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David Culley has hired an offensive line coach for your Houston Texans.
Texans hiring veteran offensive line coach and former NFL center James Campen as their new offensive line coach under a three-year contract, according to league sources. Campen previously with Packers, Browns and Chargers after playing for Packers and Saints.
— Aaron Wilson (@AaronWilson_NFL) February 9, 2021
The Texans have hired James Campen as their new offensive line coach, a source told ESPN. Campen coached All-Pro linemen Josh Sitton and David Bakhtiari when he was with the Packers. He also spent the 2019 season with the Browns and the 2020 season with the Chargers.
— Sarah Barshop (@sarahbarshop) February 9, 2021
"Incredible hire, his players love James Campen," a league source said of new Texans offensive line coach, who's been added to staff on three-year deal. "Great coach. Relatable, can't say enough good things about the guy."
— Aaron Wilson (@AaronWilson_NFL) February 9, 2021
James Campen found himself unemployed when the Chargers fired Anthony Lynn a few weeks ago, as Brandon Staley wanted to bring in his own staff. Prior to that, Campen was in Cleveland for a year, presumably lured away from the Packers, where he’d been his entire coaching career, by Freddie Kitchens with the promise of an assistant head coach title. From PFT:
It will be the third straight year Campen has moved on to a new team after spending 15 years as a staple with the Green Bay Packers coaching staff. He left the Packers to become assistant head coach/offensive line coach on Freddie Kitchens’ staff with the Cleveland Browns. After that one-year odyssey, Campen joined the Chargers last offseason under head coach Anthony Lynn. With Lynn being let go after this season, Campen is again in search of a new landing spot.
Campen was the offensive line coach in Green Bay as David Bakhtiari and Corey Linsley rounded into form as two of the best at their positions in the league. He began his coaching career with the Packers in 2004 as an offensive line assistant and quality control coach. He became the head line coach in 2007 and stayed in the role for the remainder of his tenure with Green Bay,
Campen also had an eight-year playing career from 1986-1993 with the New Orleans Saints and Packers.
We’ll have more on Campen later. For now, I imagine Texans fans are pleased by the hire, if for no other reason than the fact that James Campen is not Mike Devlin. Today, that’s good enough for us.