVay system.<\/p>\n
Schuplinski has been an assistant quarterbacks coach with the Miami Dolphins and the New York Giants as the primary quarterbacks coach.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
Schuplinski worked closely with Stroud and Caley last season, his first in Houston.<\/p>\n
He coached for the Patriots for six seasons, first joining the Belichick staff in 2013.<\/p>\n
Schuplinski is a former high school football coach, math teacher and athletic director at Trinity High School in Garfield Heights, Ohio in the Cleveland area.<\/p>\n
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\u2019 QB1 going forward, Caserio emphasized during an interview with Houston reporters at the NFL scouting combine.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s moronic,\u201d Caserio said in response to a question from KPRC 2. \u201cWe\u2019re not trading him. He\u2019s our quarterback. He\u2019s going to be playing quarterback for the Houston Texans in 2026. Anything beyond that, you guys can speculate on that, but we\u2019re not trading C.J. Stroud.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
Stroud had five interceptions and five fumbles in a disastrous two-game playoff total. He committed seven turnovers, including a four interception meltdown in an AFC divisional round playoff loss to the New England Patriots. <\/p>\n
Stroud has been the subject of heavy criticism since that game. However, the organization has had his back. It was an uncharacteristically sloppy performance from Stroud, who 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.<\/p>\n
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. The Texans haven\u2019t said if they will try to extend his contract this offseason, which he\u2019s now eligible for, or use the fifth-year club option at a price of $26.5 million for the 2027 season.<\/p>\n
Stroud led the NFL in touchdown to interception ratio with a 23:5 clip as a rookie, passing for 4,108 yards.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe\u2019s been a good player, and won a lot of football games,\u201d Caserio said. \u201cQuarterback is the hardest position to play in sports. He had some ups and downs. That\u2019s natural for a position, but, overall, he\u2019s had a pretty significant impact on what we are as a program. He\u2019s not going anywhere. <\/p>\n
\u201cHe\u2019s still a young player. He\u2019s only 24 years old. There\u2019s always room for growth and development. Glad he\u2019s here, glad he\u2019s our quarterback and looking forward to a productive offseason. I don\u2019t think there\u2019s any concern whatsoever. C.J. has played a lot of good football. He\u2019s not going anywhere.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
Stroud is concentrating on his preparations for next season.<\/p>\n
Stroud is looking to bounce back from a tough ending to his third NFL season.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m still growing this league,\u201d Stroud said after the season. \u201cStill a player that has a lot to learn from, a lot to look forward to in my career. So, I\u2019m excited to do that. <\/p>\n
\u201cBut yeah, I\u2019m 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\u2019t the end of C.J. Stroud. This ain\u2019t the end of my career.\u201d<\/p>\n
Pro Football Hall of Fame quarterback Warren Moon, who has mentored the California native, predicts that Stroud will bounce back strong next season.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think he\u2019ll come back really well,\u201d Moon told KPRC 2. \u201cHe has a lot of pride. He works very, very hard in the offseason. And the key is to get the pieces that he needs around him to make sure he feels really confident and really secure. So he\u2019s got a lot of confidence. You\u2019ve got to beef up that offensive line and then make sure your skill people stay healthy. You\u2019ve got to keep those guys healthy.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
If the Texans upgrade their offensive line and running game and have Pro Bowl wide receiver Nico Collins available along with tight end Dalton Schultz available, unlike the loss to New England at Gillette Stadium, Moon is confident that Stroud will dramatically improve his production.<\/p>\n
\u201cNo question about it,\u201d Moon said. \u201cHe\u2019s already shown that. He showed it when he first got here. And then he\u2019s shown a lot of flashes over the last couple years.<\/p>\n
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 19 touchdowns. He<\/a> was sacked a career-low 23 times during the regular season.<\/p>\n Stroud led the Texans to a 10-game winning streak, seven wins by him, three by backup Davis Mills. <\/p>\n \u201cHe\u2019s our quarterback,\u201d Caserio said. \u201cHe isn\u2019t going anywhere. We have a lot of confidence, a lot of belief. I\u2019d say the philosophy that DeMeco and I have, we\u2019re going to support our players and do everything we can to help them. This league is about ups and downs. Nothing\u2019s perfect. You\u2019re going to have some good plays. You\u2019re going to have some bad plays. You\u2019re going to have some good games. You\u2019re going to have some bad games. How do you bounce back? How do you handle that? <\/p>\n \u201cNo lost confidence. Look, the stock market\u2019s been going down for five days. Everybody\u2019s 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\u2019ve got a lot of confidence in our players. I\u2019m glad he\u2019s our quarterback.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/p>\n The Texans had the top-ranked defense, but the offense wasn\u2019t as successful. The running game had its moments with rookie Woody Marks, but wasn\u2019t nearly as vibrant as it was the previous year when Joe Mixon had a Pro Bowl season. Mixon missed the entire season with a foot injury that has endangered his career.