Texans’ Ryans and Pats’ Vrabel turned around their former teams

HOUSTON — During DeMeco Ryans’ first season as coach of the Houston Texans, he was stopped unexpectedly by a fan at a grocery store.

The exchange was brief but memorable. The fan told Ryans he had started watching Texans football again. He was drawn to the success and renewed energy the former Texans linebacker had brought to Houston.

For years, the fan admitted, he couldn’t handle losing — an 11-38-1 streak from 2020 to 2022 that put many off. That moment stuck in Ryans’ mind, explaining why he returned to lead the franchise that drafted him in 2006: restoring the pride, confidence and relevance of Texas football to the city he once represented on the field.

“I went on a (conference) call, said my name and then heard the reaction,” Ryans said Friday. “People are really happy with what these guys are able to do on the field and win the football.

“It changes the landscape of the city and the way people feel. We can bring a little joy to our community. That’s one of the main reasons I came back.”

Ryans is on the verge of another breakthrough for the franchise. After dismantling the Pittsburgh Steelers 30-6 in the wild-card round, Houston advanced to the divisional round for the third straight season, chasing what it never achieved: an AFC championship game.

The Texans (12-5) travel to face the New England Patriots on Sunday (3 p.m. ET, ABC/ESPN), looking to snap an 0-6 skid in the divisional round and push the organization into uncharted territory under Ryans’ leadership.

But Ryans won’t be the only coach in this game to revive the team he once played for.

After going 4-13 in consecutive years, Mike Vrabel led the Patriots (14-3) to their first division title since 2019, and they had their first winning season since 2021.

Vrabel is the Patriots’ third coach in as many seasons. New England fired Jerod Mayo after one season last January. He was also a former player and succeeded the legendary Bill Belichick, who led the franchise to six Super Bowl titles from 2000 to 2023.

Vrabel was asked Friday about his transition from player to coach, and whether it’s difficult knowing he can’t help them physically on the field.

“You have to be confident enough that you’ve helped them get to the game and prepare them and do everything you can to put them in a position to be successful,” Vrabel said.

Vrabel played with the Patriots from 2001 to 2008, earning first-team All-Pro honors in 2007 and helping them win three of those Lombardi Trophies. He was also inducted into the Patriots’ Ring of Honor and, like Ryans, he possesses a sense of pride for his former franchise.

“I think it’s an honor to coach in this league. It’s true,” Vrabel said. “There are only so many opportunities. And to be able to do it here, I think, is special and meaningful.”

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AS A PLAYER, Ryans was an All-Pro and a Pro Bowler, and he helped Houston win its first AFC South title in 2011. That season ended with the franchise’s first playoff victory — a win over the Cincinnati Bengals — but the Texans lost to the Baltimore Ravens in the divisional round.

Now, Ryans aims to finally get the franchise and the city over the proverbial hump.

“I saw from afar that the organization was kind of in a bad place. A lot of negative news about the organization,” Ryans told ESPN. “I was like, man, if I could come back and really impact this team, have an impact on the organization, have a positive impact on the city, where people would feel Texans pride again, because I felt that as a player. I just wanted to reestablish that.”

When asked how much his pride as a player influences his training, he replied: “That’s it, man. That’s why I’m passionate about it.”

This will be the third division matchup since 1970 between head coaches who also played for their respective franchises. The other two cases were the New York Jets (Walt Michaels) vs. the Oakland Raiders (Tom Flores) and the Raiders (Art Shell) vs. the Bengals (Sam Wyche).

When Ryans was introduced as the Texans’ new coach, returning to a building where his history loomed large, the feeling around the team was different. Photos from his playing days (2005-2011) lined the hallways of NRG Stadium and framed the auditorium where he first addressed the media as a franchise leader.

That day, he called it his dream job.

“I know the people of Houston yearn for a successful football team,” Ryans said. “Everyone in town loves football.”

Even though he finished his playing career with the Philadelphia Eagles (2012-2015) and spent six seasons with the San Francisco 49ers (2017-2022) – first as linebackers coach, then as defensive coordinator – Ryans never stopped supporting the franchise that drafted him.

“Everybody developed that mentality,” right tackle Tytus Howard told ESPN. “He took everyone’s game to another level being here.”

This season was the first time the Texans failed to win the AFC South under Ryans. In Ryans first season, it looked like things were going to continue on a familiar losing path from several previous campaigns, but the Texans turned things around after starting 0-2.

There has also been a massive turnaround this season. Houston became only the seventh team in the Super Bowl era (1966) to clinch a playoff spot after an 0-3 start. And the Texans did it thanks to Ryans’ calling card: defense.

“Shoot, I think everyone knows we’re the better defense,” safety Calen Bullock said after the Texans’ win Monday. “The whole world knows it. Every time we go there we show it and we went there and showed it today.”

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THE BEGINNING OF the season hasn’t been as smooth for Vrabel and neither have the Patriots. They started 1-2, but then took it up a gear by winning 10 straight. As a result, the Patriots dethroned reigning MVP Josh Allen and the Buffalo Bills – who had won five straight division titles – in the AFC East.

When asked what brought Vrabel back to New England and why he thought it was a special place, his answer was simple: “The history of wins and championships.”

But he knows his teams must chart their own path.

“The banners hanging in our stadium are not going to help us win, but I think it’s a great reminder of what it takes to win and the type of people you have to have in the organization – the selflessness, the work and the sacrifices you have to make,” Vrabel said before the season. “So, for me, those are great reminders of what it takes.”

Vrabel, whose NFL coaching career began in Houston when he was linebackers coach in 2014, is now the second seed, and his Patriots are scheduled to face the fifth-seeded Texans after New England beat the Los Angeles Chargers 16-3 in the first round.

Before accepting the job with the Patriots, Vrabel said what he experienced in the locker room as a New England player remains the standard for what he hopes to achieve as a coach when he gave his Patriots Hall of Fame speech in 2023.

“We held each other accountable because there was trust, there was understanding, there was respect that we could say things to each other that needed to be said,” Vrabel said. “Every day, that’s what I try to recreate everywhere I coach. I don’t know if we’ll get there, but every day I’m going to try because nothing was more important than the team.”

NFL Nation reporter Mike Reiss contributed to this report.