Texans Player Makes Case for DeMeco Ryans as COTY

"I don't know if it's a voting thing or what — but DeMeco Ryans definitely did a great job this year," Ward said. "I'll be surprised if he doesn't win Coach of the Year. I am putting that into existence."

The two respective parties established a relationship when Ryans served as a defensive quality coach in 2017 for the San Francisco 49ers. Ward was in his fourth season and watched Ryans grow into the coach who led the Texans to 10 wins within his first year. 

The Texans also added an AFC South Divisional title while advancing to the second round of the playoffs — an improbable feat that even caught Ward by surprise.

"A lot of people ask me how I felt this year was going to be, did I feel we were going to win this many games?" Ward said. "If I said 'yeah', I definitely would have been lying. DeMeco came here and did what he needed to do. He brought the right guys in to help him do that."

Thursday morning, Ryans was named a finalist for the AP NFL Coach of the Year, joining Dan Campbell of the Detroit Lions, John Harbaugh of the Baltimore Ravens, Kyle Shanahan of the San Francisco 49ers, and Cleveland Browns coach, Kevin Stefanski.

He was also joined on the AP finalist list by his star rookie duo of quarterback C.J. Stroud and defensive end Will Anderson Jr., both of whom are finalists for the Offensive and Defensive Rookie of the Year Awards.

The Pro Football Writers of America named Ryans Coach of the Year for the 2023 season. His success went hand-in-hand with Stroud and Anderson, who took home PFWA awards, respectively.