- 10 months ago
We’ve talked plenty about potential changes around the Texans’ coaching staff, but ITL focuses on the biggest question: is there anything you’d actually like to see DeMeco Ryans change moving forward?
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00:00But also keep it locked for this question and let us know what you think
00:02because there's been talk of all the different things that you can change
00:06or shouldn't change or won't change with this Texans team.
00:10But in trying to figure out what this offseason looks like
00:12and what the 2026 version of this team looks like,
00:15D'Amico Ryans is one of those things that we should kind of talk about.
00:18So is there anything that you'd like to see D'Amico change?
00:21Yeah, I think that's a good question for our listeners as well.
00:24713-572-4610 if you want to text in or, of course, on YouTube as well.
00:29Comment there.
00:30Well, we got some answers.
00:33We're going to dig in more on some of the answers that we got from Nick Casario
00:35as we move along here today.
00:38But I did start to think as I heard this quote, this comment from D'Amico Ryans
00:44on the coach's show last night.
00:46Shout out to Mark and John.
00:47Always doing a great job.
00:48Shout out to Mark and John.
00:49And it got me thinking about is there anything you'd like to see D'Amico change?
00:52Biggie?
00:55It's cut three from the coach's show yesterday.
00:57But I know you want to see more consistency running the football, that kind of thing.
01:01Yeah, no doubt about it, Mark.
01:03It starts there.
01:04We didn't run the ball well at all, right?
01:06And that's been a formula for our success.
01:08Like, we ran it and we had some success, especially in the Pittsburgh game there.
01:12And now we get in this game and we get nothing from the run game.
01:16And so if the run game isn't working, you're getting stuff, you're getting stuff, people
01:19may think, well, why are you throwing it so well?
01:22What's our other option?
01:24Right.
01:24Right.
01:24And so, you know, you try to balance out that passing and rushing attack.
01:29But, you know, when you see so many runs go for negative or no gain at all, you got
01:34to try to advance the football some type of way.
01:36So, you know, we want to see our rushing game, I think, just helps the passing game so much
01:42when you can run the football.
01:43But that comes to owning the line of scrimmage.
01:45And I think our offensive line will definitely improve this year from a pass protection perspective.
01:51We got much better.
01:52Quarterback was not sacked as much as we were last year.
01:55So huge improvement in that area.
01:57We can still take strides in the running game and getting better there with the up front
02:02running the ball.
02:02Also, the backs, all across the board, we can improve that area.
02:07So that, okay, first of all, we talked to you, he said this before we heard from Nick
02:13Casario, but flat out said, we didn't run the ball very well.
02:17Which makes me wonder, do you feel like we maybe allowed what was a quote that just hit
02:22us the wrong way?
02:23Did we hear that the wrong way?
02:24The idea that there isn't a concern with this offense is, is that, are they saying that
02:29to mean that we're not outsizedly concerned or something that we feel like we cannot address?
02:33I mean, it was.
02:34Is that maybe?
02:35It was pretty clear.
02:36And I think the context of when he said that is very important, him being Nick Casario.
02:41Okay.
02:42He was a little flustered there at the end with, you know, constantly being peppered.
02:46I guess we got to find someone better than Nico Collins.
02:48Yeah.
02:48Yeah.
02:49Yeah.
02:49Yeah.
02:49He was saying stuff like that about as flustered as you'll ever hear Nick Casario.
02:54He was, that was about as most unguarded as you will ever hear Nick Casario.
02:59And that's when he said it, you know, we've never sat in our office and said the offense
03:03is a concern.
03:04Couple that with D'Amico Ryan saying, you know, we, we need to improve our run game,
03:10but you know, we're, we're, we're getting better or whatever.
03:13He even said running backs at one point, you know, across the board, uh, need to improve,
03:17uh, et cetera.
03:19And is, is what would you like to change?
03:22If there's anything you would like to change with D'Amico Ryan's mind, my, my answer is
03:27this, he needs, I would love to see him be a little more, a little less inflexible, a
03:35little less inflexible with, uh, a little more flexible.
03:38Yeah.
03:38A little more flexible, a little less inflexible, uh, with, with how he, he wants this offense
03:43to be, he wants it to be run the ball, a safe path.
03:47We've talked about it a million times.
