'It's Special!' Texans' DeMeco Ryans Opens Up On AFC South Title
If someone said before the season that the Houston Texans would be AFC South champions, very few would've believed them or even taken them seriously.
That's the thing about the NFL and life in general, though, reality is often stranger than fiction. After defeating the Indianapolis Colts on Saturday, the Texans watched as the Jacksonville Jaguars lost to the Tennessee Titans a day later, giving Houston its first AFC South title since 2019. Behind rookie quarterback C.J. Stroud and first-year coach DeMeco Ryans, the Texans have been one of the biggest surprises in the NFL this season.
Ryans, who played for the Texans when they won their first division title in 2011, shared just how special winning the AFC South in his first season is to him.
DeMeco Ryans
© Troy Taormina-USA TODAY Sports
"It's special to win the division," Ryans told reporters. "That's always the goal. You know if you win the division, you're in the playoffs. So, that's the goal each and every year.
"We're proud of that accomplishment, proud of the work that our guys put in throughout the year and they went out and they earned it. I'm happy the way we earned it, there were a lot of tough, gritty wins."
Pretty much everyone would already consider the Texans' season a success, as they earned 10 wins, as many as the previous three years combined, and made the playoffs when no one expected them to. However, Ryans and his team didn't come this far just to bow out quickly in the playoffs. The Texans aren't content to wait for future playoff success, they want it now.
"Our guys understand our goals and what we set out to accomplish," Ryans said. "As true competitors as we all are, we talk about it all the time. We didn't come this far just to come this far.
"Everybody's excited about it, happy about the division. Congrats, now we have to move on, we have to continue to play football and go win games in the playoffs. That's what it's about."
Ryans' first season as the Texans coach can best be summed up with something he said after helping Houston win its first division title. With a microphone in hand, Ryans emphatically shouted "This is just the beginning!"
