Gary Kubiak remembers when DeMeco Ryans showed up to the Houston Texans.
The AFC South franchise was struggling to come out of its expansion phase. Inaugural coach Dom Capers had four seasons with the team, but a 2-14 finish in 2005 cost him his job and kept Houston mired at the bottom of the league.
The Texans hired Kubiak, former Denver Broncos offensive coordinator, and drafted Ryans as their second-round linebacker from Alabama. Kubiak could tell immediately that there was something different about Ryans.
“He walks in the building as a high draft choice and, because we were a startup franchise, we put him on the field and he became the quarterback of our defense the minute he stepped on Kirby Drive,” Kubiak said via Aaron Wilson of KPRC-TV. “We were asking a Hell of a lot of him and everyone knew by the way he handled himself, the way he was with teammates, understanding what everybody does, you could see the effect it hand on the other people around him at a young age.”
Kubiak is not surprised that Ryans, who was hired as a defensive quality control coach in 2017, has parlayed his experience with the San Francisco 49ers under Kyle Shanahan into a coaching gig with the Texans.
“The ground DeMeco has made up in six years tells you what kind of a special person he is,” said Kubiak. “I think DeMeco is going to do a tremendous job. It’s the chance of a lifetime and now is when the work starts. The fun part is the press conference, all of that, and now there’s all these things to get done. He’ll figure all of that out. I think there’s a lot of keys to a head coaching becoming successful. The most important part is having successful people around you.”
Ryans continues to assemble his coaching staff. No decision yet has been made as to who will call defensive plays in 2023.
