Yesterday afternoon, the Texans hired 49ers defensive coordinator DeMeco Ryans as their new head coach.
It wasn’t a total surprise, as the chatter over the last few weeks signaled that it would happen.
Ryans has roots with the team. Houston selected him with the 33rd overall pick in the second round of the 2006 NFL Draft, and he rewarded them with immediate dividends.
During his career in Houston (2006-11), Ryans was named AP Defensive Rookie of the Year and PFWA Rookie of the Year in 2006, first-team All-Pro in 2007 and was a Pro Bowler in 2007 and 2009. The former Alabama All-American went on to play in the NFL for 10 years, the first six with the Texans and the final four with the Eagles. Ryans was a dominant force for the former, and he still holds the team record for the most tackles by a rookie (156) and currently ranks as the second-leading tackler in franchise history (636).
DeMeco then spent his entire young coaching career with San Francisco.
He first served as the 49ers’ defensive quality control coach, then the team’s inside linebackers coach before being elevated to defensive coordinator after Robert Saleh left in 2021 to become the head coach of the Jets.
Under Ryans, the defensive became an elite unit, unleashing some of the best players in the game today, such as Pro Bowlers Joey Bosa, Fred Warner and Talanoa Hufanga. He also crafted them from the third-ranked defense to the number-one overall unit in the NFL this past season.
That’s coaching.
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