Since entering the fold for the Houston Texans during the 2023 NFL offseason, head coach DeMeco Ryans has had nothing short of a massive impact on the team's growth and overall surge into one of the top talents within the AFC.
As a former player and a crafty defensive mind, Ryans has been a perfect fit to lead this group to the heights they've reached so far. Two seasons in, he's got two division titles and two playoff wins to his name, and will be on the verge of earning a third-straight AFC South victory this coming season for what could be the first time in franchise history.
And through his time commanding the Texans in just two short years, it's clear he's earned some considerable respect from his players in the locker room.
The latest to dish some praise towards Ryans is Texans Pro Bowl edge rusher and 2023 third-overall pick Will Anderson Jr., who dove into a bit of the relationship with his head coach during his latest interview with Tony Dungy and Rodney Harrison on NFL on NBC.
"I thank God all the time for the situation that he dropped me in, man," Anderson said. "There's no other coach that I'd rather play for than him. He set a really great example of what he wanted this team to be, and he gave us a foundation to lean back on. When things are not going our way, when things are going our way. The S.W.A.R.M. mentality, the S.W.A.R.M. foundation that he's built in the Houston Texans, has really been special."
For Anderson Jr., it's not just the strong culture he's built between the walls of the Texans building, but also how he approaches his work as a player's coach every day–– ultimately making it easy for guys up and down the roster to rally behind him.
"He's a player's coach," Anderson Jr. continued. "He gets it. He understands it, man. He gets out there, he runs with us, he works out with us, and he's enthusiastic about when we make plays. He's jumping up and down with us, and I can tell he wants to put those shoulder pads back on and get out there with us again. But, it's so easy to play for him, because I understand the mindset of what he wants his team to be, the vision that he has for us, and the player that he wants us to be."
For the Texans, it may be early in the process with Ryans at the helm heading into just year three, but it's becoming clearer and clearer that this franchise brought in the right guy to lead this group as their coach for the foreseeable future.