03:49Uh, tweaking the offense a little bit is not going to be the end of the world here.
03:54It's not going to, you know, be the reason you have five turnovers and you had five turnovers
03:58anyway, you know?
03:59Uh, so I would love to see him maybe not just be so devoted and hell bent on just run the
04:08ball, just be safe.
04:10Little hitch passes, nothing too crazy.
04:12Uh, don't put the ball in harm's way.
04:14And it got me thinking also, like we we've talked about Gerard Johnson might be one of
04:19the guys that, uh, has a target on his back and easy mark, so to speak, uh, to, to be fired
04:24because they are going to keep Nick Kaley because they are going to, you know, uh, not change
04:28a whole lot.
04:28It seems like a full of philosophically.
04:30Why not?
04:31Why not just tweak the offense enough to be able to satisfy CJ Stroud to a degree, but
04:39also give yourself a chance to not play in these little margins in every single game.
04:45You mentioned it during the break.
04:47Like they have to, basically they're saying, we're not going to change the offense.
04:51We're going to still be in a place where we pretty much have to be perfect.
04:54It does feel like that, right?
04:56It does feel like that's the case, right?
04:57When you do, and I have to go, I was working off of so that I can get this correct.
05:02But, um, you know, when, when you talk about the way that this thing goes, where you feel
05:07like we're more capable of playing deeper into January or whatever, we're not satisfied.
05:12Okay.
05:12That's not the quote I was looking for, but basically it feels like the idea is what we
05:15did.
05:16We just, we just need to be, we need to make, actually, I think it was when it came to defensive,
05:20uh, I think it was big Sarge asked, you know, you've, you've added to your defense, you've
05:26utilized assets for your defense.
05:29Is that something that basically you'll do on the offense?
05:31And they were like, we feel like the offense is good.
05:34Right.
05:34And we feel it's, it's less about one offensive unit, defensive unit, special teams, building
05:38a team.
05:39It just feels like the margins, as much as I think that they will try and make themselves
05:43marginally better.
05:44They're not trying to widen the margins.
05:45And what the ask is, is just execute, execute to, to all fault.
05:50Everything is execution.
05:51And if everything's execution, what it feels like you're ultimately telling me is we just
05:55need to be perfect.
05:56And if we're just perfect, everything will be great.
05:58And sure, that's right.
05:59But I don't know that we live in a world where perfection is something that is actually
06:04attainable.
06:05Yes.
06:05You want to strive for that, but I think you should also at the same time have some level
06:09of cushion for, okay, what happens if you are not perfect?
06:12And I think that sometimes that is where my frustration comes.
06:15If you are not maximizing what you are doing elsewhere.
06:19Well, and go ahead.
06:20No, no, go ahead.
06:21We just heard Nick Casario really go in depth on guys.
06:26This is such a tough league.
06:28It's so hard.
06:29The division is getting better.
06:31Robert Salas, you know, we, a lot of respect for him.
06:34We've saw what Liam Cohen is doing.
06:36The, the, the, the culture and Steichen are always going to be a dangerous team.
06:41And so on the one hand, they're talking about, man, this is really, really hard.
06:45And on the other hand is like, our game plan is to be perfect.
06:48I would love for it to happen.
06:50Be perfect.
06:51You know, every single snap.
06:52But the reality is you've got to be able to, to, to be flexible enough to maybe take
06:59some chances and, and widen that gap a little bit when you can.
07:02Now, one thing I will say, cause I know that we came into it.
07:05What are you looking for maybe from D'Amico when it comes to the 2026 season?
07:10And you're like, be a little bit more flexible, you know, be willing to have an offense that,
07:14or maybe go for an offense that is a little bit more aggressive at times.
07:18I actually, in the way that the NFL is trending, I'm cool with having an offense that leans on
07:23the run.
07:23I think that this year in particular, there needed to be an appreciation and understanding
07:28that of where you were coming from.
07:29You were coming from an offensive line that was putrid in 2024 and you were trying to make
07:34strides and kudos to them.
07:36They made strides on the offensive line.
07:38It was not a great offensive line, but it was a good enough offensive line, but with
07:42a good enough offensive line and without Joe Mixon.
07:45So you had the likes of Nick Chubb and Woody Marks who did admirably, but again, not great,
07:50good enough.
