There is a tight race for the NFL Coach of the Year award this season.
A couple of coaches have staked their claim to the accolade – from the Dallas Cowboys’ Mike McCarthy and the Detroit Lions’ Dan Campbell to the Cleveland Browns’ Kevin Stefanksi and the Miami Dolphins’ Mike McDaniel.
But one name stands out among the rest in the eyes of former NFL wide receiver Michael Irvin because of how he’s cleaned up the problems of his predecessors: Houston Texans head coach DeMeco Ryans.
“Hands down, Coach of the Year belongs to DeMeco Ryans,” Irvan said Thursday on “Undisputed” on Fox Sports. “… What they’re doing in Houston is way better than ‘just a good job.’ It’s nothing short of incredible to have that kind of year coming off the type of situations that Houston has had going on for the last few years.”
"Hands down, Coach of the Year belongs to DeMeco Ryans." — @michaelirvin88 pic.twitter.com/hIfUkp1Fid
— UNDISPUTED (@undisputed) December 14, 2023
Ryans is certainly doing an incredible job in Houston considering what the team looked liked over the past three seasons.
After two consecutive AFC South titles from 2018-2019, the Texans finished no better than third in the division and only won 11 total games over the past three years.
Roster construction issues, head coaching turnover and bad quarterback play were among the biggest issues in Houston – and Ryans helped change all of that in less than one season.
Rookie quarterback C.J. Stroud has been a major part of that transformation after he led the league in passing yards through Week 13 before a concussion knocked him out of Week 14.
Ryans is at the center of it all, though, and the Texans are knocking on the door of a playoff berth for the first time since 2019.
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