DeMeco Ranked 7th Best Head Coach - Should He be Higher or Lower?

Summary

Payne & Pendergast Podcast Summary
Episode: DeMeco Ranked 7th Best Head Coach - Should He be Higher or Lower?
Date: July 8, 2026
Hosts: Seth Payne & Luke Morrow (in for Sean Pendergast)

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Overview

This episode dives into the recent Pro Football Focus (PFF) ranking of the top 10 NFL head coaches entering the 2026 season, focusing on Houston Texans’ head coach DeMeco Ryans being ranked 7th. Seth Payne and guest host Luke Morrow discuss whether Ryans' position is warranted, the case for moving him higher or lower, and compare him to other notable coaches on the list. The hosts deliver passionate, analytical takes with their signature mix of football expertise and relatable banter, including comparisons to legends in other fields.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

PFF’s Top 10 NFL Head Coaches for 2026 [02:14]

• PFF's List (Partial):
  1. Sean McVay
  2. Andy Reid
  3. Kyle Shanahan
  4. Mike Macdonald (recent Super Bowl winner)
  5. Dan Campbell
  6. Matt LaFleur
  7. DeMeco Ryans
  8. Sean Payton
  9. Mike Vrabel
  10. Jim Harbaugh

Initial Reactions to Ryans' Ranking [03:05]

• Seth's Take:
  Seth expresses pleasant surprise and respect for Ryans’ position, noting that being ahead of veteran coaches like Sean Payton, Mike Vrabel, and Jim Harbaugh is significant, especially since Ryans hasn’t reached a conference championship yet.
  • “I was pleasantly surprised by this ranking...there’s some things about DeMeco above and beyond the actual record…that I really, I would prefer to have him as a coach over just about anybody on this list.” (Seth Payne, 03:05)

DeMeco Ryans’ Growth as a Head Coach [03:40]

• Transitioned from a defensive specialist to a true head coach, particularly shown by stepping back from play-calling and allowing DC Matt Burke to take over so Ryans could focus more on overseeing the entire team.

  • “He took a step further into being a genuine head coach...he’s like a genuine overseer of everything right now.” (Seth Payne, 03:40)

• Still, Seth acknowledges the need for Ryans to build on his resume to move up the elite tier, citing game management and offensive development as areas for growth.

Perspective on Other Coaches and Ranking Debates

• Luke on the List:
  Admits he’s not a fan of Sean Payton (“not a Sean Payton guy”), but thinks Harbaugh and Vrabel, based on their longer track records, could be considered ahead of Ryans.

  • “Harbaugh probably should be ahead of DeMeco. Mike Vrabel...I’ve been a Vrabel guy...” (Luke Morrow, 05:17)

• Seth's Counterpoint:
  Acknowledges that early-career success is common among great coaches and stresses fairness—Ryans simply needs a longer track record.

  • “I don’t feel like DeMeco has enough of a track record yet to be put against guys that...have just simply been tested for a longer period of time.” (Seth Payne, 06:21)

Sustained Success vs. Flash Peaks [07:55]

• The discussion compares coaching (Harbaugh vs. Ryans) to music legends (Jimi Hendrix vs. Eric Clapton), with Luke valuing sustained excellence:
  • “To be able to be consistently good for a longer period of time, I might give more respect to the...” (Luke Morrow, 07:55)
  • Seth connects this to Hall of Fame debates: “Would Jimi Hendrix be the guy…if you retired at the age of 30, he’s still in the Hall of Fame?” (Seth Payne, 08:35)

The Dan Campbell Debate [11:21]

• Luke's Rant:
  Argues that Campbell is overrated and resting on narrative and personality more than coaching substance.

  • “People love Dan Campbell...almost judging the personality more than the coaching. But DeMeco Ryans, his win percentage is nearly 10% higher than Dan Campbell...D’ Amico has more playoff appearances in fewer years.” (Luke Morrow, 11:21)

• Seth’s Analysis:
  Agrees that Campbell’s chief test is finding and keeping the right coordinators; Campbell’s lack of play-calling acumen puts him in the same evaluative space as Ryans.

  • “The big test when you’re not a play caller in the NFL is...can you find that right play caller. And he decided that was he himself last year, midway through the year. That wasn’t the solution either.” (Seth Payne, 12:16)
  • Also notes both the Lions and Texans were reclamation projects, suggesting Ryans' turnaround is as impressive or more so.

