Potential DeMeco Ryans Staff Names
 |
Hello Texans nation! I will be up front and admit that I am not a Texans fan by choice or by birth (that honor goes to the Detroit Lions), but rather married into a Texans family, so over the last two years I’ve been a bit more engaged with the team in an attempt to win over my in-laws! Not the best two years, but absolutely thrilled about the rising prospects of Houston landing DeMeco Ryans as its new head coach. The purpose of this post is a comprehensive and somewhat exhaustive look at different coaches who could be available to join Ryans on a theoretical staff down South that have prior ties to him. I add that disclaimer because theoretically, he could hire just about anyone! Coaches, especially first time coaches, tend to bring a handful of familiar faces with them to the new job. This is an attempt to breakdown those names. The question here is who has overlapped with Ryans that could be available to join him in Houston. And one other note on that: Lateral moves are difficult in the NFL. Teams are required to get permission from other teams to even speak to various coaches from other spots. So for example, Ryans might have overlapped with the WR coach of the Las Vegas Raiders (for example), but that doesn’t mean it’s likely he could be poached. The standard here is that they could either be in line to be poached to a promotion or to a full-time position role, or potentially just don’t have one at the moment. So please do not take this as a full-on projection of who Ryans would hire, but rather a who’s who of names he has direct connections to. Hope is that you find it informative. And do remember, coaches will go outside their direct network of connections to fill out their staffs. So if you find the options at [insert position group here] to be somewhat lackluster, remember that coaches will often hire by reputation and find people from outside their circle. This will be broken down into five sections: offensive coordinator candidates, offensive position coaching candidates, defensive coordinator candidates, defensive position coaching candidates, and miscellaneous staff. Offensive Coordinator CandidatesOne popular name connected to Ryans is current 49ers associate head coach/running backs coach Anthony Lynn. He was previously the head coach of the Los Angeles Chargers, posting a 33-31 record over four seasons. After that, he served as the Detroit Lions offensive coordinator in 2021, though was fired midway through the season after the Lions offense (and team) got off to a sluggish start. He’s since rebounded quite nicely under Shanahan as a veteran coach. He may not be the sexiest name as offensive coordinator, given the struggles of his last two offenses, but he is a veteran head coach and now has time in Shanahan’s system that could be quite valuable. The other popular name off the Shanahan staff is passing game coordinator Bobby Slowik. The 35-year old assistant has been on the 49ers staff since 2017, exactly the same year Ryans joined. Both worked their way up through the off-field assistant/quality control ranks together. Slowik was promoted this past season to oversee the passing game, and has played a major role in their ability to seamlessly transition to rookie quarterback Brock Purdy. Another name to consider here is Broncos QB coach Klint Kubiak, formerly the offensive coordinator of the Minnesota Vikings in Mike Zimmer’s final season. Ryans played in Houston for longtime Texans coach Gary Kubiak, Klint’s father. While the Broncos QB play was not overly inspiring, Klint has coordinator experience, as mentioned, overseeing the NFL’s 13th ranked scoring offense in 2021 in Minnesota. He could also be a candidate to fulfill a passing game coordinator or quarterbacks coach role as well, and would likely be available given Denver’s staff turnover as well. Offensive Position Coaching CandidatesAnother Kubiak to be mentioned here is Klay Kubiak, the lesser known of the younger ones. He currently is assistant quarterbacks coach in San Francisco, meaning he’s currently working with Ryans, and could easily get a promotion over to quarterbacks coach in Houston. Prior to San Francisco, Klay was the head coach at Strake Jesuit College Preparatory in Houston. He was a defensive quality control coach in 2021 additionally, giving him some versatility as a coach. Bills senior offensive assistant Mike Shula is another name that could fill a variety of spots on the offensive staff. Formerly Ryans’ head coach at the University of Alabama, Shula was let go the year after Ryans left. Since then, he’s bounced around the NFL, working for teams like the Seattle Seahawks, the Buffalo Bills, the New York Giants, and the