49ers’ Kyle Shanahan, Robert Saleh go way back with Houston coach DeMeco Ryans

SANTA CLARA — DeMeco Ryans is in his third season as coach of the Houston Texans, something he never knew he wanted until Kyle Shanahan sat him down one day at 49ers’ headquarters.

“He told me, `Dude, you can be a head coach in this league,” Ryans told reporters this week in Houston. “I was kind of shocked, because no one had ever said that to me before . . . Kyle was the guy who believed in me. It just shows you speak life into people. Your words mean a lot. That’s what I’m always doing, just trying to speak life into people, speak life into others. Be positive about attacking each day.”

The Texans are 2-4, mostly because they’re struggling on offense, because their defense is giving up a league-low 14.7 points per game.

But Ryans has breathed life into the franchise along with general manager Nick Caserio, applying much of what he learned working for the 49ers from 2018 through 2022. Houston has won the AFC South each of the last two years with 10-7 records and won games in the wild card round both years before losing in the divisional round.

Ryans climbed the ladder quickly, going from a quality control coach in 2017 and then moving on to inside linebackers from 2018-20 and finally defensive coordinator when Robert Saleh was hired by the New York Jets as head coach. He got a first-hand look at how Shanahan built the 49ers as well as the defense installed by Saleh.

Shanahan’s ties with Ryans go back to 2006 when he was the wide receivers coach in Houston under first-year head coach Gary Kubiak. Ryans was a plug-in-and-play starter at inside linebacker, a second-round draft pick out of Alabama. Also on staff was Saleh as a defensive assistant and Johnny Holland coaching linebackers.

So Shanahan, Saleh and Holland all had a pretty good idea what they were getting when they came to the 49ers in 2017 and Ryans came aboard as a quality control assistant, his first job in coaching. He played for Houston through 2011 before being traded to Philadelphia, where he played through 2016.

“He ended up being our captain and rookie of the year,” Shanahan said. “The way he’s carried himself his whole career, he’s smart, knows football, works so hard and is so consistent as a human. Always knew how good of a coach he’d be if he wanted to do it.”

Klay Kubiak, the 49ers offensive coordinator, was 18 years old when his father Gary was hired in Houston and was aware of Ryans’ influence.

“Right away he was a leader of a young team, a young defense,” Kubiak said. “I know my dad was so thankful to have him because he was a guy who just stepped in and was a tough, smart, charismatic player who really led that franchise for as long as he was there.”

It was so clear to Shanahan that Ryans was going places he counseled him to be choosy when opportunity knocked. Ryans listened. He interviewed for the head coaching job in Minnesota in 2021 but pulled out of a second interview to spend another season on Shanahan’s staff.

“I was like, dude, don’t go jump at a job,” Shanahan said. “You’re going to be a head coach. Make sure you get the right one because you don’t have to just take one to take one. That was probably my biggest advice to him.”

Once Ryans left, Shanahan went through two defensive coordinators — Steve Wilks and Nick Sorensen — before Saleh re-entered the picture after being fired by the Jets.

Ryans’ imprint with the 49ers included tutoring Fred Warner as an inside linebacker in 2018 when he arrived as a hybrid safety, and turning Nick Bosa loose as the No. 1 overall pick in 2019.

“I wouldn’t be where I am if it weren’t for him,” Warner said when Ryans left for Houston.

Saleh’s influence on Ryans was considerable as well. He was impacted by Saleh in the same way Warner was impacted by Ryans. Saleh taught Ryans how to communicate and teach players in different ways.

“You think as a young guy you know a lot, but he taught me all of what it takes to be a good coach,” Ryans said. “I’m so blessed and thankful to have learned under him because he’s such a meticulous, detailed person. Not just in coaching, but in life. It’s the reason I’m here right now because he spent the time to teach me those things.”

Even without Bosa and Warner, Ryans said he can see the Saleh imprint on the 49ers defensively.

“He’s brought some consistency even though he has a really young group,” Ryans said. “He has those guys playing the right way. They’re going to play hard, they’re going to finish, they’ll be attacking the ball. They’re all about the right stuff. You a young group that’s consistently gotten better from the first game of the season until now. You see his stamp on it.”

While Wilks and Sorensen were more static in what they wanted and how they wanted it, Saleh, according to Shanahan, has the ability to adjust on the fly.

“Everybody knows what they want to do, but it’s what’s the best thing to do?,” Shanahan said. “That answer changes week-in and week-out and sometimes every quarter based off what you’re going against and based off who’s available. Saleh’s done a hell of a job with that so far.”

It’s a trait that was passed on to Ryans from Saleh.

“He’s willing to ask the right questions and he is incredibly smart,” Saleh said. “He can evolve, he can adapt. He’s a great communicator and people gravitate to him.”

Ryans has taken notice of the 49ers’ ever-changing offensive system under Shanahan.

“The Niners consistently evolve,” Ryans said. “That’s why Kyle is such a good play-caller. He can do plays that other people can but nobody is going to put the spin on it that Kyle does. He stresses defenses. He stresses your communication and you really have to be on it. If you’re not sound in what you’re doing, you can exposed very quickly.”

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