49ers' DeMeco Ryans, Texans Agree to Reported 6-Year Contract as Head Coach

After going through four head coaches in the past three seasons, the Houston Texans are banking on DeMeco Ryans to bring stability to a franchise in need of a strong voice, announcing the longtime linebacker as their head coach on Tuesday.

According to ESPN's Adam Schefter, the Texans are giving the former San Francisco 49ers defensive coordinator a six-year deal to be their new head coach.

Ryans is taking over a franchise that has been a mess since blowing a 24-0 lead to the Kansas City Chiefs in the AFC Divisional Round in January 2020. Then-head coach Bill O'Brien traded DeAndre Hopkins to the Arizona Cardinals two months later.

After an 0-4 start to the 2020 season, O'Brien was fired as head coach and general manager of the Texans. Romeo Crennel, who had been working on O'Brien's staff as defensive coordinator, was named interim head coach for the rest of the campaign.

The Texans hired David Culley as head coach for the 2021 season, but he was fired after going 4-13 in his first year. Lovie Smith, who was defensive coordinator on Culley's staff, was promoted for the 2022 season.

Houston wanted to hire former NFL quarterback Josh McCown after firing Culley, but John McClain of the Houston Chronicle reported the team pivoted to Smith in the wake of Brian Flores' racial discrimination lawsuit against the NFL.

"Once Flores filed his lawsuit, pointing specifically to the Dolphins, Giants and Broncos but including the Texans and every other team, he wasn't going to get hired by the people he was suing," McClain wrote. ""[...] The Texans knew they were going to get ridiculed for hiring McCown with no college or NFL coaching experience. Hiring him at the expense of a more experienced minority became a deal-breaker, so they reached out to Smith."

Put in what was a difficult situation to win on the field, Smith finished 3-13-1 and was fired by the Texans on Jan. 8, hours after leading the team to a season-ending win over the Indianapolis Colts.

Even though the on-field product in Houston has been rough for the past three seasons, there are reasons to be optimistic going forward.

Dameon Pierce had 1,104 yards from scrimmage as a rookie in 2022. Derek Stingley Jr. had a rough first season, but he's one year removed from being the No. 3 overall pick and played in a secondary that offered little help around him.

The Texans also have two first-round picks (Nos. 2 and 12 overall) in the 2023 NFL draft to kick-start their rebuild.

In just two seasons as the 49ers' defensive coordinator, Ryans has established himself as one of the brightest coaching minds in the NFL.

Taking over for Robert Saleh as the top defensive coach on San Francisco's staff for the 2021 season, his group ranked third in yards allowed and ninth in points allowed. He did that while having to piece together a secondary, with players such as Josh Norman and Dre Kirkpatrick signed during the season because of injuries.

Ryans was one of the hottest head coaching candidates last offseason, but he declined a second interview with the Minnesota Vikings to remain with the 49ers for the 2022 campaign. The move paid off for San Francisco, as the defense ranked first in points and yards allowed to help the team reach the NFC Championship Game for the second consecutive year.

Few of the coaching candidates available this offseason know the Texans as well as the 38-year-old. He spent the first six seasons of his playing career in Houston, making the Pro Bowl twice and winning Defensive Rookie of the Year in 2006.

The Texans' first playoff appearance came in Ryans' final season with the team in 2011. He's got a tall task ahead of him to get the organization back to that level, but few assistant coaches have made as strong an impression as he has over the past two seasons.