<\/p>\n Collins, who missed the Patriots game with a concussion, said he has offered his encouragement to Stroud personally.<\/p>\n \u201cJust keep your head up,\u201d Collins said. \u201cLike, it\u2019s not the way we want to end, you know what I\u2019m saying? Our goal was to go to the Super Bowl, but things happen. Just keep being you, brother. Don\u2019t 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.<\/p>\n \u201cThe dude\u2019s a baller, man. One freak of an athlete. So, I\u2019m excited for next year. Just can\u2019t wait to get back on the field with the guys, get back grinding, and continue to be great.\u201d<\/p>\n In the playoff loss to New England, the Texans had five turnovers, including a costly fumble by Marks.<\/p>\n \u201cThey had a strong year, no question about it,\u201c Moon said. \u201dTheir defense was one of the best, if not the best in the league. They had a lot of problems offensively. A lot of their key weapons were injured, especially in the playoffs. <\/p>\n \u201cAnd that makes it tough on a young quarterback when he doesn\u2019t have the weapons around him. And the offensive line was kind of hit or miss all season long. So, they\u2019ve got some work to do on the offensive side of things.\u201d<\/p>\n 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. <\/p>\n 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. <\/p>\n \u201cI look back and I just feel like I let people down, and I\u2019m not happy with that,\u201d Stroud said. \u201cIt hurts, and I\u2019m not na\u00efve to it. I didn\u2019t play my best this year, but I\u2019m going to respond. I\u2019m going to keep my chest up, my chin up high, and I\u2019m going to just keep battling forward. <\/p>\n \u201cIf God be for me, who can be against me? I\u2019m 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\u2019ve got to get that fixed, and it\u2019s something that I know I can, so I\u2019m going to get that done.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/p>\n Stroud raised questions about his viability for a blockbuster contract extension that felt like an eventuality after his banner rookie year. That plan is likely on hold now and understandably so despite Texans coach DeMeco Ryans emphasizing Stroud is his guy. At the least, the Texans could see how next year goes with Stroud and secure him contractually with a fifth-year club option this offseason through the 2027 season.<\/p>\n \u201cC.J. is our guy,\u201d Ryans said in dismissing a question about whether he considered replacing Stroud at halftime with Mills. \u201cI believed that he could come back out in the second half and flip it. I believed that he could play better, and he did that in the second half. He did play better.<\/p>\n \u201cI always tell our guys: \u2018At halftime, it really doesn\u2019t matter what happened in the first half. You have to flush it, remove it, and you just have to go out and finish the right way.\u2019 We\u2019ve been there before. We\u2019ve been in situations much more dire than this, and we were able to bounce back. So, there was no doubt in my mind.\u201d<\/p>\n That is all technically true, at least by the barometer of Stroud didn\u2019t throw any more interceptions. <\/p>\n Stroud completed just 20 of 47 passes for 212 yards. He had an ugly passer rating of 28.0, one of the lowest in NFL playoff history. <\/p>\n And the Texans\u2019 season is over. They are now 0-7 in the AFC divisional round and have lost at this stage of the postseason three years in a row under Ryans\u2019 leadership. The Texans\u2019 Super Bowl ambitions won\u2019t be met, at least not this year. That dream is on hold and in need of an offense that can match or approach the excellence of a Super Bowl caliber defense headlined by Anderson and fellow All-Pro defensive end Danielle Hunter. They combined to sack Patriots quarterback and NFL MVP candidate Drake Maye five times.<\/p>\n Despite this disappointing ending to the season and an extremely rough performance from Stroud as he forced throws, made poor decisions by not taking sacks when there was nothing promising down field and struggled with his accuracy, he has a ton of support behind him. They aren\u2019t turning their back on a friend and teammate and quarterback they believe in wholeheartedly.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m gonna be 100 on this,\u201d Anderson said. \u201cIt\u2019s so much bigger than football. It\u2019s so much bigger than football. It\u2019s so much bigger than what everybody has to say, especially for C.J. He\u2019s big on his faith, he knows who he does it for. He knows who he is, and he\u2019s God\u2019s, man. <\/p>\n \u201cGod\u2019s hand is upon him. He\u2019s going to be good. We\u2019re rallying behind him. I told him, \u2018Man, I still think you\u2019re the best quarterback in this league, hands down. It\u2019s nobody better than you.\u2019 And we\u2019re behind him. We\u2019re rallying behind him, man.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/p>\n The worst moment for Stroud was a pick-six touchdown as he was hit that former University of Houston cornerback Marcus Jones intercepted and took it to the house.<\/p>\n An NFL-leading winning streak of 10 games was snapped. During the regular season, Stroud had just eight interceptions and no lost fumbles. This postseason represented a clear and concerning regression.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m going to learn from this, the ball security and everything, especially the way our defense has played all year,\u201d Stroud said. \u201cIt\u2019s something that I had done a pretty good job of, you know, to this point. So I\u2019m going to continue to be better in that area. But I\u2019m not happy with myself when it comes to that, because I took points and opportunities away from our team.\u201d<\/p>\n