Getty Houston Texans head coach DeMeco Ryans
Under the guidance of head coach DeMeco Ryans, the Houston Texans have experienced a remarkable turnaround. Before his tenure, the AFC South franchise had only secured 11 victories between 2020 and 2022.
Yet, with Ryans leading the way, the Texans came close to matching that win total and even clinched a postseason triumph over the Cleveland Browns. Revamping an NFL team is undeniably daunting, but two fundamental principles guide Ryans’s leadership.
During his May 2 interview with ESPN’s Pat McAfee, general manager Nick Caserio said, “We don’t have a lot of team rules. You know, one is to protect the team, and number two is no energy vampires. Come in, have the right mindset, have the right attitude, and be consistent day-to-day with your performance.”
Surprisingly, the young guns infuse the team with energy on the field. C.J. Stroud, at just 22, has established the high benchmark on offense. Pro Football Focus gave him an 82.8 overall mark after he tallied 4,108 yards and led the league in yards per game (273.9).
Stroud’s leadership elevated everyone around him. Nico Collins ranked third among 128 wide receivers with a 91.0 overall grade. Tank Dell received an 83.4 grade despite suffering a season-ending fibula fracture. Dalton Schultz ranked 12th among 49 tight ends with a 72.7 receiving grade.
While commanding an NFL locker room could be challenging, Caserio praises how Ryans gets everyone on the same page. “DeMeco is just so consistent day-to-day. He has his core philosophies and beliefs on what’s important to him, and the way he messages that to the team is so consistent. Everybody understands what the expectation is on a day-to-day basis,” Caserio said to McAfee.
Drama in His Previous Stops Didn’t Deter Texans from Trading for Stefon Diggs
GettyHouston Texans wide receiver Stefon Diggs
General manager Nick Caserio didn’t stop at restoring the Texans’ identity as a formidable contender. Instead, they handed out $148.6 million worth of contracts to free agents before the 2024 NFL draft. The team has bolstered every level of its defense, adding key players such as edge rusher Danielle Hunter, linebacker Azeez Al-Shaair, and cornerback Jeff Okudah.
But on offense, they traded for Joe Mixon and Stefon Diggs. These additions prompted league analysts to consider the Texans one of the favorites to win Super Bowl 59.
While controversies hounded Diggs’s departures from the Minnesota Vikings and the Buffalo Bills, the Texans concentrated on his on-field contributions. “We’re not gonna judge a player or any individual based on what may have happened in the past. What we’re gonna focus on is when the player is here, how does he assimilate to our program,” Caserio said in the same interview with McAfee.
In an October 6, 2019, article by ESPN’s Adam Schefter and Chris Mortensen, the Vikings fined Diggs $200,000 for missing team meetings and practices. Meanwhile, Ian Rapoport tweeted that the Vikings and Diggs were not on good terms.
On #Vikings WR Stefon Diggs: His frustration with the organization has been palpable. He was not at practice yesterday for non-injury reasons. Teammates are left wondering if he wants to be there. The team is adamant he is not available for a trade, barring some massive deal.
Diggs played with the Vikings through the 2019 season before getting traded to the Bills the following year. As written by The New York Post’s Jaclyn Hendricks, Diggs admitted in a December 2020 edition of ‘Sunday NFL Countdown,’ “The [Vikings] were kind of gearing toward a run-heavy [offense] at that time. I didn’t know it going in. I didn’t know it was going to be that way. They only would allow me to do so much. In my eyes, it wasn’t going to be in the best interest of my career.”
Nick Caserio is a Sports Entertainment Fan
GettyHouston Texans general manager Nick Caserio
Caserio wore an ‘American Nightmare’ hoodie, best associated with current World Wrestling Entertainment Universal Champion Cody Rhodes. The conversation naturally went there, especially with McAfee being a color commentator for ‘Monday Night Raw.’
“I just thought on the heels of WrestleMania and you had (Drew) McIntyre on yesterday, I just felt it might be appropriate to don this gear. I was gonna wear it for my pre-draft press conference, but (Texans Director of Communications) Omar (Majzoub) will probably look at me like, ‘You probably can’t do that.’ But it’s more appropriate on this show. I figured I would wear it for you,” Caserio said.
However, given the busy schedule leading up to the draft, Caserio learned about WrestleMania 40 results through clips. He’s a devoted pro wrestling fan who even uses walk-up music when introduced in a local sports radio program.
“It’s funny, not too many GMs have a walk-up music but when I go on the local 610 program with (Sean) Pendergast and (Seth) Payne, they play DX. We’ve played that introduction, the D’Generation X theme song. So, they changed it yesterday to the Undertaker. I’m not really sure why, but that was the intro yesterday,” Caserio shared on-air with McAfee.