Hiring of Ryans meant to bring stability to team
HOUSTON — The magnitude of the Texans’ head coaching search materialized into the franchise’s most meaningful hire in history.
Demeco Ryans, a former Texans linebacker and team captain, will be the team’s sixth head coach, a person with knowledge of the situation said. Chairman and CEO Cal Mcnair and general manager Nick Caserio ended their 23-day search by reaching terms with the coveted 49ers defensive coordinator, whose return to Houston tasks him with a team that’s had two oneand-done head coaches in consecutive seasons.
Ryans, 38, is entering a far more favorable situation than his predecessors. David Culley and Lovie Smith were fired after 13-loss seasons in which they failed to field a consistent competitor within the confines of Caserio’s overhauled roster. Now flush with cap space and draft capital, the Texans are poised to infuse the locker room with the collective talent Ryans can organize to finally form the franchise into the playoff contender it once was.
Mcnair intervened in Caserio’s third head coaching search due to the untenable outcomes of his previous two. Mcnair stepped out of his family’s laissez-faire style by involving himself in the complete hiring process. He and Caserio built a list of candidates, submitted formal interview requests to the league, and participated together in each initial interview. Caserio had previously managed those tasks himself.
The instability Mcnair’s move signaled about Caserio’s long-term job security did not deter eight candidates from interviewing with the Texans. Only Lions offensive coordinator Ben Johnson pulled his name from the running, as he did with the Colts and Panthers vacancies when
the Lions countered with a lucrative package to keep him in Detroit.
Apart from Mcnair’s involvement, candidates knew this Texans vacancy carried a far more attractive opportunity than the one Caserio was pitching in the last two cycles. The Texans hadn’t yet traded Deshaun Watson, the former quarterback’s sexual assault litigations hadn’t yet been resolved, and beyond the reasonable doubts about the roster’s limitations, there remained too much mystery surrounding enigmatic executive Jack Easterby, a clarity the Texans didn’t fully achieve until they fired Easterby in October.
Now the Texans are almost as blank a canvas as they could be — a quality that should be as alarming for Ryans as it is enticing. They own the No. 2 and 12 overall picks in the upcoming draft, five total selections in the top 75, plus two more first-round picks in 2024. Their cap space balloons to the fifthhighest budget in the NFL, according to Over the Cap, and there are 22 players whose contracts have expired and must be renewed or replaced.
Tampering with such a nest egg in securing a head coach likely would have proved unwise. Mcnair and Caserio interviewed
former Saints coach Sean Payton once. The one-time Super Bowl champion’s price tag of nearly $20 million per year was steep (Culley’s five-year contract was bought out for $22 million), but Saints GM Mickey Loomis was reportedly asking for two first-round picks to release Payton from his contract. Such a demand would have been a nonstarter for the Texans. Payton reportedly will fill the Broncos’ vacancy.
Ryans, who interviewed with the Broncos on Jan. 20, solidified his interest with the Texans after a week of silence. NFL teams were unable to speak with head coaching candidates whose teams were competing in the AFC and NFL title games, and the Texans were freed starting Monday to meet again with Ryans.
Ryans, the No. 33 overall pick out of Alabama in 2006, spent six grueling seasons with the Texans, started in every game during their first playoff run in 2011, and remains No. 2 on the franchise’s career list for tackles (636).
Ryans, who tore his left Achilles tendon in 2010, was traded to the Eagles in 2012. He later sued the Texans after he tore his right Achilles tendon while playing against his former team in 2014, alleging NRG
Stadium’s uneven turf prematurely ended his career. The case shuffled between state and federal court, and Ryans stopped pursuing litigation in July 2021.
Ryans’ prowess as a defensive play-caller is unquestioned. The 49ers progressed in nearly every statistical category in his two seasons as defensive coordinator. They fielded the NFL’S top total defense and top scoring defense (16.3 points allowed per game) in 2022.
The Texans wield the draft positioning to select one of two elite quarterback prospects in Bryce Young and C.J. Stroud. Could the hiring of a defensive-minded coach or the philosophy of the new Texans offensive staff now tilt the franchise toward spending its No. 2 overall pick on a pass rusher like Will Anderson?
After the firing of two head coaches in two seasons, Ryans effectively embodies Caserio’s last shot. One could outlast the other, both could be swallowed up in a complete overhaul, or they could attain the postseason success that has eluded the Texans for so long.
It’s a decision they’ve all decided is worth a homecoming.