How DeMeco Ryans’ vision turned around AFC South champion Texans: ‘Football should be played with passion, energy’

BALTIMORE, MD – DeMeco Ryans’ belief in how to play the game of football was instilled in him back in high school with a passionate mentality and strong leadership skills that are now embodied by the AFC South division champion Texans.

Ryans’ return to Houston has engineered a dramatic turnaround in a franchise that had clearly lost its way, lifting the Texans through a renaissance of hard-nosed play and the fast development of stellar rookie quarterback C.J. Stroud.

One year after going 3-13-1 under former coach Lovie Smith, Ryans has led the Texans to a division title and arguably one of, if not the biggest game since the launch of the organization by the late owner Bob McNair. The fourth-seeded Texans square off against the top-seeded Baltimore Ravens on Saturday in an AFC divisional round playoff game. The Texans are the only team in the AFC South that has never reached the AFC championship game.

The 39-year-old Ryans, a former Pro Bowl linebacker and NFL Defensive Rookie of the Year, is now one of the leading candidates for NFL Coach of the year with how he has galvanized the Texans during an 11-7 season.

“I had a coach that told me if you want to make it, you have to make sure you show up around the football every single snap,” Ryans said. “I know I wanted to go play college football. To do that, what I learned from him was, ‘Hey, you’ve got to play with tremendous effort every single snap, so you can show up and look different.’ You’ve got to look special. When they cut the tape on, are you special or are you just fitting in? Are you just another player out there?’

“That always resonated with me, like, man, when you suit up, you got to do something that’s different. Do something that others aren’t willing to do. A lot of people aren’t willing to run, play with great effort, play as physical as they can play. Every single snap? People aren’t willing to do that, so when you do it, and you have an entire team that does it, it jumps off the tape and people all around the league truly respect what you do.”

Respect has been earned by the Texans in their transformation from worst to first.

Should the Texans defeat the Ravens and star quarterback and MVP candidate Lamar Jackson on Saturday, then they’ll accomplish something no other team in franchise history has done: advance past the divisional round.

Four years ago under former coach and general manager Bill O’Brien, the Texans collapsed at this stage of the postseason with an embarrassing 51-31 meltdown of a loss to the Kansas City Chiefs at Arrowhead Stadium.

This is an altogether different type of team, though. They’ve been playing inspired football all season, going 11-4 following an 0-2 start that included a season-opening 25-9 defeat at M&T Bank Stadium to the Ravens.

Now, the Texans are back in Baltimore for a game with significantly higher stakes.

A former second-round draft pick from Alabama, Ryans has already matched the amount of victories combined in the previous three seasons under O’Brien, interim coach Romeo Crennel, Smith and David Culley.

And the Texans, under Ryans’ leadership, have emerged as a tougher, harder-hitting squad that remains poised in crucial moments.

“DeMeco is a perfect guy for this job,” said Stroud, who joined Tom Brady and Joe Montana as the only quarterbacks in NFL history to lead the league in passing yards per game and touchdown-to-interception ratio. “He brings something out of his players that it’s indescribable just like that mental stability, that toughness that he talks about. We have really similar mindsets I feel of how bad we want to win, how hard we work, the focus that we know it takes to win games.

“We come from winning cultures and winning teams, so really it was up to us to get this team going. I appreciate him because he holds me to a standard and I know I hold him to one, but he’s always met that standard. I’ve never had to question anything, and it’s been really cool to learn and grow with him.”

Known as ‘Cap,’ when he played for the Texans as a team captain who set the standard for the entire team with his enthusiastic, but serious style, Ryans’ exuberance for big plays is unmistakable. When Texans linebacker Christian Harris and cornerback Steven Nelson delivered interceptions for touchdowns in an AFC wild-card playoff win over the Cleveland Browns, Ryans was running down the sideline and jumping into the air to celebrate the pair of pick-sixes.

When the Texans defeated the Indianapolis Colts on the road to position themselves for the division title as Ryans and Stroud became the first rookie head coach and quarterback tandem to accomplish that milestone in NFL history, he took a long moment to lean against a wall outside the visitors’ locker room. Ryans was reflecting, taking a pause for gratitude to soak up the experience.

The Texans weren’t expected to be this successful. They were projected by most to win six or seven games and finish in last place in the AFC South. Instead, they became instant winners under Ryans. It’s proof that leadership matters a ton.

“For me, I always want the team to just play football how I see football, how I think it should be played,” Ryans said. “I think football should be played with passion, I think it should be played with energy, and, I think, when you get the opportunity to do it, you should give everything you have to the game because you don’t know when your last play will be.

“I like where our team is right now. The way we play, we finish the right way. We play with great effort, and we enjoy playing with each other. We enjoy seeing our brothers make plays. We enjoy the success of others, and that’s how I truly believe the game should be played.”

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.

Ryans was at the heart of engineering a dramatic turnaround, manufacturing a resurgent season.

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, Ryans has led them back to the divisional round for the first time since the 2019 season.

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,” Texans chairman and CEO Cal McNair said. “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. ..

“With DeMeco he was a leader right away. It’s sort of an overnight success that took several years to get here. We had to stay the course and we knew how to get to where we wanted. This is just a start, so we are really happy right now.”

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 preceded 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 hire of Ryans has been the trigger for the change and the renewed enthusiasm surrounding a franchise that has endured difficult years. Now, the Texans and Ryans are the talk of the NFL.

“Before we got DeMeco, we knew what we had in-house but were missing a couple of major pieces,” Texans foundation vice president Hannah McNair told KPRC 2. “We were feeling it inside the organization before everyone was feeling it in the community. When you are going through a rebuild you have to stay patient and stay the course and stick with your plan and here we are now in the playoffs it’s so exciting. You’ve got DeMeco and a lot of great players and a bright future for a long time. That’s what we feel and the community feels it.”

When the Texans hired Ryans a year ago, he had to restore interest and pride in the local football team. It was obvious, through empty seats at NRG Stadium, and in other ways that apathy had set in about the Texans from a depressed fan base.

And Ryans and the players have been winning the fans back one game at a time.

“I think, when I took over the job here, one thing I wanted to instill in the entire city was pride back into our team here,” Ryans said. “So, I want people around the city to be proud of the Texans, be able to wear their Texans gear and wear it proud. So, I’m starting to see a lot of Texans gear around the city.

“Starting to see a lot of smiles when we go out to restaurants. A lot of people are excited about the Texans and what the men in this locker room have done on the field to get this city excited about the Texans again, and that’s what it’s all about. Our guys have done a tremendous job of regaining that respect, regaining that pride in our team, and that’s one thing I wanted to do when I took over here.”

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