Stan Szeto-USA TODAY Sports
Ryans is now the head coach of the team he once played for
The Houston Texans have their next head coach, and it is a familiar face.
DeMeco Ryans, most recently the defensive coordinator for the San Francisco 49ers, will be the next head coach of the Texans. According to ESPN’s Adam Schefter, Ryans and the team reached agreement on a six-year deal.
The agreement reunited Ryans with the team he once played for. Ryans was drafted by the Texans in the second round of the 2006 NFL Draft, the 33rd player selected overall. He started all 16 games for Houston as a rookie in 2006, and he was named the NFL’s Defensive Rookie of the Year after recording 126 total tackles, and 3.5 sacks that season.
Ryans spent six years in Houston with the Texans, and then the final four years of his career with the Philadelphia Eagles.
He began his coaching career with San Francisco in 2017, starting out as a defensive quality control assistant. Ryans then spent the next two years as the team’s inside linebackers coach under Robert Saleh, before being promoted to defensive coordinator when Saleh was named the head coach of the New York Jets.
During his time with the 49ers, San Francisco built one of the league’s best defenses. This past season, the 49ers’ defense ranked atop the league in Defensive DVOA.
According to a report from Ian Rapoport of the NFL Network, Ryans was under consideration for the job with the Denver Broncos. But when Ryans came to this agreement with the Texans, Denver moved ahead with Sean Payton:
Unbelievable: The #Broncos spent today trying to hire DeMeco Ryans AGAIN today before he recommitted to the #Texans, sources say. When he agreed to terms with the Texans, they moved and finalized Sean Payton.
— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) January 31, 2023
Ryans steps into a difficult situation in Houston. The Texans have not had a winning record since the 2019 season, and their last two head coaches — David Culley and Lovie Smith — were both one-and-done in Houston.
However, the Texans have a pair of picks in the top fifteen selections of the 2023 NFL Draft, and according to OverTheCap.com, they have the fifth-most cap space in the NFL this season.
And now they have their next head coach.
