Houston Texans coach DeMeco Ryans perfectly demonstrated during Saturday’s AFC wild-card playoff how good coaching can impact a game immediately.
In a video from NFL Films on Wednesday, a mic’d-up Ryans was shown deep in discussion with linebacker Christian Harris during the third quarter of Saturday’s game against the Cleveland Browns.
Ryans instructs Harris what to do on the next play to ensure that he gets an interception, and the head coach predicts pretty much every detail to perfection.
“You just hang right there and just play the quarterback. As soon as he snaps, step in front of it, get a pick. I’m telling you,” Ryans tells Harris.
That is exactly what Harris did. He watched Browns quarterback Joe Flacco, who set his sights on tight end Harrison Bryant. Harris then stepped in front of Bryant’s route, intercepted the pass, and returned it for a touchdown to give Houston a 38-14 lead.
Obviously, much more goes into successful coaching than simply being able to predict an opponent like this. It certainly suggests how good Ryans is at reading the game, and someone who can do that can craft a game plan to very successfully counter the opponent’s strengths.
Ryans went 10-7 in his first season as Texans coach and has already surpassed all expectations by guiding the team to a playoff win. With intuition like this, it is becoming very easy to understand why.
More must-reads: