On the front office end, it is Gabriel Brener's second season as majority owner and Chris Canetti's seventh as the club president.

[1] Cabrera was promoted from the club's lower league affiliate Rio Grande Valley FC Toros where served as the head coach for the 2015 USL season.

Cabrera took over for interim head coach Wade Barrett[3] – the only other reported candidate for the job[2] – and a team that had missed the MLS Cup Playoffs for the third consecutive season.

The Dynamo job is the Colombian tactician's second head coaching responsibility in Major League Soccer and one that reunites him with Erick "Cubo" Torres, a former pupil of Cabrera's at the defunct Chivas USA.

[2] The Houston Dynamo opened the season at home with a 2–1 victory over the defending MLS Cup Champion Seattle Sounders FC, on a night when Erick Torres and Romell Quioto scored their first goals for the club.

[4] Torres and Quioto would score in a second consecutive match the following week, coupled with Alberth Elis' first goal in a Dynamo shirt, as the team collected 3–1 win over Columbus Crew SC.

The Dynamo began the month of April with a 4–1 win over the New York Red Bulls, a match where Erick Torres scored his first hat-trick with the club.

Houston and Minnesota United FC faced off for the first time ever in Major League Soccer as the expansion side took a point in Space City.

[11] Needing to respond after winning only one of their previous four matches, the Dynamo outlasted the visiting San Jose Earthquakes 2–0 in a nationally televised afternoon game on UniMás.

The Houston Dynamo would begin another month with a blowout at home, this time collecting the second shutout of the season in a 4–0 win against Orlando City SC.

After missing the game versus Orlando due to concussion protocol, Torres returned to the starting lineup and scored the game-winning goal against Vancouver Whitecaps FC.

The Dynamo would end the month with their fourth match in 15 days, keeping their home record free of losses after a 5–1 win over Real Salt Lake.

Three days later, the team almost picked up their first win on the road before a Romain Alessandrini goal drew the LA Galaxy level in the closing moments of the match.

[27] The team then dismantled a Piatti-less Montreal Impact at home,[28] heading into a two-week break in league play due to the 2017 CONCACAF Gold Cup group stage.

The Dynamo would win that game 1-0 off an Alberth Elis goal in Extra Time and advanced to play the Portland Timbers in the Conference Semifinals.