Denver Broncos amongst others. Largely a QB coach, he was the OC for the Giants from 2018-2019, but has also coached tight ends. A potential QB coach or TE coach. Similarly, former Broncos and Vikings offensive coordinator Pat Shurmur is similar, a possible QB coach or TE coach. His tie to Ryans is in Philadelphia, where Ryans played for four seasons, including three whilst Shurmur was the offensive coordinator there under Chip Kelly. Another QB coach would be former Kentucky offensive coordinator Rich Scangarello. He was QB coach in SF two different times under Kyle Shanahan. Recently fired as offensive coordinator at UK, he’d probably be just a QB coach if anything. He was replaced, in-between stints, by former Chargers QB coach/Passing Game Coordinator Shane Day, though he also has TE coaching experience in Miami. A potential name for a WR coach could be Saints senior offensive assistant Bob Bicknell. He was a WR coach on the Chip Kelly Philadelphia Eagles when Ryans was a player there. He was in San Francisco in 2016, but that was the season prior to the arrival of Kyle Shanahan and DeMeco Ryans. Former Colorado Univ. head coach Karl Dorrell was a longtime NFL coach, working largely with WRs and QBs. He was QB coach for Gary Kubiak his final two seasons in Houston, overlapping with DeMeco Ryans there. Prior to being CU’s head coach, he was WR coach for the Miami Dolphins. Bills assistant WR coach Marc Lubick was an offensive assistant under Kubiak in Houston as well, working as an offensive assistant and then asst. WR coach. He joined Gary Kubiak in Denver briefly and then has been in Buffalo sense then, also working on game management there. A candidate for tight ends coach could be Brian Pariani, the longtime TE coach here in Houston under Gary Kubiak. He was recently the Vikings TE coach under OC Klint Kubiak, but when the Vikings changed over to Kevin O’Connell, Pariani wasn’t retained. He did jump right back into a new job this season, but at 57-years old, could still realistically get back into it and coach another decade or so. Former Jets offensive line coach John Benton was recently replaced in NYC, though his OL this past season got hit with the injury bug pretty hard. He does have ties to Ryans however, coaching in SF from 2017-2020 as offensive line coach, before joining Ryans’ predecessor, Robert Saleh, with the Jets. He also was the longtime OL coach for the Houston Texans when Gary Kubiak and DeMeco Ryans were both here. A different name for OL coach could be James Cregg, formerly the offensive line coach for the LSU Tigers during their national title run. However, he committed some recruiting violations and promptly jumped to the NFL after receiving a show cause. He has since been the asst. OL coach in San Francisco, and was also asst. OL coach for the Chargers and Broncos previously. And lastly, a more controversial name (depending on where you stand) is former Vikings offensive line coach Rich Dennison. A longtime Kubiak disciple, he overlapped with Ryans in Houston, where he was offensive coordinator for four years, and then joined on recently in Minnesota with the Kubiaks. I say controversial because he had to vacate his role as OL coach due to being unwilling to take a vaccine shot. I do not currently know if that is still a requirement or not. Overall, unlikely, but a name with ties. Defensive Coordinator CandidatesDo remember that defensive coordinator underneath a defensive-minded head coach tends to be less consequential, and often times works as a glorified lieutenant for the head coach, provided they retain play calling. If he doesn’t receive the internal promotion to replace Ryans, 49ers secondary coach Cory Undlin has impressed folks in San Francisco since arriving. He was the defensive coordinator of the Detroit Lions in Matt Patricia’s final season, which was a poor move in some regards, jumping aboard a sinking ship. However, he’s done an excellent job working beneath Ryans since then, and could easily operate as his right-hand man with the defense in Houston. The other name to really keep an eye on in San Francisco is 57-year old linebackers coach Johnny Holland. He was Ryans LB coach here in Houston for four seasons, and now has reunited with his former pupil becoming linebackers coach in 2017, the same season Ryans joined the staff. The one thing to note, however, is that Holland has had some health issues lately, and that could dampen his desire to take on coordinator responsibilities. However, if that’s not an issue, I think he’d be the most likely candidate to take on this role. Another name to consider is former Browns defensive coordinator Joe Woods. He was recently fired while overseeing the NFL’s 17th ranked