Make that four holdovers from the Lovie Smith era that will be on the sidelines with Houston Texans rookie coach DeMeco Ryans in 2023.
According to Aaron Wilson from KPRC-TV, the Texans are keeping receivers coach and pass game coordinator Ben McDaniels.
McDaniels has been on the staff since 2021 when Houston hired David Culley as coach. The younger brother of Las Vegas Raiders coach Josh McDaniels was the assistant receivers coach as Robert Prince was the receivers coach. The Texans promoted McDaniels upon the departure of Prince, and gave McDaniels the coordinator role after Pep Hamilton went from quarterbacks coach and passing game coordinator to offensive coordinator.
McDaniels dealt with the challenges of having the offense’s top two wideouts in Brandin Cooks and Nico Collins unavailable together in three games in Houston’s 3-13-1 campaign.
“It’s critical in a receiver room for these kinds of scenarios where one goes down, two goes down, whatever that might be, your ability to step into whatever role we need you to be in, including putting you in the best roles that you’re capable of impacting the game for us,” McDaniels told reporters on Dec. 29, 2022. “The room is built that way. We’ve done a great job of bringing some people into that room that have intelligence and have the ability to play in different spots. I try to make it an emphasis as a coach in that room and make it very important, so they all believe it’s important too. I think it’s helped them have success.”
McDaniels’ work in weathering the availability issues may have been an endorsement for why he gets a third season on the Texans’ coaching staff.
