AFC Notes: Colts, Texans, DeMeco Ryans, Titans

Colts

• Zak Keefer reports that Colts owner Jim Irsay took a backseat during the initial head coaching interviews but he has been more involved during the eight second interviews, some of which have lasted up to 12 hours.
• Adam Schefter reports that Eagles’ OC Shane Steichen is interviewing for the Colts’ head coaching job on Saturday and that the team may not name a head coach until after the Super Bowl.

Texans

At his introductory press conference, Texans’ new HC DeMeco Ryans said he is grateful to also be considered by the Broncos but felt it was a “no-brainer” to choose Houston. 

“I’m thankful for the Denver Broncos, and we had great interviews there. Great people there. But when it came down to it, there is no place I wanted to be any more than H-Town. It was an easy pick for me. It was a no-brainer to be here, be home. It was a no-brainer. It wasn’t a difficult decision at all. It was very easy,” said Ryans, via the team’s official site.

Ryan said he is taking examples from previous coaches he played under, like former Texans HC Gary Kubiak, Andy Reid while he was with the Eagles, and Chip Kelly in Philadelphia as well. 

“As I become a head coach, and I have been around a lot of different coaches, I always take what I learned from each place I’ve been. When I first started here with Coach Gary Kubiak, he taught us what a first-class organization looked like. Gary Kubiak taught us you treat players as men first. I learned that from Gary. Moving on to Philadelphia being around Andy Reid. I learned from Andy Reid how to be a great teacher. Andy was an awesome teacher, but he is also a protector of his players. You’ll never see me throwing a player under the bus. It will always be about protecting our players first. With Coach Chip Kelly, what I learned from him, he was a master motivator, but he was also an innovator. Chip Kelly, he was always on the cutting edge, always looking for ways to get better with sports science, technology. I take things that I learned from all these men, and that’s how I feel like you build an organization. You build a first-class organization, you protect your players, be a great teacher, motivate them and do everything to be adaptable, to change and make sure we have the best things for our players when it comes to sports science and technology.”

Ryan indicated that they must add more players at quarterback and build the position. 

“We understand. We have one quarterback here on our roster, and we have to add more at that position. We know everybody gets excited about the quarterback. The quarterback is one piece to a team. As I’ve seen in San Francisco, what happens when you don’t have that one guy. Is the season over? Are you just booking it? No. How do you build around that quarterback? Yes, we want a great quarterback, but no, we need a great offensive line to protect the quarterback. We need great running backs, great tight ends, great receivers. We need a great defense, special teams. We all play together. That’s the awesome part about football is it’s not on one guy’s shoulders to go out there and win the game for us. It’s all about building around each other and playing together. That’s how we’ll win games.”

Titans

The Titans and HC Mike Vrabel are still searching for their next offensive coordinator, with Vrabel mentioning some of the traits he will be looking for during the season-ending press conference.

“I want it to be smart, tough, fast, and physical,” Vrabel said, via Turron Davenport of ESPN. “Be fundamentally sound, and play with technique, but we have got to get faster. We have to be a faster football team. Rarely are we the fastest team out there. You have got to protect your quarterback in the National Football League. We need to find guys that can protect the quarterback.”

• Ian Rapoport reports that former Buccaneers assistant DL coach Lori Locust is signing a deal to be a defensive assistant with the Titans.
• ESPN did an offseason quarterback landing spot simulation with beat reporters standing in as the GMs of their respective teams. The Titans turned down a lowball trade offer for QB Ryan Tannehill and stood pat with him and 2021 third-round QB Malik Willis.