Happy DeMeco Day!
One year ago, DeMeco Ryans was hired as the head coach of the Houston Texans. Whether you're a longtime Texans fan, a new Texans fan, a Texans fan who drifted off during some tough times, a secret Cowboys fan who works among Texans fans and still enjoys Houston's success, or something else in between, January 31 of 2023 was one of the two or three most important days in the history of the franchise.
Reflect on where things stood 366 days ago: the Texans were coming off a 13-loss season and going through a coaching search for the third straight January. They'd lost 13 the year before that, and another 12 in 2020. Houston ended the 2019 campaign by squandering a 24-0 second quarter lead on the road in the Divisional Round loss at Kansas City.
Ryans return spurred a renaissance on the field--a 10-7 mark to win an AFC South title, and a playoff victory to boot--and off it as well.
You're seeing a lot more Texans gear worn around town these days, and you can trace it directly back to this day a year ago.
I was sitting at my desk a few moments after he signed his contract, and he walked down the hall to his new office. The Great Zach Tarrant snapped the photo below of him saying hello.
**Elsewhere in the headlines**, offensive coordinator Bobby Slowik and quarterbacks coach Jarrod Johnson will be back in 2024. The former interviewed for several head coaching vacancies over the last month, while the latter was interviewed for offensive coordinator jobs that were open as well.
Quarterback C.J. Stroud is **headed to the Pro Bowl**. He'll join defensive end and fellow rookie Will Anderson, Jr. and left tackle Laremy Tunsil there this weekend.
Senior Bowl week is in full swing, and our guy John Harris is in Mobile, Alabama for it all. In addition to his duties as a Team Analyst/Radio Sideline Reporter, Johnny's a Draft guru. **Here's his comprehensive report** from yesterday's practices.
We know who the home and road opponents are for the Texans this fall. We won't know the dates and times for those games until April. But we know this: **they face a slate of winners**.
