Kyle Shanahan was lucky when interviewing for head coaching jobs six years ago. His Atlanta Falcons had a bye week, which means players and coaches had some time off. While Shanahan would have enjoyed resting from the rigors of the regular season, he used those days to speak with interested teams, eventually accepting the head coaching job with the San Francisco 49ers.
As expected, 49ers defensive coordinator DeMeco Ryans is in high demand. Five teams with head coaching vacancies have contacted the 49ers, requesting permission to interview the assistant coach. Unfortunately, Ryans can't take advantage of some time off as Shanahan did six years ago. Instead, the defensive coordinator will have to find a way to fit the interviews into his busy schedule of preparing for Sunday's playoff game against the Dallas Cowboys or Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
"The difference for DeMeco ... we don't have that bye week, but I think he has a couple of times set aside for Thursday and Friday, which he'll do two interviews, I believe, those two days ... with Denver and Houston," Shanahan told reporters via a conference call on Monday. "And then I think he'll plan on the other ones after. So Friday afternoon, as we get some time off. So that shouldn't cut into anything. And usually, on Thursdays, we finish a little bit earlier than we do on the other nights in the week, so there's a chance to do that Thursday night."
The Houston Texans, Denver Broncos, Carolina Panthers, and Arizona Cardinals have all requested permission to interview Ryans. However, it's been reported that the Panthers don't plan on interviewing him right now. On Monday morning, ESPN's Adam Schefter reported that the Indianapolis Colts had done the same. It didn't sound like Shanahan was aware of that one yet, believing there were just four teams interested. However, he knows his assistant coach will have a lot on his plate this week with the interviews he has lined up and the planning for the 49ers' next opponent.
Shanahan admits that, six years ago, once his few days of interviews were complete, he didn't think about it much after that, aside from an occassional phone call here and there. The coach was able to focus on the Falcons' playoff run.
Shanahan added, "When you just set the time aside for that—it's a lot for DeMeco to kind of prepare for, but I think he is prepared for it, and when you're done with those, you go right back to the most important thing at hand, and that's us finding a way to win on Sunday."
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