• Conference Championship Context:
  Luke points out Campbell’s lone edge—a conference championship appearance—included questionable late-game decisions that cost Detroit a Super Bowl trip:

  • “The most noteworthy thing about that appearance was that Dan Campbell blew it for the Lions with his terrible coaching decisions…” (Luke Morrow, 13:29)

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• Seth, on Ryans’ Intangibles:
  “There are some things about DeMeco above and beyond the actual record...that I would prefer to have as a coach over just about anybody.” (03:05)

• Luke, on Dan Campbell Hype:
  “People love Dan Campbell…kind of like Sean Payton…You’re almost judging the personality more than the coaching.” (11:21)

• Seth, on Newfound Opinions:
  “I’ve gone from loving Dan Campbell to despising him in the course of 10 minutes.” (14:42)

• Guitarist Analogy Exchange:

  • Luke: “Jimi Hendrix is the greatest guitarist of all time...but Eric Clapton’s been doing it for 50 years. I think that’s more impressive...” (07:55)
  • Seth: “Would Jimi Hendrix be the guy…if you retired at the age of 30, he’s still in the hall of fame?” (08:35)

• Listener Interaction:

  • On the text line: “Someone said Eric Clapton is Frank Gore. Clapton’s better, but I get the point. Frank Gore was a compiler. And yeah, Clapton, lasting so long a bit of a compiler himself.” (Luke Morrow, 15:03)

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Timestamps for Key Segments

• [02:14] — Breakdown of PFF’s Head Coach Ranking
• [03:05] — Seth’s Reaction to Ryans at #7
• [03:40] — DeMeco Ryans’ Evolution as Head Coach
• [05:17] — Comparing Ryans to Harbaugh, Payton, and Vrabel
• [07:55] — Sustained Success vs. Brief Peaks (Hendrix-Clapton Analogy)
• [11:21] — Dan Campbell vs. DeMeco Ryans / Overrated or Deserving?
• [12:16] — The Significance of Finding the Right Coordinator
• [13:29] — The Conference Championship and Campbell’s Coaching Decisions
• [14:42] — Seth Changes His Mind About Campbell
• [15:03] — Listener’s Text: Eric Clapton/Frank Gore Comparison

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Tone & Style Notes

• Language: Conversational, passionate, unfiltered.
• Analysis: Deep dives, analogies (music legend comps), and playful debate.
• Mood: Relatable, driven by hosts’ fandom, and a blend of humor and serious football talk.

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In sum:
The episode offers an in-depth analysis of DeMeco Ryans’ standing among NFL head coaches, contextualizing his rapid rise and the challenges ahead. The hosts dissect what makes a head coach truly elite—balancing resume, personality, and results—while providing entertaining perspective for both Houston sports fans and broader NFL aficionados.

Transcript

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[Luke Morrow]

How many coaches would you take ahead of d' Amico Ryan's? It's Peyton Pendergast. I'm Luke Morrow in for Sean alongside Seth Payne 713-572-4610 on the text line or YouTube and Twitch chats as well. I've mentioned it's list season well Pro Football Focus put out their list of the top 10 coaches, head coaches in the NFL entering the 2026 season. And so if you look at this list again, you can find that Pro football focus. Number one, Sean McVeigh. Number two, Andy Reid. Number three, Kyle Shanahan. Number four, Mike McDonald after just winning the Super bowl, number five, Dan Campbell. Number six, Matt LaFleur. And then at number seven, you get to D'. Amico. Ryan, Seth, what are your thoughts on. I was spot.

[Seth Payne]

I was pleasantly surprised by this ranking and I just. Because I think d', Ameco, he's still a young coach, but the fact that they have him ahead of Mike Vrabel, ahead of Jim Harbaugh and. Well, and ahead of Sean Payton, who's number eight. Yeah, so he's ahead of Sean Payton, Mike Vrabel and Jim Harbaugh. Without having him made to a championship game, even a conference championship game. I think that's. I could see a lot of people in other markets having issues with this. I personally think there's some things about d' Amico above and beyond the actual, the actual record and more about just the way he operates as a human being and as a coach that I really, I would prefer to have him as a coach over just about anybody on this, on this list. But that, but he, that does. But he still hasn't proven it the way a lot of those guys do. I think for d', Ameco, the biggest thing is in the process he's in right now is okay, defensive minded coach came in, the defense has been awesome. It's been one of the best two defenses really over the last. If you go back to 2023 in a lot of respects, it's been, it's, it's one of the best three defenses over the course of that three year period. But last year was the first year where it felt like, okay, he took a step further into being a genuine head coach. When he gives Matt Burke play calling on defense, d' Amico spends more time with the offense and it's not like there were immediate results or anything. But I think his mindset as a head coach right now is much more of a. He's not just a defensive coordinator who also happens to be the head coach. And that's what you get sometimes with guys earlier in their career. I think I feel like he's like a genuine overseer of everything right now. And it's a matter of troubleshooting and coaching your coaches and all that stuff. That's the, that's the stuff that's got to vault them up into that next tier category. But everything else, it's just, it's hard to find a lot of. I mean, we've got little things about game management here and there and everything and the fact that the offense is still disappointing. But I'm, I am, I'm genuinely surprised that they put him as high as they did on a list like this with all the other potential names and guys that have longer resumes.

