DeMeco Ryans wins Assistant Coach of the Year

PHOENIX (AP) — DeMeco Ryans will take the AP Assistant Coach of the Year award with him to Houston.

The new Texans head coach received 35 first-place votes after guiding the league’s No. 1 ranked defense in San Francisco.

Ryans, who spent the past two seasons as the defensive coordinator of the 49ers, earned 206 points. He was named on 48 of 50 ballots.

Detroit Lions offensive coordinator Ben Johnson finished second in voting with 113 points, including 11 first-place votes.

Philadelphia Eagles offensive coordinator Shane Steichen came in third with 26 points.

Others receiving first-place votes from a nationwide panel of 50 media members who regularly cover the league included: Bills defensive coordinator Leslie Frazier; Bengals defensive coordinator Lou Anarumo; Eagles defensive coordinator Jonathan Gannon; Eagles offensive line coach Jeff Stoutland.

Ryans, a two-time Pro Bowl linebacker during his playing career with the Texans, has spent his entire coaching career with the 49ers. He was San Francisco’s inside linebackers coach from 2018-20 after spending the 2017 season as the defensive quality control coach.