HOUSTON — There is nothing like old friends reuniting with one another, catching up on life, and telling stories from the past. Those things will happen between Houston Texans first-year head coach DeMeco Ryans and second-year Miami Dolphins coach Mike McDaniel when they hold joint practices at Houston Methodist Training Center on Wednesday and Thursday before the two teams meet for the second preseason game at NRG Stadium.
The two have had a bond since 2006 when the Texans drafted Ryans out of Alabama in the second round of the NFL Draft, and McDaniel was hired on as an offensive assistant under former head coach Gary Kubiak.
“When I was here and knew McDaniel as a young assistant, he was kind of tied at the hip with coach Kyle Shanahan and just doing anything that was asked of him,” Ryans said after practice on Monday. “I think working hand-in-hand with Coach Kubiak, and Kyle and the offense, I think that’s where he cut his teeth, and that’s where he learned this offense, and he’s done a great job throughout his career.”
Ryans and McDaniel reunited in Santa Clara, California, when they became a part of the San Francisco 49ers staff in 2017. After the 49ers hired Kyle Shanahan as their new head coach, he employed Ryans as the defensive quality control coach and McDaniel as the run game specialist. The two would later become coordinators in 2021 for their respective sides of the ball, marking their final time working together as the Miami Dolphins hired McDaniel during the offseason in 2022 to become their head coach. Ryans would be hired by the Texans one year later.
“That guy is unlike any other coach I have been around,” said Miami Dolphins HC Mike McDaniel about former colleague DeMeco Ryans who was hired by the Houston Texans this past offseason. The two teams will hold joint practices this week before Saturday’s game. #Texans #Sarge pic.twitter.com/oQjcvUG7wg
— #SARGE (@BigSargeSportz) August 15, 2023
Saturday will be the first time both men have faced each other as head coaches, but not the first time the two have matched wits on opposite sides of the field. During his first year as head coach for the Dolphins, McDaniel returned to California late in the season to take on his former team, the 49ers. Miami was riding high with a five-game winning streak, and McDaniel’s high-powered offense hit the Ryans-led defense with a 75-yard touchdown pass on the game’s first play.
That would be the only excitement from the Dolphins on that day as San Francisco routed Miami 33-17 to halt the winning streak and give Ryans some bragging rights over his friend.
“It was good going against him last year,” Ryans told the Texans Wire on Monday after practice. “I am pretty sure he was coming into the game thinking he had us. They hit us with a first-play-of-the-game touchdown. He was on the sideline, walking up and down, strutting, and then we had to lay the smackdown on him. It was fun competing with him because I know he is going to give you as many complex looks as possible.”
During the 2023 NFL combine in Indianapolis, McDaniel was asked by the Texans Wire about Ryans being hired by the Texans as their new coach.
“I am just glad that I didn’t have to interview against him,” McDaniel said. “That guy is unlike any other coach I have been around. At every juncture, he has been a first-class and high leveled human being. The bottom line, as a head coach, your job is to make everyone around you better, and at every walk that I have been able to view him from age 22 and on, that is all he has ever done.
“It is very rare that you get such a leader of men that is willing and able to be a coach after having the illustrious career as he did. The best is yet to come for that franchise, and I know he couldn’t be happier being there.”
Ryans did not hesitate to return the sentiments when he was given the quotes about him from McDaniel by the TexansWire.
“It means a lot,” said Ryans. “McDaniel has shown me tremendous respect throughout my playing career, but also as a coach. It is good to see a guy who has been grinding behind the scenes, nobody knowing who he was, but knowing the work he put in and the amount of time he spends perfecting his craft. I am proud of what he has done.”
