Well folks, it’s a new year yet some things never change as the Houston Texans have hired a new head coach for the 3rd year in a row. The Texans have announced they have hired 49ers defensive coordinator and rising star of the coaching world, DeMeco Ryans. Ryans’ was a strong candidate last offseason, whom many thought would get a head coaching position last year, but surprisingly did not. I love this hire for the Texans, a feeling I haven’t had about their coaching hire in either of the last two seasons.
Last year, we had a bad feeling about the Lovie Smith hiring because we knew they didn’t view him as their guy at head coach. We knew he wasn’t going to last more than a year. We knew that the Texans for the second year in a row were going to make themselves look bad by firing their second African American head coach after only one season with the organization. Look at the Hackett firing, that was absolutely justified. He comes in and trades two arms and a leg for an aging Russell Wilson who looked horrific this year, just barely throwing for more TDs than he has bathrooms in his house. Hackett also lost the locker room, and you could tell by the end-of-season altercations on the sideline. Many had the Broncos as a playoff lock, and they got absolutely crushed by those expectations. The reason I bring up the Hackett firing is because Lovie Smith did not have expectations. Just like David Culley, Smith took over an absolute dumpster fire, and there’s no way they should’ve been expected to win in one year.
Based on the last two head coaches we know that some Texans fans may be on edge about Ryans’ future with the franchise. Here’s why we have confidence that he will at least see year two of his new six-year contract:
- Ryans is a former player. Not only that, but he also started his career with the Houston Texans. A 2006 2nd-round pick (No. 33 overall), Ryans played until 2011 with the Texans. This is a “homecoming” for Ryans.
- Ryans’ is a player’s coach. All the 49ers’ players who played for him and were around him loved him. Fred Warner said, “Ryans is the reason I’m the player I am today.” Warner is arguably the best LB in all of the NFL, those are some big words.
- In his two years as the 49ers defensive coordinator he has had their defense ranked in the top 5, maybe even top 3, both years.
- Thanks to Lovie Smith, Ryans is actually taking over a fairly decent roster.
The Texans are not in as bad of a place as people think they are. Davis Mills is not as bad of a QB as people think. He threw for 3,118 yards, 17 TDs, and 15 INTs. Yes, the 15 INTs is a pretty ugly number, but let’s be honest here we can’t give Mills all the blame. His offensive line is not great and his best-receiving weapon, Brandin Cooks, has no desire to be in Houston anymore. The QB class isn’t even that good this year. Mills is heading into year three, which is when I feel like most QBs will make their biggest jump. If I’m wrong and Mills doesn’t take a step next season, then the 2024 QB class is like 100x better.
On offense, you also return star rookie RB Dameon Pierce who ran for 939 yards in only 13 games despite pretty much every team stacking the box to stop him. John Metchie, who was diagnosed with Leukemia before the start of his rookie campaign, from what it sounds is doing amazing in his recovery, which means they should have him back maybe by the end of next season or the season after.
On defense, the defensive line group could use some attention. Linebackers could use some attention, although they did draft Christian Harris last year who I think could be a great player in this league, especially now with the hiring of Ryans whom Fred Warner gives all the credit to in being the player he is today. The secondary could use some attention, but they are returning rookie standouts Derek Stingley Jr. and Jalen Pitre. Also, just look at the secondary Ryans had in San Fran, they were not elite-level players. He schemed around having a weaker secondary and had an unbelievable front seven.
Ryans is set up better than many may think, and under his leadership, I think the Texans are going to be built the right way over the next few years. He is also the young coach with potential everyone is looking to hit on these days. I don’t think… I expect the Texans to give him time to turn this dumpster fire around. The future is bright for the Texans, especially when you get approval like this from arguably the best player in Texans’ history.