DeMeco Ryans: The next star DC?

The former player and LB coach, Saleh's protege, takes over as DC - and takes over a unit that is ready to bounce back from an injury-riddled season.

(Santa Clara) - With Robert Saleh and Mike LaFleur packing their bags and bidding farewell to the Bay, the 49ers need a new DC.

John Lynch had an unofficial statement on Saleh’s departure:

Albert Breer @AlbertBreer

Text from @49ers GM John Lynch on Robert Saleh: "Robert's earned this opportunity. He's smart, a tremendously gifted leader and ready for this challenge. We'll miss him dearly but he's left us better and we'll be proud of all that he'll accomplish. The @Jets are very fortunate."

Soon after the Saleh news was announced, this story was also reported:

Ian Rapoport @RapSheet

With Robert Saleh gone, expect the #49ers to promote LBs coach DeMeco Ryans as their new defensive coordinator, source said. An impressive young coach.

Ryans is a former player - and a very decorated one. In his college career at Alabama, he was named a unanimous All-American and SEC Defensive Player of the Year, and continued this success in the pros. He won the defensive rookie of the year award with Houston, and was a two-time Pro Bowler in his NFL career, before becoming a coach.

The 36 year old, to put it in perspective, is just one year older than Patrick Willis. He is very young, and has been with Saleh for quite some time - studying as a LB coach, just as Saleh was in his time with the Seahawks and Jaguars. You could very well give Ryans credit for identifying talent like Fred Warner, Dre Greenlaw, and yes, Reuben Foster (Before he imploded) - and also developing said talent, as Warner and Greenlaw is one of the best LB duos.

In a Pre-Super Bowl interview, Ryans was very enthusiastic about getting an opportunity to coach.

“It’s not as bad as everybody tries to make it out to be,” Ryans said Wednesday. “A lot of people bash coaching because of the long hours. But a lot of those people weren’t coaching. Once I got into it, I was like, ‘Aw, this is it.’ ”

Ryans never reached the Super Bowl in his 10 NFL seasons. It took only three as a coach, however, to reach that pinnacle. Hired as an entry-level assistant in 2017, Ryans has been on the fast track. He was promoted to inside linebackers coach the next season and was given the entire unit this season.

It could be only a matter of time before he’s calling plays as a defensive coordinator, which would have him only one step from his goal of leading a team.

“That’s definitely an aspiration of mine,” Ryans said. “But I will continue to be the best linebacker coach I can be, and the best linebacker coach in the league, and eventually I’ll get the opportunity to call plays as a defensive coordinator and eventually head coach.

Little did he know, almost a full year later, he’d be sitting as the new 49ers defensive coordinator as the playcaller for a unit including:

• Nick Bosa

• Javon Kinlaw

• Arik Armstead

• Fred Warner

• Dre Greenlaw

• Jimmie Ward

And others. Ryans had some very encouraging quotes earlier in that same interview, saying:

Then-Alabama defensive coordinator Joe Kines used to let Ryans call plays during film study. And in the NFL, he always found himself dialing up schemes in his head to see if he would call the same plays as his coordinators, Wade Phillips, Todd Bowles, and Billy Davis.

“Once you get on the field, that’s the easy part,” Ryans said. “That’s been my mentality from college, throughout the NFL, being the [middle] linebacker, understanding what every position had to do, and where do I fit into this puzzle?”

Ryans, 35, took a year off from football and did radio in Houston after he retired following the 2015 season. But he knew he wanted to coach and was reunited with 49ers coach Kyle Shanahan, whom he first met when he was playing for the Texans. Defensive coordinator Robert Saleh was one of Ryans’ linebackers coaches in Houston.

The transition from player to coach was natural, but not seamless. The most challenging part has been condensing all his knowledge and information, Ryans said, into a digestible 45 minutes of allotted time during positional meetings.

The added-benefit of Ryans is the 49ers players get continuity - there’s zero scheme change that will be undergone during this offseason, and young guys like Tarvarius Moore, Dre Greenlaw, and others - need that, to keep improving in their careers.

In addition, with the 49ers having a massive amount of FAs, especially on defense:

• Richard Sherman

• Jaquiski Tartt

• Jason Verrett

• Emmanuel Moseley

• Kevin Givens

• Kerry Hyder Jr

• K’Waun Williams

• Ahkello Witherspoon

• DJ Jones

The list goes on. Saleh could easily be the ideal destination for many of these players, to help shore up a NYJ Defense - that is sorely lacking good DB talent right now. Keep your eyes on Richard Sherman.

I also would not be surprised if Saleh brought along some more assistants - Johnny Holland, the other LB coach, could be a fit as a top assistant for Saleh, and I would also expect former DC Kris Richard to get a lot of attention from Saleh - Saleh liked Richard as a DB coach candidate last year, with the departure of Joe Woods.

Everything about Ryans suggests he should be able to succeed as a DC - the 49ers just have to hope he can step in, Year 1, without hiccups and do that. And all signs say he can - this is a guy that people called coach while he was a player in college, and one of the better talent developers in the NFL.

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