DeMeco Ryans didn't wait long to find his next NFL home.

Less than two full days after the San Francisco 49ers lost in the NFC Championship Game, the team's former defensive coordinator has agreed to a six-year deal to become head coach of the Houston Texans.

Houston fired Lovie Smith at the conclusion of another rough regular season, one it ended with a 3-13-1 record.

Ryan, meanwhile, emerged as one of the hottest names on the head-coaching carousel in 2022 after leading the 49ers to the best defense in football during just his second go-around as the team's defensive coordinator. The 38-year-old now returns to where he began his playing career after being selected by the Texans with the No. 33 overall pick in 2006 NFL draft.

A two-time Pro Bowler at inside linebacker during his six-season tenure in Houston, Ryans retired in 2015 after spending the last four years of his career with the Philadelphia Eagles. He wasted little time getting into coaching, hired by the Niners after the 2016 season as a defensive quality control coach. Ryans was promoted to linebackers coach the following year before taking the reins of San Francisco's defense in 2021.

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“We always talk about, ‘love is stronger than fear.’ And I feel when you have that type of love for your coach, for each other, you take things that much more personally because you know how much he cares,” 49ers linebacker Azeez Al-Shair said of Ryans, per The Athletic's Matt Barrows. “You want to do well for him.”

Rebuilding the Texans into a contender from the ground up would be a tough chore for any head coach, let alone a rookie. Ryans, clearly, has the temperament that will help his new team begin to climb from its longstanding recent depths. His next challenge will be bringing in the talent—beginning with the No. 2 pick in the 2023 NFL draft—needed to complete that arduous ascent.