Division champs after dramatic turnaround, DeMeco Ryans credits Texans ownership: ‘The McNair family has been awesome’

HOUSTON – DeMeco Ryans’ arrival triggered a winning renaissance for the Texans, galvanizing the locker room, entire organization and the city of Houston with his dynamic leadership style.

Relatable, credible and charismatic, the former Pro Bowl linebacker has been an ideal fit for a franchise that had grown way too accustomed to losing.

After going 11-38-1 in the previous three seasons, including a combined tenure of one-and-done coaching stints from Lovie Smith and David Culley, former coach and general manager Bill O’Brien and interim coach Romeo Crennel, the Texans are now the AFC South champions and preparing for a Saturday playoff game against the Cleveland Browns.

Ryans was the heart of engineering a dramatic turnaround, manufacturing a resurgent 10-7 season behind his leadership and the stellar play of quarterback C.J. Stroud, the frontrunner for NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year.

“DeMeco is a perfect guy for this job,” Stroud said. “He brings something out of his players that it’s indescribable just like that mental stability, that toughness that he talks about.”

Setting a demanding standard for practice, Ryans is a tough boss. He’s also not asking the players to do anything he hasn’t done before as a hard-hitting two-time Pro Bowl selection.

“For me, when you talk about my leadership approach, it’s all about positive reinforcement,” Ryans said. “It’s all about positive energy. It’s all about just getting better one day at a time and that’s what I try to instill in all of our guys – just a get better mentality. I think our guys have taken that on.

“Each and every week we’ve gotten better. Always things to improve on, things to clean up, but all I want is just our guys to continue to do their best and strive to get better every single day.”

One year ago, the Texans were circling the drain toward the end of another season with no meaningful games and the conversation surrounding the team focused on needing to continue a lengthy rebuild.

The Texans had fired their head coach for the third consecutive year before recruiting Ryans to come home.

Now, the former NFL Defensive Rookie of the Year is back with the Texans and has led them back to the playoffs for the first time since the 2019 season when they lost in the divisional round to Patrick Mahomes and the Kansas City Chiefs.

Ryans’ return began with a suggestion that the McNair family try to get the NFL Assistant Coach of the Year as the architect of the San Francisco 49ers’ top-ranked defense.

Ultimately, Texans chairman and CEO Cal McNair, his wife, foundation vice president Hannah McNair and general manager Nick Caserio zeroed in on Ryans and they hired him while facing a competing offer from the Denver Broncos.

“The McNair family has been awesome,” Ryans said. “You talk about support from your ownership, they’ve been outstanding with their support. Whatever we’ve asked, whatever we’ve needed from their end, they’ve been open-arms. And it’s truly one of the reasons why I chose to come here is just that they want to create that family environment, and that’s what it’s truly felt like.

“It’s felt like family from Day 1, and they’ve shown that throughout the entire year. They’re with us through the ups and downs. They’re with us, and that’s very important to have an ownership group who truly cares not only about the wins and losses, but they care about the people and the organization. I think that’s what sets the McNair family apart from others, because they have truly gracious hearts. Really great family, great people, and it’s a joy to work with them.”

Now, the Texans are enjoying a complete turnaround terms of relevance and improvement on the field with the arrival of Ryans galvanizing the organization.

Ryans’ leadership has been instrumental to the upgraded record, injecting toughness and higher standards for the team along with the incredible play of Stroud.

The Texans have emerged with a harder-hitting defense and became more explosive on offense despite weathering multiple season-ending injuries, including dynamic rookie wide receiver Tank Dell to a broken fibula. Under the direction of Ryans, they are a winning team again.

“It’s been quite a turnaround,” Cal McNair said during an Inspire Change grant ceremony during which he and his wife, foundation vice president Hannah McNair awarded $400,000 to 15 local nonprofit organizations. “The players have responded. They play for him. They play hard. They go out and they expect to win no matter who’s out on the field.

“They’ve gone out and responded. It’s really a special season for us: DeMeco coming back, the quarterback, the team coming together. They’re all contributing and part of this great season. We’ll see where it goes. The story is not over.”

The Texans, who, under the direction of Caserio drafted Stroud and standout defensive end Will Anderson Jr. in the first round in addition to signing key free agents Sheldon Rankins, Dalton Schultz, Devin Singletary, Denzel Perryman, Jimmie Ward, George Fant, Robert Woods, Andrew Beck Noah Brown and traded for right guard Sheldon Rankins, have had to shuffle their roster and lineups significantly. The Texans have repeatedly lost starters to injuries and had to figure out a way to replace them in collaboration between Ryans and Caserio.

“Nick has done an awesome job when it comes to personnel,” Ryans said. “Throughout this entire year – unfortunately – we’ve had to add a lot of different guys at different points of the season, and guys who have helped us along the way – probably some still here and some aren’t here – so that takes a lot of work that goes behind the scenes that no one knows. The players that we bring in, the players that we’re working out, Nick having that experience of who is the right person to bring in? It helps me because I don’t have to second-guess or question when players come up.

“Like, ‘Okay, you like the guy. How was the workout? Good. Let’s go, let’s roll.’ And it makes things flow much smoother when you have that collaboration and that trust, and when you see football the same way and you know who we’re looking for and the style of play and the player that we’re looking for when it matches up, it makes it a lot easier. And Nick has done a great job all throughout. You go back to the offseason with the additions and free agency, also throughout the draft and now throughout the season, how you manage a roster throughout the season, it takes a lot of work and a lot of trust. And Nick has done an outstanding job there.”

The Texans have been resilient, winning several close games decided toward the end of regulation.

It’s an entirely different vibe surrounding the organization whose last playoff season in 2019 ended in a crushing AFC divisional round playoff loss to the Chiefs, which led up to the controversial trade of All-Pro wide receiver DeAndre Hopkins, O’Brien’s firing after a winless start to the next season and former Pro Bowl quarterback Deshaun Watson’s legal problems and trade to the Browns for three first-round draft picks.

“For me, it’s a credit to our guys in the locker room,” Ryans said. “I’m proud of the guys for how our season has gone. There’s been some ups and downs, but I’m proud of our guys for winning a lot of tough games, a lot of close games that have come down to the last possession. Guys just showing their resiliency throughout this entire year.

“I’m just proud of the way our guys fight, proud of the way they show up to work each and every day. Proud of their drive to continue to get better throughout the season and not be satisfied with where we are. That’s what makes me most proud is just the men in the locker room.”

The Texans became the first team in NFL history to win a division title with a rookie head coach and a rookie quarterback.

It’s a remarkable accomplishment for a team that wasn’t expected to contend this season.

“For me, I’m proud of our guys,” Ryans said. “It’s our first year. I don’t know about the turnaround, but it’s our first year together, as the 2023 Texans, and our guys have done a great job this year.”

The Texans are not favored by Las Vegas oddsmakers to win this game after being blown out 36-22 by the Browns on Christmas Eve, but Stroud wasn’t a part of that game due to a concussion.

“What’s so special about our group is their love for football, their love to compete and their love to improve,” Ryans said. “When you have guys who show up with that mindset to get better, that’s going to put us all in a better position. If we continue to stay focused on the small things, the big things will take care of themselves. And they’re the only reason we’re here.

“Our guys understand our goals and what we set out to accomplish. As I mentioned earlier, we didn’t come this far just to come this far. Everybody’s excited, happy about the division. Now we have to move on and win in the playoffs. We’ve been in playoff mode for the last two weeks, so our guys understand where we are and what we have to do.”

Aaron Wilson is a Texans and NFL reporter for KPRC 2 and click2houston.com