HOUSTON – The Texans, under new coach DeMeco Ryans, announced his first coaching staff.
It’s an experienced, highly regarded group.
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A new hire not previously reported: senior offensive assistant Bill Lazor. Lazor is a former Chicago Bears, Cincinnati Bengals and Miami Dolphins offensive coordinator.
Lazor, 50, has also coached quarterbacks with the Washington Commanders, Seattle Seahawks and Philadelphia Eagles.
He was previously a record-setting quarterback at Cornell and has coached with the Atlanta Falcons, his first NFL coaching job under Dan Reeves, and was an offensive coordinator at Virginia. He has also worked with Joe Gibbs, Mike Holmgren and Jim Mora.
The Texans also hired Shane Day as a senior offensive assistant. He’s a former Los Angeles Chargers quarterbacks coach and passing game coordinator.
The Texans hired offensive coordinator Bobby Slowik, who was previously the passing game coordinator for the San Francisco 49ers.
They hired defensive coordinator Matt Burke, who was previously the Arizona Cardinals defensive line coach and Dolphins defensive coordinator.
They retained special teams coordinator Frank Ross, who had the top-ranked special teams units statistically last season and assistant special teams coordinator Sean Baker.
The Texans retained wide receivers coach-passing game coordinator Ben McDaniels.
The Texans hired former Minnesota Vikings assistant quarterbacks Jerrod Johnson, a former All-Big 12 quarterback at Texas A&M, as quarterbacks coach.
The Texans hired former Indianapolis Colts offensive line coach Chris Strausser as the replacement for offensive line coach George Warhop and former New England Patriots offensive line coach Cole Popovich as assistant offensive line coach.
The Texans hired former Cleveland Browns defensive line coach and 49ers assistant Chris Kiffin as linebackers coach as the replacement for Miles Smith, former 49ers defensive passing game specialist Cory Undlin as defensive passing game coordinator-secondary coach, former Denver Broncos tight ends coach and New York Jets assistant offensive line coach Jake Moreland as tight ends coach, former San Francisco 49ers chief of staff Nick Kray for the same job in Houston, 49ers defensive quality control coach Stephen Adegoke as safeties coach and former Kent State assistant athletic director for football operations and Yale chief of staff Jake Olson as assistant to the coaches.
The Texans retained running backs coach Danny Barrett, corners coach Dino Vasso, defensive line coach Jacques Cesaire and head strength and conditioning coach Mike Eubanks along with defensive assistant Ben Bolling and offensive assistants DeNarius McGhee and Jarrod James.
The Texans didn’t retain offensive coordinator Pep Hamilton, Warhop, linebackers coach Miles Smith, tight ends coach Tim Berbenich, assistant defensive line coach Kenyon Jackson, offensive assistant-quarterbacks Ted White, defensive assistant Dele Harding, linebackers coach Miles Smith, defensive assistant-nickels coach Ilir Emini and special assistant to the head coach for football performance Tobijah Hughley from former coach Lovie Smith’s staff.
“We want a diverse coaching staff, and that’s not only diversity in race, but diversity in experience,” Ryans said during his introductory press conference. “We want experienced coaches, some coaches with not so much experience. We want coaches who are great teachers. That’s the one thing we’re looking for, most importantly, is great teachers. We want guys who are positive, bring positive energy. We want guys who can connect with players.
“If you can connect with players, you can lead players. But if you can’t connect, there is no way you can coach those guys. We want guys who are bringing energy, doing it in a fun way, guys who are truly committed to working together. No egos allowed, no energy vampires allowed. We want a positive culture.”
Aaron Wilson is a Texans and NFL reporter for KPRC 2 and click2houston.com