49ers offensive coordinator Mike McDaniel was honest when speaking with the media about how impressed he was with Deebo Samuel for calling his own touchdown run.
DeMeco Ryans and Mike McDaniel both are in their first seasons in their new roles for the 49ers. Ryans is their defensive coordinator after one year as defensive quality control coach and three as inside linebackers coach. McDaniel was San Francisco's run game coordinator the last four seasons before being named offensive coordinator.
Both already are being interviewed for vacant head coaching positions in the NFL while their current team still is in the playoffs. To no surprise, both say their only focus remains on Saturday's NFC Divisional Playoff Game against the Green Bay Packers.
The Minnesota Vikings have requested an interview with Ryans, though he didn't specify when that will take place.
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"The interview with the Vikings, we'll handle that," Ryans said Wednesday. "Over the next couple days we'll get that handled. But my main focus right now for me, it's just all on the Packers. That's where I am right now, just all on the Packers and how can we play our best vs. the Packers to get a win."
Ryans, 37, played 10 years as a linebacker in the NFL. After just one year away from the game, he joined the 49ers' staff. When asked last week about possibly becoming a head coach in the future, Ryans said he hoped to one day "mimic" Pittsburgh Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin, who now is the only Black head coach in the NFL.
McDaniel, 38, is set to interview with the Miami Dolphins for their opening at head coach.
"There is something scheduled, it hasn't happened yet," McDaniel said.
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McDaniel admitted that there's an added emotion when interviewing for a job the same week as a playoff game, but that in reality, juggling the two hasn't been hard.
"As a football coach, you feel there's a level of anxiety if there's anything distracting you from your job at hand, because you know it's hard enough to win as it is and your teammates are counting on you and so it's been pretty easy to answer your question," McDaniel said when asked about his hectic week, "because of my loyalty to my job and my teammates, it really hasn't been in the forefront of my mind.
"You work your whole career to work to be in a position like this in the divisional round of the playoffs, one game away from the NFC Championship Game. These are few and far between. With as many days and hours that we work as coaches, it's not hard to focus in big moments like these."
In his first season as offensive coordinator, McDaniel's personality has shined more and more as of late. He unintentionally went viral again Wednesday and says the best advice that he has received from head coach Kyle Shanahan is simply to be yourself.
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"Early in my career, when I first started working with Kyle in Houston, one of the things that stood out to me when he was giving me advice when we first started working together was that it's extremely important to be authentic. The bottom line is, players want to succeed as much, if not more, than coaches. They're living their dream and if you can show them that you're a tool in them realizing their dream, that's all they want.
"You're authentic, honest and you work hard to make players better -- AKA coaching -- that's all that's required of the position in our chosen field. That's really what I focus on, is that players and people that I work with, that they know what they see is what they're gonna get."
It's clear that style has worked for Shanahan and the 49ers, and it could lead to greener pastures for McDaniel and Ryans in the near future.