Back in 2006, Head Coach DeMeco Ryans remembers exactly how he felt going into his rookie minicamp experience.
"Biggest, biggest thing I remember about rookie minicamp is you're nervous going into rookie minicamp," Ryans said. "You're trying to see where you fit. And my biggest message to the guys is just continue to be who you are. What you've done in college allows you to get to the point where you are now. Just continue to be who you are and just go have fun playing football and everything else will take care of itself."
Last month, the Houston Texans added nine players through the 2023 NFL Draft: QB C.J. Stroud, DL Will Anderson, OL Juice Scruggs, WR Tank Dell, DL Dylan Horton, LB Henry To'oTo'o, OL Jarrett Patterson, WR Xavier Hutchinson and DB Brandon Hill. During rookie minicamp, the coaching staff will get its first look at the drafted, undrafted and tryout players on the practice field. After that, rookies will join the rest of the team for the remainder of the offseason workout program, including OTAs later this month.
Now 17 years later, Ryans feels excitement thinking about his first rookie minicamp – this time as a head coach.
"We're excited to work with all the guys drafted, undrafted," Ryans said. "For me, it's all about as coaches, it's our job to develop players. We find out what young men do well and how can we help them grow in the areas that they may have some weaknesses. So it's our job to understand those weaknesses as coaches and also just continue to help those guys, right? Show them where they can improve, go out and teach them drills, teach them fundamentals of where they can get better. That's the exciting part of coaching for me is seeing just young men improve from day-to-day to see them improve. That's the excitement I get out of coaching."
Rookie minicamp takes place May 12-13 at the Houston Methodist Training Center.
