DeMeco Ryans, the San Francisco 49ers’ defensive coordinator, is ready most N.F.L. assistant coaches would covet. He leads the top-ranked unit within the league, his staff is one win away from the Tremendous Bowl, and he has been wanted by different groups on the lookout for a head coach for the reason that common season ended.
4 groups with vacancies — the Arizona Cardinals, the Indianapolis Colts, the Houston Texans and the Denver Broncos — have requested to interview Ryans, who’s Black. All N.F.L. golf equipment are required to interview a minority or feminine candidate for head teaching positions due to the Rooney Rule, and in earlier hiring cycles Black coordinators like Eric Bieniemy, who runs Kansas Metropolis’s offense, and Leslie Frazier, who commanded the Payments protection, had been introduced in by a number of groups however not employed by any.
Ryans is reportedly poised to area head coach job gives from a number of franchises.
It gained’t be the primary time Ryans is obtainable a high function. He was a candidate final yr for the Minnesota Vikings’ opening, however turned down a second interview with the staff’s entrance workplace, saying he needed one other yr of expertise teaching in San Francisco.
A former Professional Bowl linebacker, Ryans retired from enjoying after 10 seasons within the N.F.L. with the Texans and Eagles. Starting in 2017, he spent 4 seasons as an assistant in San Francisco earlier than taking on for Robert Saleh as defensive coordinator in 2021.
“I’m not simply in it simply to be a head coach and say, ‘Oh, I’m a head coach,’” Ryans mentioned in a information convention in June. “If I do it, I need to be very profitable at it and I need to do it for a very long time. So it’s not about simply leaping on the first alternative, however for all of us, no matter alternatives we get offered in life, you need it to be the most effective for you the place you may see longevity in it and make a long-lasting impression and be capable to influence lives past simply me.”