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.
Major shout out to DeMeco Ryans and CJ Stroud.
— First and Pen (@firstandpen) January 7, 2024
The first-year head coach and rookie QB just led the Houston Texans to a 10-7 record and the playoffs, the team's first since 2019. ✊???? #WeAreTexans pic.twitter.com/5jTcpOkoqp
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.
What a moment ???? pic.twitter.com/8QAS4KGAhW
— Houston Texans (@HoustonTexans) January 7, 2024
“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.
Continue reading over at First and Pen.
This content has been brought to you by First and Pen in partnership with TheHub.News. First and Pen “amplifies local sports stories from voices of color to the national conscience…”