07:51You then wanted them to be, you know, the, the, the, the, the workhorses of this.
07:56I think that in a, with another year, assuming that you apply yourself appropriately, you could
08:02get yourself closer to an offense where you can have workhorses to run the football.
08:06And I think that's a viable way of winning in the NFL.
08:09Yeah.
08:09So I don't necessarily need them to, but I need you to, to push one way or the other,
08:13right?
08:14These things don't feel like they jive in my mind where you go, yeah, we've got talent
08:17and it's, you know, it's just about, if you won the football, I think there's more that
08:22you need to do to get yourself to a place where execution is the only thing you talk.
08:25Well, what, what, where I'm going in, I want to be clear on this.
08:27I'm not saying, you know, stop running the ball so much and, and, and throw it down the
08:31field.
08:31Just chuck it.
08:32No, I'm not saying that at all.
08:33I think every offense in the NFL these days, hell, we were talking about Mike McDaniel
08:38going to, uh, going, going to the LA chargers.
08:41Mike McDaniel loves to run the ball.
08:43He loves to run the ball inside the tackles, but he does it in innovative ways, but he does
08:48it in a certain way.
08:50And he also will take those chances downfield and, and have a lot of, you know, big time
08:57plays that are maybe a little risky.
08:59That's what I'm saying.
08:59Everyone needs to run the ball in the NFL.
09:01That is a given, you know, and no, no doubt about it, but there's different levels of running
09:06the football and they not run the ball.
09:08And then third and eight, you know, you're, you're throwing a little flat route, you know?
09:11Sure.
09:12Yeah.
09:12Um, but that, I think you're starting to get to the offensive coordinator circumstance.
09:16Uh, we will talk, we will discuss, uh, would you, would you agree with this, uh, assertion
09:20that's come in here on the text line that from the seven one three, that they're trying to
09:25be perfect by being simple, which is something that works for the defense, but the offense
09:29needs more wrinkles, more pass game, things of that nature.
09:32Yes.
09:33Seven one three.
09:33I agree with you.
09:34Shout out JW.
09:35You know, you know what you do JW is what you're saying is, is right.
09:39You know, you can be just fundamentally sound.
09:41Don't disguise anything and just be ballers on the defensive side of the ball.
09:46They were, which we know that because they were three years.
09:50You can go that far.
09:51We know that because they were, and they are offense that doesn't play, you know, ask
09:56D'Amico Ryans, you know, if you see an offense with the ball and is really, really safe, uh,
10:02passing the ball, you know, do you, would you prefer that to maybe facing, you know, a McDaniel
10:08or, or, or some of these, uh, the Shanahan's and, and all that, of course he would prefer
10:12that.
10:12And that's, that's part of the problem.
10:14You know, the, the, the creativity be a little more flexible, not take crazy chances, but be
10:19willing to take more chances, you know, shots.
10:21Um, I think when you mentioned chances, as we were continuing to talk about the things
10:25that you'd like to see, maybe D'Amico change or improve.
10:28Is there anything else?
10:28I mean, the clear ones are obvious where you go to, you know, game management circumstances.
10:33And here's the thing for me, I think I'm actually pretty, I have a decent amount of leeway with
10:39coaches and decision-making with coaches.
10:41I think some people are like, these are the, these are the prescribed ways of going about
10:45circumstances.
10:46My general philosophy on coaching decisions is if you can, if you can stand by, if you can
10:51give me a logical reason why I'll let you rock.
10:53I'm very much of the school of thought.
10:55I had, I used to have a middle school math teacher who would say there's more than one
10:58way to cook chicken because who's out here skinning cats, right?
11:00But there is indeed more than one, you can bake it, you can fry it.
11:04You can, you know what I mean?
11:04There's a lot of different ways to get to a desired answer.
11:08I think that there's a lot of different ways you can manage games.
11:10It just feels like for D'Amico Ryans, even in with that latitude that I'm giving a coach
11:15in general, it doesn't feel like there's a, a logical way to go about it every single
11:20way.
11:20And specifically, it doesn't feel like they have an MO.
11:23This is the way we have, we will handle this because we've worked through this and we've
11:26thought through it.
11:27It oftentimes feels like rigid, not rigid.