scoring defense. That doesn’t make him particularly attractive, but he has significant coordinator experience and ties to Ryans, and so he’d be a possibility. (Again, less important when the HC is same side of the ball). He was Gary Kubiak’s defensive backs coach in Denver, and then was the 49ers defensive backs coach and passing game coordinator in 2019. He’d be more desirable as a secondary/defensive backs coach. Ravens assistant head coach and defensive line coach Anthony Weaver is a familiar name, as he formerly coached on Bill O’Brien’s HOU staff, as DL coach from 2016-2019 and then working up to defensive coordinator in 2020, giving him some experience there. His connection to Ryans is that they played together in Houston from 2006-2008 when Weaver was a defensive lineman here. Some other names here that could be worth mentioning: Commanders DL coach Jeff Zgonnia played in Houston with Ryans, and then also current Bengals LB coach James Bettcher, who has DC experience in Arizona and with the Giants, but was a defensive asst. in SF last season. And one final name to note, Jets LB coach Mike Rutenberg is largely a Robert Saleh disciple, having coached with him in JAC, SF, and NYJ, but he’s a rising coach who has gotten some industry buzz as a potential DC in due time, and is in the same system under Saleh that Ryans is largely running. Defensive Position Coaching CandidatesPerhaps the top name to consider adding here would be 49ers assistant defensive line coach Darryl Tapp. A dominant defensive front is a must, and Tapp has been a well-regarded assistant with NFL playing experience, and a solid apprenticeship under Kris Koceruk. Veteran NFL assistant Richard Smith has coached for just about every team in the league give or take, but has direct ties to Ryans as the defensive coordinator in Houston from 2006-2008. He most recently was a linebackers coach for the Indianapolis Colts, and could fill that role, or a senior defensive assistant type of role with Ryans in Houston. Another veteran NFL assistant who has coached for way too many teams to list is Cardinals LB coach Billy Davis. With the Cardinals in a coaching change as well, he’d be poachable as teams tend to let guys move laterally when there’s no head coach in place, unless they’re determined to replace them. Davis was the defensive coordinator under Chip Kelly in Philadelphia, overlapping with Ryans. UCLA defensive coordinator Bill McGovern was also on that staff, working as outside linebackers coach at the same time Ryans was a player there. He has also been linebackers coach of the Bears and Giants recently. Current 49ers defensive assistant Nick Sorensen just recently joined the staff this season in San Fran. He previously was the Jaguars special teams coordinator under Urban Meyer, and previously a defensive backs coach in Seattle, overlapping with Robert Saleh there. He could be a defensive backs coach, a linebackers coach, or potentially a special teams coordinator option. Current Univ. of Michigan analyst Rick Minter is a veteran linebackers coach, and also happened to be Ryans’ position coach in Philadelphia under Chip Kelly for a few seasons. He’s currently in Ann Arbor as a senior analyst working with his son, Jesse, who is the defensive coordinator for the Wolverines. For a secondary/defensive backs coach, Daniel Bullocks has been around San Francisco since 2017 as well, and prior to that coached under Robert Saleh in Jacksonville. Bullocks could potentially be in line for a promotion to defensive backs coach under Ryans, though he could also get that in SF if Undlin is promoted to defensive coordinator. Miscellaneous StaffAlso, just notes on the current 49ers quality control guys based on a quick read of their bios:
A potential special teams coordinator or wide receivers coach could be current 49ers asst. special teams coordinator Matthew Harper. The 38-year old assistant overlapped with Ryans in Philadelphia, where he was a special teams assistant and then eventually became WR coach. He wasn’t retained in Philly by Sirianni however, and is now the 49ers asst. STC. Some off field names to keep in mind:
Loose Coaching Staff ProjectionAgain, this isn’t me saying this is who he’ll hire, but rather a loose outline of what a staff exclusively of guys with ties to Ryans could look like. I’d recommend taking this more on a line by line basis, like, each individual name as the best option for each position with some weaker spots being filled by outside hires ultimately. Personally, I would project that Anthony Lynn becomes the OC, but I’d personally rather see Slowik get the nod.
Anyways, if you’ve read this far, congratulations! Hope you enjoyed it. submitted by /u/boanerges_77 |
