The Denver Broncos coaching search continues to take twists and turns and on Wednesday a man that the franchise could’ve had endorsed the man the club may soon find to be their leader.

Kyle Shanahan, son of Broncos legend Mike Shanahan, now the head coach of the San Francisco 49ers and one-time a coaching candidate for Denver had kind words about his defensive coordinator DeMeco Ryans. The 38-year-old assistant has emerged as a top candidate for the Broncos vacancy, thanks to a stellar year from his 49ers defense.

The former star linebacker for the Texans has quickly excelled through the coaching ranks on Shanahan’s staff.

“It starts as a man. He’s the ideal leader, whatever he does. He was that way when he came into Houston as a rookie linebacker,” Kyle Shanahan told reporters on Wednesday. “He took over that defense right away. You could tell who was in charge when he was a 21-year-old. He came in here as a quality control and within like six months we moved him to linebacker coach. He’s always been that guy. And then just watching him over these two years, what he took in his years learning to get there, how much better he runs the system, and then he adjusts every week. He sees how to play an offense, he pays attention to offense and defense. Thought he was ready last year to be a head coach and, I hope his wife doesn’t get mad, but I hope he’s not a head coach next year. But if he is, he more than deserves it.”

Ryans would be the fourth-straight first-time head coach for the Broncos and become the third-youngest coach in the NFL behind Sean McVay and Kevin O’Connell.

Ryans interviewed with teams last year before returning to the Bay and is seemingly seriously considering the openings in Denver and Houston.

Jets coach Robert Saleh and Fins boss Mike McDaniel are also part of the young Shanahan’s budding coaching tree.

This story was first published by Sactown Sports‘ sister station, Denver Sports. For more, follow Jake Shapiro on Twitter. 

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