Texans coach DeMeco Ryans gets 'Class A' ranking from CBS Sports

Even NFL head coaches are not immune to rankings season, which will mercifully come to an end next week when training camps start kicking off around the league. While it's admittedly difficult to quantify what a good head coach brings to the table, it's also not hard to recognize a well-coached team on the field. The Houston Texans are definitely one of them, and even though it was a small sample size they clearly have a very strong head coach in DeMeco Ryans.

Ryans got some help in the form of an outstanding rookie class, including C.J. Stroud, Tank Dell and Will Anderson. However, the overall performance of the Texans and their improvement throughout the 2023 season was a clear product of quality leadership. Going into the 2024 NFL season, Ryans is now getting recognized as one of the top coaches in the game. Cody Benjamin at CBS Sports recently ranked all 32 coaches around the league, and Ryans got placeed at No. 13 overall, the first coach in the "Class A" group.

Here's what he wrote about Ryans:

"Ryans had been deemed a future head coach as far back as his days roaming NFL turf as a linebacker, and he delivered on the promise in his first year guiding Houston, ceding the offense to Bobby Slowik and MVP-like rookie quarterback C.J. Stroud, while maximizing youngsters on his preferred side of the ball. Meeting even loftier expectations, perhaps with more aggressive in-game calls, is the next challenge."

Now comes the hard part - living up to some very high expectations in just his second year as a head coach at this level.

Fortunately for Ryans he's getting the right kind of help from general manager Nick Caserio. No other NFL team has been more aggressive acquiring talent this offseason. New additions include Stefon Diggs, Joe Mixon, Danielle Hunter and Denico Autry.

All together, Ryans has been dealt a strong hand. As long as the key pieces like Stroud and Hunter stay healthy this team should be as dangerous as any outside of Kansas City.