The Houston Texans surprised in DeMeco Ryans' first season as head coach, coming back to swipe the AFC South title. With reigning Offensive Rookie of the Year C.J. Stroud at the helm, they'll sneak up on no one in 2024.
Ryans told NFL Network's Rhett Lewis at the Senior Bowl Hall of Fame ceremony over the weekend that he's looking forward to the strides his young team makes come training camp and the preseason.
"The most exciting thing, what I love about the NFL is it doesn't matter what happened last year," Ryans said during the interview, which will air in part Monday on The Insiders at 7 p.m. ET. "You get to hit reset. To start back from ground zero, I love that, going back to our Day 1 fundamentals, installs, and seeing guys truly grow and seeing how far we can get before the Hall of Fame Game, see our young players get better and compete against each other. That's what I enjoy most. I still enjoy -- and it comes back to the Senior Bowl -- I still enjoy the growth and development of young players. That's what gets me going. That's why I enjoy coaching is to just have some type of imprint on those guys to help them to go and achieve whatever they want to achieve in their careers."
The Texans imported several veterans, including Stefon Diggs, Joe Mixon and Danielle Hunter, to buffer the young core.
One thing Ryans has preached to the 2024 edition of his roster is that year-to-year success isn't given. It's earned.
"That football season, 2023, is one I'll always remember," he said. "It was a special one because we were able to do it with special people. Getting C.J. and getting and , so many young guys who contributed to flipping that culture in such a short period of time. It doesn't happen easy, it doesn't happen quickly without the right people. I'm very excited to have those guys and to work with those guys and to have the year that we had.
"People talk about how exciting of a year it was, but I throw up a stat to our guys this offseason, like, 'Look, I know we won some games, but guys, look, we had 10 games within one score, and these games were down to the wire and we had to find a way at the end.' That doesn't change. That's the NFL. It's about being smart, being confident in those crucial situations, like the last two minutes of a game. Can you go perform? Can you be clear-minded and go execute the details of your job to the highest level? That's what it'll come down to. So I just always remind them, like, 'Hey, we didn't just blow everybody out!' Those games can go either way, and you have to continue to prepare that way coming into this new season. It's not just going to happen again. You have to start back over at ground zero and work your way back up."