Houston Texans Coaching Changes: Ravens Hire Anthony Weaver To Be Defensive Line Coach/Run Game Coordinator

Prior to the 2020 season, Anthony Weaver had the resume of a defensive coordinator. Former player. Position coach for years. Developed and molded great players. Last offseason, Romeo Crennel stepped down as the defensive coordinator, handing the job over to Weaver to run the Texans’ defense.

In the span of a season, after losing Tashaun Gipson and D.J. Reader, the Texans’ defense went from bad to one of the worst in the league overnight. The talent was the central issue. Bill O’Brien had allowed Houston’s best talent to seep from the roster; the players remaining were older and worse. The Texans failed to invest in their defense in free agency and they failed to develop the players they drafted on this side of the ball.

That being said, Weaver made numerous decisions that hurt his defense in 2020, like never giving Lonnie Johnson Jr. a chance to play outside cornerback, playing Cover Three against the Packers without linebackers who could cover the middle of the field, blitzing a lot without results, placing Jacob Martin in hook zones, playing Eric Murray at slot corner, and continuing to rely on out-of-place veterans instead of giving snaps to the kids.

With a new head coach coming in at some point, rather than waiting and getting the ax or trying to make his case to stay in Houston, Weaver is moving on to Baltimore to become their defensive line coach and run game coordinator.

This is a valuable lesson to keep close to your heart. From our vantage point, the windows looking out office parks, the Gulf of Mexico, or Taco Bell signs, it’s important to remember we have no idea how someone will be in a role they’ve never had before. Weaver is an example of this. Eric Bieniemy could (and hopefully will be) another example of this as well, only as a guy who succeeds with his new title.

The role of a defensive coordinator is a complicated and difficult job. Weaver had an impossible task with the talent he was given by O’Brien in 2020. Hopefully, Weaver gets another go at it one day and has success.