[Luke Morrow]

Yeah, I am, too. I honestly might have flipped the back half of this list. Like, I'm not a Sean Payton guy, so I actually have no issue. And I like seeing Demiko Ryan's ahead of Sean Payton. All good. But Harbaugh, I am a big Harbaugh guy like Jim Harbaugh probably should be ahead of d'. Amico. Mike Rabel, I've been a variable guy, even though obviously he was a coach of the Titans and with this whole off the field drama this year. But I don't know, I think you can make a case Rabel should be ahead of. Of d' Amico right now, so. Well, that's where.

[Seth Payne]

No. And part of it is. And that's where I'm. In fairness to the other people that you put in a ranking like this, lots of these guys got off to really good starts. So I just, it's. I don't feel like d' Ameco has enough of a track record yet to be put against guys that, like with, you know, with, with Jim Harbaugh, his first three years in the NFL, it was pretty damn impressive and they did a lot of great things. And then you just got to keep proving that you can do it more and more after that. And he's only. But the crazy thing about Harbaugh is that he's only had seven years now as a head coach in the NFL.

[Luke Morrow]

Or is it six?

[Seth Payne]

No, it's only six years as a head coach in the NFL that, yeah, if I were doing this ranking and trying to be as objective as possible, I don't think I could put him ahead of guys that have just simply been tested for a longer period of time.

[Luke Morrow]

Yeah, fair. I don't know if I'd put him ahead of those, but I would put him certainly ahead of Dan Campbell. I'll rant on that in just a moment. And the Matt LaFleur at number six. And I know everyone loves him and he's, he's had a lot of success there in Green Bay. You know, his record is 76 and 40, but I don't know. There's still something for me that I can't get my arms around. Matt LaFleur, for some reason. I. I honestly, I might put D' Amico ahead of LeFlore.

[Seth Payne]

Yeah, no, and. And the only thing I would say with Leflore, too, is that he's. He's been tested longer, you know, and he's got that similar dynamic where, man, all right, the offense is doing some really impressive things, but you guys got to figure these things out. On defense, I think going back to Harbaugh, I just wanted to fact check myself. Yeah. Harbaugh's first three years as an NFL head coach. 13 and 3, 11 and 4, 12 and 4. They make that super bowl appearance, they're doing it with a young fourth round draft pick or third. No, Kaepernick was a second rounder. That part of it, it's like, okay, cool. Like then. But it's not fair to. It's not fair to stack up Harbaugh, who did the same thing as d' Ameco in his first three years in the league and actually, you know, went to a Super bowl, that somehow, because he's been tested longer, that you're. He gets bucked down a notch because he had more opportunities to either not make the playoffs or not win a playoff game.

[Luke Morrow]

Yeah, I see what you're saying. That's fair. But, like, for me, I think longevity is also important or like, sustained success. Like, so, like, people always say the Jimi Hendrix is the greatest guitarist of all time. To me, it's like, you know, he only did it for like three years. Eric Clapton's been doing it for 50 years. I think that's more impressive that he's been doing it at that level for so long compared to those short bursts. So I think it's similar where Harbaugh, he's had success with the Chargers as well. And I know we. I guess we can't count Michigan, but he had success there, I think, like, to be able to be consistently good for a longer period of time, I might give more respect to the.

[Seth Payne]

Okay, so it's kind of like when you have hall of Fame discussions.

[Luke Morrow]

Yeah, right.

[Seth Payne]

What was this player at his peak, though? So, like, Jimi Hendrix, basically. Would Jimi Hendrix be the guy that if you're an athlete, if you retired at the age of 30, he's still in the hall of Fame. Is he Pat Mahomes?

[Luke Morrow]

You're right. Exactly. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

[Seth Payne]

But when you stack him up against other people that were also at a really high level and did it for a long, long time. They're gonna, they're not gonna, it's not going to be quite the same. Jim Brown would be the great example of that. Right. Like anybody from that generation will tell you, like now you kids, you got no clue. You don't understand how dominant he was. And you're like, I get it. I mean, but he also, you know, you didn't play all that long. It's a brutal position. Lots of other people decide not to go pursue their Hollywood career, you know, at a young age.

[Luke Morrow]

Yeah, longevity is part of the equation. In my opinion, at least.

