Jerry Hughes says Texans’ ‘young guys’ on defense could learn from defensive-minded coach
The Houston Texans find themselves right where they have found themselves each January for the past three offseasons: at a crossroads.
Houston is on its third coaching search in as many offseasons. The theme for Houston’s coaching candidates is that they are young. The Texans have a couple of offensive-minded coaches to choose from along with top defensive coordinators that include the Philadelphia Eagles’ Jonathan Gannon and the San Francisco 49ers’ DeMeco Ryans.
Defensive end Jerry Hughes, who has been keeping up with the Texans’ coaching search, says that he would prefer to see Houston hire a defensive-mind coach as their sixth full-time coach in team history.
“[It] would be so fun for us because I’m a defensive player,” Hughes said via Aaron Wilson of KPRC-TV. “I love being in the room with those guys, being able to learn just more football. I think that would just help make us a top defense, but put everyone in the right frame of mind because of the young talent that we have.”
Hughes believes that the Texans’ younger defensive players, such as cornerback Derek Stingley, safety Jalen Pitre, and linebacker Christian Harris, all three prizes from the 2022 NFL draft, would benefit from continuing their foray into the NFL under a coach with a defensive background.
Said Hughes: “Just thinking about Jalen Pitre and Christian and just some of those young guys that can really learn from a great coach with a great defensive mind.”
The Texans have had five previous full-time coaches in franchise history, and two of them were Dom Capers (2002-05) and Lovie Smith (2022). Interestingly Wade Phillips (2013) and Romeo Crennel (2020) were the Texans’ interim coaches, and each had a defensive background.
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