Wade Phillips only spent one year coaching DeMeco Ryans, but it was all he needed to see.
Phillips’ first season with the Houston Texans was 2011, which was the final year the 2006 second-round pick spent of his 86-game career with Houston. As the Texans transitioned from a 4-3 to a 3-4, Ryans made an impression on Phillips with the way he carried himself throughout the organization.
“The Texans are going to get a high quality person first,” Phillips told the 33rd Team. “He was captain of the football team when I went to the Texans. Everybody liked him. Everybody respected him. Very, not only well liked, but attention to detail kind of guy. I think he’ll be really well.”
High-quality person
Wade Phillips, DeMeco Ryans’ former defensive coordinator, explains why the former #Texans LB has all the right tools to lead the franchise as HC#WeAreTexans
— The 33rd Team (@The33rdTeamFB) January 31, 2023
According to Phillips, who was with the Texans from 2011-13, Ryans has a transparency with his talents and success that is easy to pick up on.
“It comes out quickly on some people how well they do when they take over as a coordinator,” said Phillips. “He took over as a coordinator in all facets of the defense. They played really well. I think that is a direct reflection on him. Obviously the other coaches and so forth on defense, but anytime a guy goes in and has that kind of defense, certainly you have good players, but you still have to utilize good players. And I think that’s what he’s learned to do very quickly in his career.”
One of the players that Ryans was able to get the most out of during his tenure with San Francisco was linebacker Fred Warner, who earned his first of two first-team All-Pros in 2020, the last year that Ryans was his position coach before taking the defensive coordinator gig in 2021.
Said Phillips: “He’s not only well liked, but he’s respected and he played ball, play in the NFL. So, he will be respected by the players, too. But I think he will gain that and be able to utilize that to get the team together. They’re obviously very down, but you know, he was with the Texans when they were down at one time, too.”
The Texans completed their transition from a fledging expansion team to a contender in the AFC South by the time Ryans left. With the 38-year-old returning to the Texans, the expectation is he will leave the club that has finished with three consecutive double-digit loss seasons better than when he found them.