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[Luke Morrow]

I mentioned with lafleur. Look, he has a good record. He's lost the last three playoff appearances though, and he, his team choked against Caleb Williams and the Bears this year. So I got questions about him. But Dan Campbell's the one that really stands out to me. And all these rankings put Dan Campbell ahead of d' Ameco. Ryan's. And I rant about this every year and every list. I just don't get it. People love Dan Campbell. Cause he's a personality and all this sort of stuff. Kind of like Sean Payton. People love him. And you're almost judging the personality more than the coaching. But demigo Ryan, his win Percentage is nearly 10% higher than Dan Campbell. D' Amico has more playoff appearances in fewer years than Dan Campbell and Dan Campbell. Ben Johnson was not his offensive coordinator in his first year and he wasn't his offensive coordinator this past year. And Dan Campbell finished in fourth place both of those two seasons without Ben Johnson. Not to mention, I think the Texans were a bigger mess when d' Amico came than the Lions were when Dan Campbell arrived.

[Seth Payne]

Well, that was where, you know, with Dan Campbell and how he handles that offensive coordinator situation. I mean, he made the great pivot. You credit him for pivoting and changing to Ben Johnson in the, in the middle of a season a couple years ago to really create that turnaround for them. But then, yeah, the big test when you're not a play caller in the NFL is you're not an offensive play caller. You got to find that right play caller. And he decided that was he himself last year, midway through the year. That wasn't, that wasn't the solution either. I think that he and Campbell are in a little bit in the same spot because even though Campbell was a tight end in the NFL, he's not a play caller, he's not an offensive coordinator. And that's the test for him is, okay, can you find the right coordinator and. Or when you need to change coordinators, find an adequate replacement. Mike. You know what? You're right. Having Mike McDonald is high on this list. Even though despite winning a Super bowl like he's. He's going to have that test now.

[Luke Morrow]

Oh, yes.

[Seth Payne]

Time he's got to replace Clint Kubiak. And let's just see exactly how far your defense, defense can carry you if Sam Darnold comes down to earth a little bit and your brand new coordinator actually isn't nearly as good as Clint Kubiak.

[Luke Morrow]

Yeah, for sure. That's, that's always the challenge of these defensive coaches and for Campbell. Not a defensive coach, but that CEO type of coach. Last two notes, too. You mentioned this earlier. Pro Football Focus dinged Mike Vrabel for not being a play caller, but then Dan Campbell is at number five, ahead of Rabel at nine. Campbell's not a play caller either, but he. There's some. Again, I keep using that phrase, but, like, there's Teflon. Everyone loves Dan Campbell. And the one thing he has over d' Amico is he did make it to a conference championship. But the most noteworthy thing about that appearance was that Dan Campbell blew it for the Lions with his terrible coaching decisions keeping them from getting to the Super Bowl. So I just don't get the love for Dan Campbell.

[Seth Payne]

Part of it with Campbell is the fact that the Lions were such a mess. And I think that it feels like. But. But again, the Texans were a mess, too. Is the Lions had been a mess for longer than the Texans had been a mess. Yeah, they finished fourth in the division for four straight years. But I mean, it's not like they'd made the playoffs a few times in the 2010s. It wasn't like. Remember, the Bills went two decades without making a playoff appearance. And some of those. Some of those ridiculous stretches. Okay, I'm with you. I've gone from loving Dan Campbell to despising him in the course of 10 minutes.

[Luke Morrow]

Good. Thank you, job.

[Seth Payne]

You've done good work today.

[Luke Morrow]

That's what I do. I'm really infiltrating this week. We got a list of people that you have to go knock on their front door from your childhood to go get payback on. And now you despise Dan Campbell.

[Seth Payne]

Yeah. We haven't even started on my ex girlfriends yet. My list of people to seek vengeance against has gotten pretty long.

[Luke Morrow]

Yeah. On the text line, someone said Eric Clapton is Frank Gore. Clapton's better, but I get the point. Frank Gore was a compiler. And yeah, Clapton, lasting so long a bit of a compiler himself.

[Seth Payne]

Is. Clapton's considered one of the best guitarists of all time.

[Luke Morrow]

I would say he is the best, but he's. Yeah, he's always in the conversation. It's usually him or Hendrix. And I think Carlos Santana is an underrated one that probably should be in the conversation.

[Seth Payne]

Do you play the guitar?

[Luke Morrow]

I do. I play the guitar, yeah.

[Seth Payne]

Oh, okay. So you can. You can really appreciate the technical side.

[Luke Morrow]

Oh, yeah. Yeah. Because I'm. I'm nothing special.

[Seth Payne]

So I. I don't have a damn clue.

[Luke Morrow]

I marvel at these guys. Coming up, the World cup is doing more for the NFL than their international games are. We'll talk about that next.

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