DeMeco Ryans knows what he wants for the Houston Texans offense.
Ryans, Texans Chair and CEO Cal McNair and General Manager Nick Caserio met with the media on Thursday afternoon at NRG Stadium. The new head coach, who played linebacker for the franchise from 2006 through 2011, covered a range of topics, including what he wants from his yet-to-be-assembled coaching staff. While he's not hired an offensive coordinator, Ryans has a clear vision for the offense.
So clear, in fact, Ryans reeled off these 10 "wants":
- We want to play with precision.
- We want to play with effort.
- We want to play with physicality.
- We want to own the line of scrimmage.
- We want to establish the run game first, but we want to be balanced.
- We want to be able to operate with play-action pass.
- We also want to be efficient.
- We want to have explosive playmakers who we can get the ball to.
- If it's not down the field, we want to throw a checkdown and put it in the hands of an explosive playmaker and see him create.
- We want to make sure we're adaptable to the players that we have, making sure we're playing to the strengths of our players, getting the ball in our playmakers' hands, and letting them make plays.
When Ryans finished describing his desires for that side of the ball, Caserio had a quick response.
"That's a pretty long checklist there," Caserio said. "We've got a lot of work to do."
At times during his press conference, Ryans explained how he's drawn from his former head coaches Gary Kubiak (Texans, 2006-2011), Andy Reid (Eagles, 2012) and Chip Kelly (Eagles, 2013-2015).
He also harkened back to his playing days at Alabama and explained the importance of a lesson from former Crimson Tide Defensive Coordinator Joe Kines.
According to Ryans, Kines called the young linebacker up in a meeting and quizzed him on his responsibilities, and those of his teammates. Ryans stumbled a bit in front of Kines and the group, and that lack of preparedness made a major impression on him.
Ryans will soon start filling out his coaching staff.
