First-year head coaches often face the daunting task of filling out an entire coaching staff before they can truly get to work. Frequently, this means purging the staff they were just a part of and bringing several coaches with them to start anew. Coaches may lean on connections from previous stops, friends in the industry, and standard interview procedures. They may also choose to retain certain coaches from the previous staff. Houston Texans head coach DeMeco Ryans took that route when retaining defensive line coach Jacques Cesaire.
Cesaire was a member of incumbent head coach Love Smith’s staff during the 2022 season. Ryans opted to rely on continuity, as much of Houston’s roster was made of young defensive players early in their development. However, it became clear this week that Cesaire was not going to return to the staff in 2024. His contract expired, and the Texans opted to let him hit the open market.
On Saturday, the Cleveland Browns hired Cesaire to be their defensive line coach – a lateral move – to replace Ben Bloom. Before coaching in Houston, Cesaire spent nearly a decade as a defensive lineman for the then-San Diego Chargers. He would coach the defensive line there from 2015 to 2019. Cesaire spent the next two seasons with the Buffalo Bills as Eric Washington’s assistant defensive line coach. His two years in Houston were fairly fruitful. The Texans ranked 18th in sacks in 2022, with 39, and improved on that total in 2023. Their 46 sacks ranked 13th in the league. Adding a star edge rusher like Will Anderson Jr. helps that cause, but Cesaire also oversaw the development of edge rusher Jonathan Greenard.
This season, Houston struggled to put together a cohesive pass rush early on, but the entire unit seemed to gel together as the playoffs approached. Now, he’ll move from one star to another, supervising Browns defensive end Myles Garrett – arguably the best defensive player in the sport.