By Mark Eckel, Player Engagement Insider
Officially, DeMeco Ryans’ coaching career began when the San Francisco 49ers hired him this past winter to be their defensive quality control coach.
Unofficially, Ryans has been coaching from the time he started playing high school football at Jess Lanier High School in Bessemer, Alabama.
Ryans, who saw injuries end his 10-year playing career in 2015 after six seasons with the Houston Texans and the final four with the Philadelphia Eagles, is ready to get started on phase two of his NFL life. And it’s something that is not a surprise to anyone who knows the two-time Pro Bowl linebacker.
“I did see this happening,’’ Ryans said of becoming a coach. “That was always my role. And I always enjoyed helping other players, younger players, get better. That’s the aspect of coaching I really like, helping and developing young men to get better.
“I’ve always tried to help out wherever I could, whether it was in college or even in high school. I always tried to help guys get better. That was just what I did, it’s who I am.’’
In Ryans’ later years with the Eagles, the defensive coaches always referred to the linebacker as a coach on the field. Former defensive coordinator Billy Davis nicknamed him Mufasa, after the character from The Lion King. The team’s current middle linebacker, Jordan Hicks, credits Ryans for helping him along both on and off the field.
“I learned so much from him,’’ Hicks said of Ryans. “Not just on the field, where he helped me a lot. But just how to be a NFL player. He was the perfect mentor.’’
Ryans said he was just doing what came natural to him and what others did for him when he was the young player learning the game.
“Guys helped me when I was younger, I remember in college (at Alabama) guys like Freddie Roach, and those guys helped me get started,’’ he said. “Then when I got to the league, Kevin Bentley and Morlon Greenwoood and Shawn Barber, those older guys they really reached out and helped and that’s how it’s always been for me. So, the least I could do is pass it on to others.’’
As a young player with the Texans, Ryans made an impression on a coaching staff that included now 49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan, defensive coordinator Robert Saleh and linebackers coach Johnny Holland. Enough of one that when Shanahan formed his first coaching staff, he included Ryans.
“I knew those guys from Houston,’’ Ryans said. “I worked with all of them, Kyle, coach Saleh, coach Holland. I had a good relationship with them back in Houston going back from my rookie year.’’
Ryans, who is 32, needs to look no further than Saleh, 38, who began with the Texans a year before Ryans arrived, and was the Texans’ defensive quality control coach. He moved up to linebackers coach and is now a defensive coordinator.
In his role as the quality control coach, Ryans will work closely with Saleh, and also with Holland, helping out with 49ers’ linebackers.
“Whatever they need me to do,’’ he said. “I’m just here to help in any way.’’
At just 32, Ryans could be on a career path that leads to bigger and better opportunities down the road. Then, again, he’s been on this road for a long time.
“I’m enjoying it,’’ he said. “We’ll see how it goes. Of course, any time I do something I want to be the best at what I do. So, I’ll just work it and try to be the best quality control coach I can be.’’