Two years ago, the San Francisco 49ers bid farewell to defensive coordinator Robert Saleh, who left to become head coach of the New York Jets.
Last offseason, the Niners watched offensive coordinator Mike McDaniel depart for the Miami Dolphins‘ head-coaching vacancy.
Now, it’s soon-to-be former defensive coordinator DeMeco Ryans’ turn to step away from San Francisco.
Ryans might have been an up-and-coming coaching candidate during the 2022 offseason, yet he elected to stay put with the 49ers and helped engineer the NFL’s best defense over that timeframe.
Whether or not that put him into high demand is anyone’s guess, although it’s likely it helped a lot.
And the Houston Texans will now be the team signing his paycheck.
It didn’t take long for reports and rumors to suggest Houston had emerged as a favorite despite Ryans going on something of an interview tour during the final days of the Niners’ postseason campaign.
The biggest rumor, of course, was Ryans would be lured in by the team where he spent the first six years of his playing career, the Texans.
Houston, owners of the No. 2 overall pick in the 2023 NFL Draft, has spent back-to-back seasons with one-and-done head coaches, David Culley and Lovie Smith.
Now, as first reported by NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport, Ryans is the next option and one the Texans hope will solidify the role for the long run:
Interestingly enough, the Denver Broncos attempted to lure Ryans away from going to the Texans but couldn’t do so, and Denver is now opting to make a move for former New Orleans Saints head coach Sean Payton.
San Francisco has benefited from the Rooney Rule that specifies league protocols on interviewing minority candidates for coaching and front-office positions.
For teams that develop minority candidates into head coaches and general managers, they’re awarded Round 3 compensatory picks in the NFL Draft, and the 49ers have received such for the hirings of Saleh and McDaniel already.
Along with executives like Martin Mayhew and Ran Carthon moving on into higher roles, Ryans will become the next to net the Niners a third-round pick of the comp variety.
As for Ryans, his coaching career will involve trying to turn around a destitute Texans squad that has fallen out of grace the last few years.
It’ll be a tough challenge, but he’ll always have fans in San Francisco for what he did with the 49ers.
