The San Francisco 49ers have been the hottest team in football down the stretch of the regular season, winning their last 10 games of the year. There are a ton of factors that have led to this impressive play, but star safety Tashaun Gipson seems to believe that one of the biggest factors has been the excellent coaching job of defensive coordinator DeMeco Ryans.
Gipson was asked on Thursday whether or not Ryans should be a head coaching candidate this offseason, and he definitively answered that it would “be a travesty” if he wasn’t.
“Absolutely, no question about it,” said Gipson when asked by Andrew Siciliano of NFL Network if Ryans should be a head coach. “If he isn’t, then it will be by choice due to him staying here and wanting to be around the guys. I’m sure everybody would love for DeMeco to stay here, but he has been lights out. It would be a travesty if he wasn’t a head coach somewhere else.”
“It would be a travesty if he’s not a head coach somewhere else.”
– Tashaun Gipson says if @49ers DC @DRyans59 isn’t a head coach next year, it would be by choice.@nflnetwork pic.twitter.com/Ot4iYzQpJV
— Andrew Siciliano (@AndrewSiciliano) January 13, 2023
It is hard to argue with Gipson’s sentiment when you look at just how excellent the 49ers have been defensively this year. San Francisco is atop the NFL in both points allowed per game and yards allowed per game, while also being tied for second in the NFL in turnovers forced on the year.
Ryans is already garnering some major interest around the league, with both the Denver Broncos and the Arizona Cardinals requesting to interview him for their vacant head coaching position.
Shanahan confirms that Denver put in a head coach interview request for DeMeco Ryans while Tennessee put in GM interview requests for Adam Peters and Ran Carthon
— David Lombardi (@LombardiHimself) January 9, 2023
#AZCardinals request head coach interview w/SF DC DeMeco Ryans, per @mattbarrows: https://t.co/r0SNcoUjcv
— Paul Calvisi (@PaulCalvisi) January 12, 2023
First and foremost for DeMeco Ryans will be to have his team continue to thrive defensively in the postseason, which will begin this weekend with a Wild Card matchup against the Seattle Seahawks.
About Reice Shipley
Reice Shipley is a staff writer for Comeback Media that graduated from Ithaca College with a degree in Sports Media. He previously worked at Barrett Sports Media and is a fan of all things Syracuse sports.