Early in his coaching career, DeMeco Ryans resides as a 49ers defensive quality control coach. But the team thinks highly of the former linebacker and did not want another franchise poaching him from the staff just yet.
The 49ers blocked the Titans from speaking with Ryans in an interview setting, Jason Wolf of The Tennesseean reports (on Twitter). Ryans and Mike Vrabel‘s time with the Texans did not overlap, with the linebacker having moved on to the Eagles by the time Vrabel got to Houston, but the new Titans coach wanted to meet with him nonetheless.
The 33-year-old assistant played in the NFL from 2006-15 and caught on with Robert Saleh‘s defensive staff. Despite Ryans being set for a low-level assistant job, Saleh gave a glowing assessment of the newcomer last year, helping to explain why San Francisco blocked his possible defection to Tennessee.
“DeMeco is probably going to be a head coach one day,” Saleh said in April 2017, via Eric Branch of the San Francisco Chronicle. “So, I’ll be asking him for a job I’m sure not long from now. He’s got that type of football I.Q. — that type of presence — and is as knowledgeable as it gets.”
Branch notes one of Ryans’ main responsibilities this season was working with first-rounder Reuben Foster, who made a strong impression as a rookie when healthy. It’s clear he’ll have a chance to learn more from Ryans in 2018.
Dang, I didn’t even know he was coaching. Sounds like he has a promising future if teams are reaching out to him already.