Houston Texans Add Two New Coaches to Staff

The Houston Texans have officially hired James Ferentz as tight ends coach and Alex Ward as an offensive assistant, , according to Aaron Wilson of KPRC2. The two had agreed to terms with the team over the past couple of weeks, and both contracts have now been finalized.

James Ferentz most recently served as the assistant offensive line coach of the New York Giants during the 2024 and 2025 seasons alongside former offensive line coach Carmen Bricillo. Over that span, the Giants finished seventh in the NFL in sacks allowed in both seasons, giving up 48 in each year.

After finishing 23rd in Pro Football Focus’ final offensive line rankings in 2024, New York made a significant and unexpected jump into the top 10 in 2025. The unit ranked ninth overall and finished fourth in PFF’s pass-blocking efficiency metric with an 87.6 grade.

Ferentz had an eight-year NFL career as an offensive guard with 10 career starts. He signed with the Texans as an undrafted free agent in 2014 out of Iowa, spending the 2014 season on the practice squad before being released following the 2015 preseason.

He was claimed off waivers by the Denver Broncos one day later, where he served as a backup during the 2015 and 2016 seasons and won Super Bowl 50 against the Carolina Panthers, logging just 16 snaps over two years in Denver.

After his release from the Broncos, Ferentz joined the New England Patriots, where he played from 2017 to 2023 and won his second Super Bowl in 2018 against the Los Angeles Rams. He spent most of his first year in New England on the practice squad but eventually became a reliable depth piece. During his six seasons with the Patriots, he allowed four sacks and 21 total pressures over 447 pass-blocking snaps.

Alex Ward spent the past two seasons at UCF under head coach Scott Frost—serving as an offensive quality control coach in 2025 and a defensive graduate assistant in 2024. His roles with the Knights included assisting the offensive staff with opponent study and film breakdowns, as well as scouting reports and practice preparation.

He was also a graduate assistant for Troy University, where he worked with current Texans offensive line coach and running game coordinator Cole Popovich during the 2022 season, when Popovich was the Trojans’ offensive line coach.

Demeco Ryans is adding a young, hungry college coach with experience on both sides of the football, providing a fresh perspective and a diverse skill set to his staff.