Report: DeMeco Ryans emerges as top candidate for Texans

NFC Divisional Playoffs - Dallas Cowboys v San Francisco 49ers
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Whenever DeMeco Ryans’ season ends with the 49ers, he may have options for his next job.

According to NFL Media, Ryans has emerged as a top candidate to be the Texans’ next head coach. A former player for Houston, NFL Media reports Ryans is set to meet with the franchise next week about the job and there is mutual interest.

The Texans announced they’d first met with Ryans on January 20.

This news comes a day after Mike Klis of KUSA reported that Ryans was a top candidate to land the Broncos’ head coaching job. Cowboys defensive coordinator Dan Quinn, former Saints coach Sean Payton, and former Lions and Colts head coach Jim Caldwell were also identified by Klis as potential candidates. But Quinn has since removed his name from consideration to remain with Dallas.

PFT reported earlier this week that former Stanford head coach David Shaw is also a potential candidate for the Broncos job.

Ryans has been San Francisco’s defensive coordinator for the last two seasons. He was promoted to the role from inside linebackers coach after Robert Saleh departed to become the Jets head coach.

Ryans, 38, was a Texans second-round pick in 2006 and started 86 games for the franchise in six seasons. He was the AP defensive rookie of the year and was twice selected to the Pro Bowl.

Ryans also played in 54 games for the Eagles from 2012-2015.

The 49ers had the league’s top defense in 2022, finishing No. 1 in yards allowed and points allowed.

41 responses to “Report: DeMeco Ryans emerges as top candidate for Texans

  1. Everyone wants a piece of the 49ers. The past several off-season’s have been telling. Time to step up and finish the season strong. Let’s go Niners!

  2. With Caserio loaded up with picks, that team is going to take over that division for years to come.

  3. The Texans are a dumpster fire right now, and will probably continue to be for a while yet. We don’t know what the new owners of the Broncos will be like, but at this point I’d opt for the devil you don’t know.

    Also, Colorado >> Texas

  4. Ever wonder why so many coaches get fired? How’s Robert Saleh doing with the Jets? How much longer until he gets fired? But I bet whoever replaces Ryans in San Francisco will become a “great” coach. Certainly we were paying attention when all Tom Brady’s coordinators became head coaches and failed. We learned talented players make coaches look good. Right? No? We didn’t learn anything from that? Holy smokes people!

  5. Demeco should stay with the Niners until a better team (team with better owners/GMs) becomes available. The Texans have been a hot mess for many years and Denver comes with the boat anchor, Russell Wilson.

  6. I like it for the Texans. A head coach is the leader not the best play caller on the market. Too many teams want the next flavor of hot OC and they turn out to be lousy head coaches. Head coaching takes a special breed of human to oversee and run an entire team. Reminds me a lot of Tomlin’s situation when he was hired and he became a pretty good head coach.

  7. Texans batting for the the cycle : David Culley, 1 year, out. Lovie Smith, 1 year, out.
    DeMeco Ryans, 1 year, out. Nothing like a stable organization run by a goofball owner

  8. Saleh has done a good job with the team. But, unless you have a reasonable solution at QB, you are stuck in the ditch

  9. No bigger dumpster fire than Jax last season. Just saying. It doesn’t take long anymore. The Texans have a bright future with all those picks. They’ve already had back to back good drafts under Nick. Now they will get their QB. Demeco will coach those young players up.

  10. I think that’s the best destination for Demeco. Because he knows what the organization is about.
    Just makes sure he gets a 6 year contract and take his time to build that program up the right way like Kyle , John and their staff did.

  11. Sounds like a bidding war. It may come down to how he feels about his time in Texas. Hope the Broncos can land him, but if not, I think Paton has kept his toe in the water because when Ryan’s is taken, Paton will have all the leverage. Shaw and Caldwell probably were not first choices, but as a fan I have to hope for a miracle.

    The Bronco’s new owners said they would take their time and do a thorough search. I’m starting to wonder if they are familiar with the hiring speed of the NFL. Wait too long and you get well-researched 3rd tier coaches.

  12. Condaleeza wants Jim Caldwell or possibly Shaw. She gets a vote. Nothing wrong with her stating a preference. The whole thing blew up over that.

  13. touchback6 says:
    January 27, 2023 at 2:02 pm
    With Caserio loaded up with picks, that team is going to take over that division for years to come.

    I don’t know about that. Ex-Patriots haven’t done especially well with the draft, kind of like the current Patriots actually.
    Casserio was hired in early Jan 2021. Shortly thereafter the Texans hired David Culley as their coach. Executive VP Jack Easterby was likely involved in that decision process as well, another long term ex-Patriot and who BB called “critical” to the team’s later success. Culley was fired after a single season and Lovie Smith was hired to replace him. Lovie Smith was also fired after a single season. You can’t make this stuff up.
    Casserio’s draft history has been mixed at best. Pretty good early on ~ 2010 with the Patriots but a lot of busts since then and a lot of reaches on draft day (picking players earlier than in mock drafts). In the end I wouldn’t put any money on Casserio turning things around in Houston. More likely to be fired in the next 2 years.

