Houston Texans head coach DeMeco Ryans, left, talks to Las Vegas Raiders head coach Klint Kubiak during an NFL training camp practice at Houston Methodist Training Center in Houston, Tuesday, Aug. 18, 2026. (Brett Coomer/Houston Chronicle)
Head coaches in the NFL make up a sort of 32-man fraternity, so it's never unusual to see opposing coaches chatting on the field before games and especially during joint practices. That conversation came even more naturally Tuesday when the Houston Texans and Las Vegas Raiders met up for a practice at Houston Methodist Training Facility. DeMeco Ryans has known Klint Kubiak for 20 years from the days when Klint was following around his dad Gary Kubiak, who became the Texans' second head coach in franchise history the same year Ryans was drafted by the team. That made the coordination of Tuesday's practice easy, especially with Gary Kubiak, who starred at St. Pius X High School and Texas A&M, back in town keeping an eye on both son and pupil from the sidelines. "It was real easy working with Klint," Ryans told reporters after practice. "I've known Klint since he was a teenager when he was out here with his dad at practices. Known him for a long time. What I love about Klint is, he's just a really cool, calm, quiet spirit. A guy who loves the Lord. He's a great family guy. So, it's really cool talking to him, catching up. It was easy to schedule practice. Very like-minded in our approach to the game. I really appreciate him and the Raiders organization for the way we handled practice today." The 39-year-old Klint was born in Houston when his dad was a backup quarterback with the Denver Broncos. However, he grew up in Aurora, Colo., while Gary worked as an assistant with the Broncos and by the time his father got the Texans' head coaching job in 2006, Klint already was playing college football at Colorado State. Still, Klint often was a visitor at Texans' offseason practices in those days and came around even more often after he was done with college and got his first job as an offensive quality control coach at Texas A&M from 2010-12. "It's just such a blessing to get to coach in the NFL," Klint Kubiak said after Tuesday's practice. "To come back here where my dad coached and where I saw so many practices, it was a really cool feeling, but very quickly erased all those feelings and just got right to practice. I'll think of the warm and fuzzy stuff later." Subscribe There’s more to Houston with the Chronicle. Subscribe today for just 25¢. This article originally published at Texans-Raiders practice allows DeMeco Ryans chance to reunite with Klint Kubiak, former coach Gary.