In other words, Ryan delivered an ultimatum, the Freedom Caucus knew that neither Meadows nor Jordan could win, that the alternative to Ryan was worse and chose to withdraw and fight another day.
Doesn’t sound like they “made” Ryan speaker to me.
The FC could have prevented Ryan from becoming Speaker. That is a matter of historical record.
Btw, I went back and read public statements from several members of the FC made publicly prior to Ryan’s original election. They were not dragged kicking and screaming; they were quite enthusiastic.