  14. If I had options, I would not choose to coach the Texans. The franchise has issues it will take many years to fix. Back to Back 1 year head coaches. I would not want to make it 3.

  15. bobhk says:
    January 27, 2023 at 2:37 pm
    Saleh has done a good job with the team. But, unless you have a reasonable solution at QB, you are stuck in the ditch

    —————-

    What?

    Saleh coaches the Jets.

  16. Ryans should absolutely take the Texans job if offered…. about to have Bryce Young (probably), winnable division and after two straight one-and-done coaches, there’s no way he gets fired quickly….good for him. Love to see a Bama boy do well….

  17. touchback6 says:
    January 27, 2023 at 3:22 pm
    bobhk says:
    January 27, 2023 at 2:37 pm
    Saleh has done a good job with the team. But, unless you have a reasonable solution at QB, you are stuck in the ditch

    —————-

    What?

    Saleh coaches the Jets.
    ————
    I was responding to a Saleh 2.0 comment

  18. He should be. Would be a nice story, too, since he played there. They would be foolish not to hire him. I just hope they give him the support he needs. The front office seems like a mess.

  19. I’d love this hire just for the fact he’s a former player and has coached a top 3 Defense in SF. That said, we absolutely have to nail the OC hire for this to work.

  20. Lol wasn’t everyone bashing the Texans for being racist? If Ryans is hired he’d be the third straight black coach for Houston. That has to set some type of record that I’m sure someone is keeping track of.

  21. Ryan wouldn’t be the 3rd straight black HC for the Texans as someone above suggested, he’d be the 4th. Crennel, Cully, Smith, Ryan. But does it matter who they hire? Look at Nick Caserio’s record 1) he selects Stingley who played 1 out 3 seasons at LSU, and just 50% of games in his first yr in Houston…takes Stingley over Garnder who made all-pro!. 2) Gives up 3 draft picks a yr ago to draft Nico Collins, who never plays 3) Gives up 3 draft picks to draft John Metchie who had just torn his ACL (later diagnosed with cancer). See a trend? Caserio also whiffs in 1st round last yr with OG Kenyon Green. Caserio also created ~$60M in dead cap each of the last 2 yrs. See a trend? With both the draft and cap space Caserio has created plausible deniability for his failures…always select injured players and always handicaps himself with with no cap space…how can he be blamed? Caserio, in two years, had one contract of significance to manage. Brandon Cooks. Yet he way overpaid Cooks meaning he couldn’t trade him during the season. Caserio messed up the one significant contract he had to deal with over a two yr period. I feel sorry for Houston their fans and their next head coach. Nick Caserio is a disaster; he’s going to waste all those picks those fans have earned. But all that matters is Cal McNair has “full confidence” in Caserio. McNair is the issue folks, has been for 20 yrs in Houston.

  22. Ryans would be better off to go pretty much anywhere else, at least anywhere else that has a decent GM in place. Casserio has run a clown show in Houston, what a joke. Good luck finding any worthwhile coaching candidates for the Texans. The job will be a stain on anyone’s resume.

  23. I have tremendous respect and appreciation for what D’meco Ryan has done for and means to the Niners. That said, as a cautionary tale we had a guy in Mike Singletary, who after some success as a position coach, wen’t on to become a head coach too soon and we all know how that ended. I would advise D’meco to hang around another year or two and get some more seasoning. It would bode well for his future to wait a bit longer and absorb a bit more of what it takes to be the head coach of a well run organization. The Niners certainly fit that bill. DC for the Niners is a great job and he’s already thriving in that role. Given his limited experience though, I’d recommend waiting another year or two.

  24. “Caserio has run a clown show in Houston…..”

    Tell me you don’t know anything about who WAS making the decisions in Houston without telling me you don’t know anything about who was making the decisions in Houston.

  25. Tell me you don’t know anything about who WAS making the decisions in Houston without telling me you don’t know anything about who was making the decisions in Houston.

    Who cares who else was involved in the decision making process? Casserio’s title is GM. If he doesn’t have the stones to make his own decisions and own them that’s his problem.

  26. Unbelievable coach. But when your strength is on the defensive side of the ball you tend to lose offensive coordinators a lot. That’s what happened to Quinn in Atl. Same with Salah and Fangio.

  27. “Who cares who else was involved in the decision making process? “Casserio’s title is GM. If he doesn’t have the stones to make his own decisions and own them that’s his problem”

    Caserio took over a team that had no draft picks, no cap room and no talent. He’s since had 2 solid drafts, cleaned up the cap to where they’re near the top in cap space and managed a disastrous situation with Watson so well that Houston now has by far the most draft capital in the league. If that’s a horrible GM I’ll take it.

  28. Why would you want to coach the Texans with the gm in your ear the whole game telling you what to call?

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