The Houston Texans ended the season by beating the Colts on the road and amazingly making the playoffs for the first time since 2019.
More significantly, the Texans also made history by becoming the first team in NFL history to make the playoffs with both a Black rookie head coach and starting quarterback.
The last rookie head coach-rookie QB duo to make the playoffs were the Colts’ Chuck Pagano and Andrew Luck in 2012. Ironically, that’s the team the Texans beat on Saturday to accomplish the feat.
Not only did first-year head coach DeMeco Ryans and rookie QB CJ Stroud make history, but they also led the Texans to the franchise’s first AFC South title and winning season since 2019.
That’s an amazing feat for an organization that spent the last three seasons mired in losing, humiliating Black head coaches, dealing with Deshaun Watson’s drama and trying to navigate through the horrendous decisions made by former head coach, Bill O’Brien.
Ryans, the former 49ers defensive coordinator who crafted San Francisco into a defensive powerhouse, took a franchise that finished 4-12, 4-12 and 3-13-1 over the last three seasons and led it to a remarkable 10-7 turnaround.
“To our fans back home, lots of ups and downs, I know our fans are partying,” said Ryans. “They deserve it.”
Ryans is a natural leader and demonstrated it both as a player and a coach.
After being selected in the second round by the Texans in the 2006 NFL Draft, he won Defensive Rookie of the Year and was named to two Pro Bowls during his tenure in Houston.
After retiring, he began his NFL coaching career in 2017 as the 49ers’ defensive quality control coach, eventually rising to become San Francisco’s defensive coordinator in 2020. Two years later, he was named the 2022 Pro Football Writers of America Assistant Coach of the Year.
In 2023, he was hired by the Texans as the sixth head coach in team history and understood the situation.
The Texans hired David Culley in 2021 and Lovie Smith in 2022, and it quickly became apparent that they were simply clean-up men, an unfortunate but very real position familiar to many Black coaches where they are hired to navigate the team through a tough period only to be replaced the following season, usually by white coaches.
In the Texans’ case, they had three Black coaches in that position consecutively- Romeo Crennel (interim), Culley and Smith.
So the Texans had to get it right in 2023. To the organization’s credit, it did when the team hired Ryans.
Next, the team turned to the 2023 NFL Draft and selected franchise players CJ Stroud and Willie Anderson Jr., who both paid immediate dividends.
Stroud, who some ranked behind no.1 overall pick Bryce Young, shocked the NFL by throwing for 4,108 yards with 23 TDs and 5 INTs, and that’s with missing the two games due to a concussion.
“I put a lot of work in,” said an emotional Stroud to Lisa Salters after Saturday’s victory. “My team has. Everybody counted us out from the start, so man, it’s just special to the city of Houston on the come-up again and I’m just blessed to be the vessel that Christ picked to lead this great franchise. So I can do nothing but just thank the Lord.”
CJ’s faith guides and supports him through the good and tough times. Through it, he’s been able to silence the naysayers and prove that he will be a star in the league for many years to come.
Stroud will also make another piece of history next weekend by becoming the first quarterback drafted out of Ohio State to start an NFL playoff game since Mike Tomczak last did it for the Bears in a 1988, 20-12 playoff victory over the Eagles.
Through the leadership of Ryans and Stroud, the Texans will be a formidable team for years to come.
And through their success, the pair made history in more ways than one in 2023.