11:30It feels like the opposite of rigid, like we're just, we're just kind of picking it up
11:33as we go and then determining the logic in the moment, which it doesn't feel like is
11:36the level of prepare that I expect from D'Amico Ryans.
11:40The other part of it, you're right.
11:42And I agree.
11:42But the other part of it, like, is there anything you'd like to see D'Amico change?
11:46It ties directly into what we're talking about with the offense ties directly into what
11:51they're saying about, you know, it's, it's every guy.
11:54It's not, you know, trying to deflect across the quarterback.
11:57You drafted this guy.
11:59Number two, overall CJ Stroud, you, you put, I thought you were talking about someone else.
12:04You, you put the franchise in his hands.
12:08Why are you afraid to trust him?
12:10Why are you afraid to trust him?
12:12Why are you, you know, I think they'd argue that they aren't afraid to trust him.
12:15They just have a high, high barrier with maybe the plays, the offense, the, the style that
12:21fits him.
12:21That's what I'm talking about.
12:23Yeah.
12:24Yeah.
12:24I think they would argue that they do trust him and that the idea is we trust you to not
12:27make mistakes.
12:28And for the most part, he didn't this year.
12:29Again, these are the arguments that they'd make.
12:31And then he had a, he had a couple of games where he did, uh, where he did fall short
12:35and that they would just continue to trust him in that way.
12:37I think that that's the interesting thing is the way that they go about trust, the way
12:41that they go about team building, all of these things.
12:43It's like, there's a clear disparity between what we on the outside think of the way that they
12:46go about these things, the way they even view these things than they do.
12:49But yeah, no, look, yes, you're, you're, you're, you're right.
12:54But you know, if you have this, it goes back to my, my analogy, you know, uh, the, the diamond
13:00in a paper bag, if I hold the paper bag in front of you and I keep telling you there's
13:03a diamond in here, there's a diamond in here, there's a diamond in this paper bag.
13:07Like at some point you're going to, you're going to, you're going to, you're going to
13:09tell me, well, show it to me.
13:12You know, I want to see it.
13:13I don't believe you that that's what I'm saying.
13:15Like being able to, it ties with the offense, you know, my, my offense theory to be the
13:21run and shoot, you know, the same, show it to me a little bit, show it to me once, twice,
13:27three times, whatever, you know?
13:30Okay.
13:31I don't, I don't disagree.
13:32I just, I know that they drafted a diamond and it's in a paper bag.
13:37I don't disagree.
13:38I've told you, I think that the offense that I would prefer for CJ Stroud to play in is
13:42a Shanahan offense, but that's not where you are.
13:45And it doesn't seem like that's where you're going to be.
13:47Um, and I try to, try to find those, those, you know, melding of those two things is going
13:52to be interesting.
13:53Cause that's one of the things you're, you've been strong on CJ Stroud talking about the likes
13:56of like Ryan day and what they've done.
13:58And you can, you can, you know, compare and contrast what the Ohio state CJ Stroud experiences
14:04and what they, what they had him do from what they do right now.
14:07They ran the ball a lot, but you know what they did?
14:08They put the game on the quarterback shoulders, uh, post snap decisions, uh, timing routes,
14:14crossing routes, getting the ball to a spot, uh, that they're entrusting your receivers.
14:18I think that's what, that's ultimately what I'm talking about.
14:22All right.
14:22There's, I think there's, there's definitely more things for D'Amico Ryans that, and the tough
14:28part about it is I don't want to undercut who D'Amico Ryans is.
14:31That's why I was trying to be very careful.
14:32Cause there's things that with anybody that you go, yeah.
14:34Like if I asked you, Hey, Jan's lovely.
14:37Are there things that you'd want her to change?
14:39I'm sure you can start rattling things off, but then you have to be very careful about
14:42the things where you go.
14:43Does this change inherently who this person is?
14:46Yeah.
14:46I think there's some things that he can reflect on, which I know he will, that he can do without
14:50changing who he is with, you know, defending his players and establishing a fast and free
14:55way of them to play and having a level of accountability that stays within the house.
15:00As opposed to those guys, I think that all of these things can remain the way that he
15:03coaches while also finding ways to make himself better.
15:06And that's one of the things that I sure hope that he's able to do elevate himself as well
15:10as this team, as they head into the 2026 season.