00:00I would pose this to you and the folks.
00:03713-572-4610.
00:06You can jump in and give your thoughts on this as well.
00:09What's next, though, for D'Amico Ryans?
00:13Clearly, as we've talked about it, historic changes,
00:17double-digit wins all three of his years,
00:20coming from a team that picked second in the draft,
00:23the massive turnaround, being in the playoffs,
00:26winning a playoff game every year.
00:28He is just the 13th head coach in NFL history
00:31and the sixth since 2000 to earn 10 or more wins
00:34each of his first three seasons.
00:36But what is next?
00:38What's the next step for him to becoming the coach that we think?
00:45And not just, oh, win a championship.
00:47Yeah, obviously, but what are the next steps for him
00:50as a head coach that you look at?
00:52Well, I'm going to go with the obvious.
00:54I think right now, I think you have to offer context
00:58when you're talking about D'Amico Ryans, the head coach.
01:01I think he is a great defensive-minded head coach right now.
01:07I think the next step is to become a great head coach.
01:11I think the next step is to oversee, at an elite level,
01:16the entire operation, including the offense.
01:22So I think the low-hanging fruit here for me is obvious.
01:24I mean, until D'Amico Ryans figures out the offensive side of things,
01:30you know, I find it difficult to put in the elite head coach category.
01:40D'Amico, I think, has done exactly what –
01:43the day D'Amico was hired, I felt really, really, really good –
01:47great about the defense.
01:49I felt really, really, really good about the culture
01:53and that he would be able to get the right guys in here
01:56with the right mindset.
01:57I felt really good about the developmental piece.
02:02The same question I had three years ago
02:07when D'Amico Ryans was hired is the same question I have today.
02:11Can he figure out the offensive play caller piece?
02:14And ultimately, it's can he figure out the offense?
02:16Because let's be honest, we don't know what –
02:19and they don't know, more importantly,
02:20if they have their quarterback or not.
02:24You know, D'Amico Ryans appearing to hand the entire offense
02:28over to Nick Casario and just do the New England thing again
02:33is an interesting approach.
02:35So I think the low-hanging fruit for me, Ron,
02:37is just the inability to figure out that –
02:40for the offense to consistently hold you back,
02:44that's a problem for D'Amico Ryans, the head coach.
02:49Yeah, I hope at least –
02:52and I think there are some fair questions with it.
02:55But I hope at least he's in a space maybe now
03:01that he knows exactly what kind of offense he wants.
03:04You know what I mean?
03:05Like, you know, I've wondered,
03:07does he know exactly what he wants
03:11or is he just kind of handing that,
03:13passing that on to others?
03:15When he first got here,
03:16I kind of thought you knew what he wanted,
03:18which is systems he had been in, you know,
03:24since Gary Kubiak.
03:26Then he's with Kyle Shanahan.
03:27He was with Andy Reid as a player.
03:29Kind of thought that's where –
03:30I hope he at least knows where he wants to be.
03:34Someone text in,
03:35better game management, especially before halves,
03:38and better challenge flag record.
03:40Okay, yeah, maybe some other things.
03:42I think there's a couple of things,
03:45and the offense is very clear into the top thing.
03:50How can he figure that out?
03:52Because, Clint, it's not –
03:53I mean, I'm not going to say it ain't ever going to be –
03:55it's probably not just going to happen
03:57because, oh boy, he gets lucky
03:58and he finds, you know, some genius, right?
04:03And even if he does get lucky and find some genius,
04:05the likelihood that you're going to have that genius
04:07for a long stretch is probably unlikely.
04:12Somebody will try to, you know, to get that genius from you.
04:15I think other spaces outside of that is, you know,
04:20sometimes in big moments and big games from a, you know,
04:26discipline standpoint from a penalties to just plays
04:32to hurt themselves, the amount of times I've heard him say,
04:36we got to stop beating the Houston Texans.
04:39The minute we stop beating the Houston Texans,
04:41you know, it'll be all right.
04:42For a coach that I believe,
04:46and covering teams coached by Andy Reid,
04:50I think D'Amico Ryans has the pulse of his team
04:56better than I've ever seen anybody.
04:58Like, appearing to have the pulse of his team
05:00and understanding he is so connected with his leaders,
05:04so connected with most of the guys,
05:05and the guys seem to, outside of a couple of nuts or guys,
05:10seem to really ride and respect him.
05:12He seemed to have that,
05:14but there's still some issues with that
05:18where they beat themselves too much
05:20or they'll have, you know, brain farts.
05:23They even go always, you know, to go back from,
05:25even on defense, that time where somehow Jalen Petrie
05:28got locked up against, you know, Devontae Adams
05:32and that ended up being, you know,
05:35really the game-winning play there
05:37and penalties and things like that.
05:39So I think that is something that he can improve
05:43and his team can improve upon.
05:46But yeah, there's some next steps for me,
05:49and I think a big thing, you talked about the offense,
05:51I think appearing, and I think he's trying
05:55to get better with that, Clint,
05:56appearing to seem to have the same expectations
06:02on both, on all sides of the balls.
