PHOENIX – Once DeMeco Ryans decided he wanted to be a coach, the former Pro Bowl linebacker ran a fast track to emerge as the Texans’ sixth coach in franchise.
Hired initially as a defensive quality control coach by the San Francisco 49ers in 2017, Ryans was quickly promoted to linebackers coach and then defensive coordinator as the replacement for New York Jets coach Robert Saleh. Named the NFL Assistant Coach of the Year last season as the architect of the 49ers’ top-ranked defense, Ryans, 38, was hired by the Texans as the replacement for Lovie Smith.
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The former NFL Defensive Rookie of the Year has always found quick and sustained success.
“I think DeMeco will be as good as he is in everything he’s done his whole life,” 49ers coach Kyle Shanahan said Tuesday morning at the NFL owners meetings at the Arizona Biltmore. “Start with Rookie of the Year, being the captain of the team. He was our coordinator in three years. He became a head coach in two years. Everything DeMeco has done, he’s done at an extremely high level and Houston is very fortunate to have him.”
PHOENIX -- #49ers coach Kyle Shanahan on #Texans coach DeMeco Ryans as a first-year coach @KPRC2 pic.twitter.com/s1dDeJFeC9
— Aaron Wilson (@AaronWilson_NFL) March 28, 2023
Ryans is the third coach from the Shanahan coaching staff to be hired as a head coach, following Saleh and Miami Dolphins coach Mike McDaniel.
“You know people and you know people who have that ability that charisma, people who have that work ethic and DeMeco has always had the full package,” Shanahan said. “Whatever he decided to do in life, he was going to find a way to get to the pinnacle of that profession.”
McDaniel has a high degree of belief in his former 49ers colleague as Ryans takes over the Texans’ head coaching position.
“I couldn’t be more confident in an individual in terms of a guy being made for this position of head coach in the National Football League,” McDaniel told KPRC 2 at the NFL scouting combine “DeMeco is a special breed unlike any that I’ve come across in my walks of football life.”
Drafted in the second round out of Alabama, Ryans quickly earned the defensive captain title and earned a nickname that stuck with him to this day: ‘Cap.’
“You’re talking about a guy who, as a 22-year-old, walked into an NFL building and led an entire defense as a captain and really the best player on the defense from Day One,” McDaniel said. “Fast forward to him as a coach. I saw him cutting his teeth as a position coach, really as a position assistant, and then would lead to a position coach. You’re talking about a guy who makes an appearance to the coaching world look easy.”
That’s because of Ryans’ relatability, poise and background as a player. Having that credibility speaks volumes in the locker room.
“Players play for him, players believe in him,” McDaniel said. “He has the disposition to handle the natural turbulence that occurs from this scope. I couldn’t be happier for an individual who’s more deserving, and really, this is a dream of his.
“He felt very connected to the Houston fan base and had always held that in high regard and in high esteem. For him to get that particular on top of that it’s an NFL job, I think it’s a storybook beginning to what will be a very successful career.”
Aaron Wilson is a Texans and NFL reporter for KPRC 2 and click2houston.com