HOUSTON – The Houston Texans have added three new coaches to their staff: Larry Izzo as special teams coordinator, Sean Ryan as wide receivers coach and Anthony Weaver as defensive line coach.
Izzo joins the Texans' staff after spending the last five seasons as the New York Giants assistant special teams coach.
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He was a part of the team’s Super Bowl XLVI victory, and in 2015 the Giants ranked fifth in opponent kickoff return average (20.3 yards) and tied for first in field goal percentage (93.8). Izzo attended McCullough High School in Houston and was a four-year letterman and three-year starter at Rice University.
In his 14-year NFL career as a player (1996-09), Izzo played for three teams, including the Miami Dolphins (1996-2000), New England Patriots (2001-08) and New York Jets (2009). He was a three-time Super Bowl champion with New England (2001, 2003 and 2004) and a three-time Pro Bowl selection (2000, 2002 and 2004) as a special teams player.
Ryan comes to Houston after spending the previous two seasons as the wide receivers coach for the New York Giants. Ryan spent nine total seasons on Tom Coughlin’s staff in New York, where he was a part of two Super Bowl victories (XLII, XLVI) and helped with the development of multiple young receivers, including Odell Beckham Jr., who broke the franchise rookie records for receptions, receiving yards and receiving touchdowns in 2014. Ryan also served as offensive quality control coach and quarterbacks coach (2012-14) in New York to go along with his two stints as wide receivers coach (2010-11 and 2014-15).
Ryan, a native of Hudson Falls, New York, began his coaching career as a graduate assistant at the University of Albany (1998-99). He had stops at Colgate University (2000), Boston College (2001-02) and Columbia (2003-04) before serving as the running backs coach and recruiting coordinator at Harvard for one season (2006). The 43-year-old Ryan played defensive back and outside linebacker at Hamilton College, where he graduated in 1994 with a degree in American studies.
Weaver will serve as the Texans defensive line coach after spending the previous two seasons (2014-15) in the same role with the Cleveland Browns. In 2014, Weaver’s unit contributed to a defense that led the league in opposing quarterback passer rating (74.1) and finished tied for fourth in the NFL in takeaways (29).
In 2013, Weaver served as the defensive line coach for the Buffalo Bills, where his defensive linemen accounted for 47 of the Bills’ 57 sacks, a franchise record and the second-most in the NFL that season. Weaver spent the 2012 season as the assistant defensive line coach with the New York Jets. He also served a year (2011) as the linebackers coach at North Texas after beginning his coaching career as a defensive graduate assistant at Florida in 2010.
Prior to his coaching career, Weaver played seven seasons (2002-08) as a defensive end in the NFL, including four with the Baltimore Ravens (2002-05) and three with the Texans at the end of his career (2006-08). After being drafted in the second round by the Ravens in 2002, Weaver appeared in 103 career regular season games (98 starts), and recorded 260 tackles, 15.5 sacks, three interceptions, five forced fumbles and five fumble recoveries.