06:05Like, to have the same expectations on defense
06:09that he has with his offense and special teams,
06:12and it does seem like that isn't always equal.
06:16So I think that's another next step
06:19for D'Amico as a head coach.
06:22He's a really good to great head coach,
06:25but you can clearly see there is a chance
06:28for him to be a special coach.
06:31There's a chance for him to be, you know,
06:34one of those Hall of Fame-level coaches
06:36with all the, he's got a lot of the hard stuff down.
06:40Yeah, yeah.
06:41I mean, you get, to me,
06:43you figure out the offensive piece.
06:45Chris, I mean, you've got, I mean,
06:51you're in the hunt for a Super Bowl every year.
06:53Yeah.
06:53I mean, his defense is going to be good.
06:55They may not always be, there may be,
06:57you know, you may pay C.J. Stroud $55, $60 million a year,
07:01and then you can't build your defense
07:03with just plug and play all, you know,
07:07all pro type of players.
07:10Maybe you can't do that.
07:11He can coach them into a top 10 defense every year.
07:13No question.
07:14That's where I was going with it.
07:15Like, right now, you've got the luxury
07:17of a great play caller, great designer,
07:19one of the best defensive minds,
07:20along with you spent a lot of money over there
07:22to keep guys, you've drafted and developed guys
07:25in an impressive manner.
07:27Even when those things aren't part of the equation,
07:30I believe that D'Amico Ryans
07:32is going to have the Texans in a top defense,
07:34regardless of how you have to build the roster, right?
07:38The key is that offensive piece.
07:42We've seen it.
07:43We've seen it time and time again
07:45of defensive-minded head coaches
07:46that take this conservative approach to offense,
07:49and the offense ends up being what,
07:51or the lack thereof ends up being what holds you back.
07:54We've seen it, you know,
07:56not being able to either find the quarterback,
08:00develop the quarterback, support the quarterback,
08:03and put him in a position to understand
08:06that sometimes you've got to outscore teams.
08:09Sometimes you've got to be the better offense on the field.
08:12You know, that takes a different mind.
08:17That takes a different dude.
08:19Like, to remove the defensive piece from it,
08:22he's got to get this offense figured out.
08:25And not just to your point,
08:27not just one time,
08:29because if that guy's good, he gets, you know,
08:31I mean, let's be honest,
08:32if he gets it figured out with Kaylee,
08:34and Kaylee have a good year this year,
08:35you might have him for one more.
08:38Yeah.
08:39You know?
08:40That's the hard part.
08:42And I see somebody on the text line talking about
08:44he needs to take more control of the offense.
08:48But it's, like, you know,
08:50how does he do that?
08:53Like, you know,
08:54even though that's not his expertise.
08:57Yeah, I just,
08:58I don't think taking control of the offense is the thing.
09:01I think he's well on his,
09:04from that perspective,
09:05I think he's well on his way.
09:06Like, look,
09:06I don't care what y'all do schematically,
09:08but you're going to be a physical group
09:11that finishes through the whistle.
09:14You're going to,
09:14and you're going to be smart,
09:15and you're going to be able to communicate.
09:16Like, that's what the head coach
09:19can demand of his offensive staff,
09:21is you better find me,
09:22you better force them.
09:23You're either coaching or allowing things.
09:25You better force them
09:28to play with a level of physicality
09:30that's the standard, right?
09:32When it comes to,
09:34like, the offense in-game adjustments
09:37and the play calling and all that,
09:40like, that's,
09:41you've got to find the right guy to do that.
09:43Now, I'll say this.
09:45If I'm D'Amico Rhines,
09:47the minute I hear Nick Casario say,
09:49oh, this ain't about one person,
09:51we're not building around one person,
09:52I correct that immediately.
09:55I mean, no,
09:56I mean, like,
09:56they've got to get to a point,
09:57like, to me,
09:58a defensive,
09:58only a defensive head coach
10:00would accept,
10:01oh, we don't build around our quarterback.
10:03Like, who in their right mind
10:04even shapes their mouth to say that?
10:06Yeah.
10:07So that,
10:08that to me,
10:09like, that thought has to be
10:12nipped in the bud.
10:13That can't be where you're at
10:14offensively.
10:15I mean,
10:15you've got to build around that guy.
10:17Even if it's not CJ,
10:19you've got to build around that guy
10:20some way or another.
10:22Yeah.
10:22Now,
10:23text line coming in,
10:24can D'Amico be a great head coach
10:26if he doesn't win a Super Bowl?
10:27Yeah,
10:27I think he could be a great head coach.
10:34I think he's got to get to one.
10:36I think he's got to,
10:37I think he's,
10:38but I mean,
10:39you know,
10:41there are,
10:41like,
10:42Marty Schottenheimer,
10:42I think,
10:43is a great head coach.
10:44He never won a Super Bowl.
10:46I mean,
10:46there are guys out there
10:48that are,
10:49that are fitting in that.
10:51I think he's got to be a great head coach.
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