At 22 years old, having played 86 games, many believe Cotchin has been destined for the club's captaincy since he arrived at Punt Road.
He will fill the shoes of Chris Newman - and his approach is expected to be different.
"Trent and Chris Newman are two different leaders," Houli said upon his return for pre-season training.
"Chris is a verbal leader ... but you know on the other hand Trent isn't as vocal but through his actions he's very encouraging and he leads by example.
"Trent isn't the captain yet, but hopefully he gets to captain because I think he's the best for it at this stage."
However Houli insists Cotchin still has learning to do.
"You know he can obviously step up and also develop his skills as well, because we've all got deficiencies," Houli said.
"For him his talent isn't a problem, it's probably more so just speaking up and being a verbal leader on field so I'm really looking forward to seeing him step up and grow as a person."
But Cotchin's likely elevation won't come at the expense of others, as the Tigers' entire leadership strategy evolves.
"You can't rely on five or six leaders. I guess what the coaches are trying to drive forward is a whole group leadership," Houli said.
"I've already seen it in my first session where our coaches are getting our first and second year players to present something."
Matt Thompson is a reporter for AFL Media. Follow him on Twitter @MattThompsonAFL
