HOUSTON – Frank Ross’ special teams units played winning football all season as the Texans’ kicking game and kick coverage delivered consistently strong performances.
The Texans special teams coordinator is under contract and is expected to remain in place and be retained by the team following the hire of new head coach DeMeco Ryans, according to multiple league sources.
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“Frank did an excellent job,” a league source said. “He’s an outstanding coach.”
Ross was previously the assistant special teams coach for the Indianapolis Colts before joining the Texans as part of coach David Culley’s staff and then was kept on by Lovie Smith and now Ryans.
The Texans ranked first in the well-respected annual Rick Gosselin special teams rankings this season, ranking well ahead of the Seattle Seahawks in the statistical rankings, finishing first in kickoff coverage, opponent starting point and takeaways. The Texans, who finished 3-13-1 under Smith last season, had four fumble recoveries on special teams, including Dare Ogunbowale, Blake Cashman, Jalen Reeves-Maybin and M.J. Stewart.
Texans kicker Ka’imi Fairbairn connected on 29 of 31 field goals, a 93.5 percentage, and hit all 24 extra points. He made all six kicks from 50 yards or more. Texans punter Cameron Johnson had 37 punts downed inside the 20-yard line, 42 percent overall, and averaged 48.1 yards per punt. Tremon Smith averaged 13.3 yards per punt return, 21.9 yards per kickoff return, and Desmond King, the primary punt underreturner, averaged 9.4 yards per return.
Opposing teams averaged under 20 yards per kickoff return.
Ross enters his third season in Houston. He has 10 years of NFL experience
A former New England Patriots pro scout who earned a Super Bowl ring with the AFC East franchise, Ross coached at his alma mater, John Carroll University, the same school where Texans general manager Nick Caserio was a record-setting quarterback, as a special teams coordinator and running backs coach after initially coaching quarterbacks.
At John Carroll, the Youngstown, Ohio native was a team captain and three-time all-conference wide receiver who holds school records with 17 catches in a single game, 69 receptions in a season and career with 204 receptions.
Aaron Wilson is a contributor to KPRC 2 and click2houston.com