Defensive end Charles Omenihu didn’t see it coming when the Texans traded him to the San Francisco 49ers in November for a sixth-round draft pick.
But now, the third-year pass rusher is glad to be where he is, which is with a playoff team that just won in the wild-card round. He apparently is even happier to be away from the Texans organization which he blasted this week while comparing the two franchises.
“It’s not a circus show here,” Omenihu said of the 49ers during media availability. “You guys definitely have things down pat and you know what you want of the players and the coaches know the expectations. It’s very thought out and said. It’s been nothing but good.”
Omenihu, a product of Rowlett High School and University of Texas, went further in blasting the Texans while alluding to the clear disconnect between general manager Nick Caserio and former head coach David Culley. Caserio, of course, fired Culley last week after going 4-13 in his lone season at the helm.
“A lot more structure,” he said when discussing the differences between the two franchises. “The leadership between the coach and the GM, it doesn’t seem like it’s a power struggle. They’re on (the) same page. They have an understanding of what they want. They make it very clear what they want, from GM to head coach, from head coach to position coaches. It’s not a circus show here.”
Omenihu entered the season under great expectations after delivering four sacks, 16 quarterback hits, 17 total tackles, which included five tackles for loss in 2020 for the Texans. But in a year in which the Texans seemed to unload a lot of talent without good reason, Omenihu was shipped away.
But while the Texans are now marred in disarray, Omenihu is enjoying a playoff run with the 49ers. He is coming off an impressive performance during last weekend’s 23-17 wild-card win over the Cowboys in which he had six pressures and came up with his first sacks of the season.
“Definitely a breath of fresh air for sure,” Omenihu said of the 49ers. “This year has been a long year for me personally. My third year didn’t go, as far as early on, how I thought it would be, coming off my second year. A combination of what I was going through over there.
“So coming here was definitely a breath of fresh air. I love it, the organization has a lot of structure and it is not an ego-driven, it’s not a power struggle either. It’s definitely good to experience that.”
Follow Terrance Harris on Twitter @terranceharris