3 strengths and 2 weaknesses of DeMeco Ryans heading into 2023
Weakness: Defensive minded head coach
The San Francisco 49ers ranked near the top in most defensive categories in the two seasons that DeMeco Ryans was defensive coordinator. He is undoubtedly one of the better defensive coaches in the NFL.
Unfortunately, head coaches with defensive backgrounds have not had much success late in the playoffs. In fact, in the last four Super Bowls, the head coach for each team has had offensive backgrounds with coaches like Andy Reid, Sean McVay, Nick Sirianni, and Zac Taylor to name a few.
The recent history doesn't necessarily mean that DeMeco Ryans is not going to be successful but it is hard to overlook the trend over the past few years. The NFL has certainly become an offensive-friendly, pass-heavy league and this is something that puts pressure on the offensive side of Ryans' coaching staff.
It will be interesting to see if DeMeco Ryans' can be the coach that final breaks the trend in the NFL and finally reaches the Super Bowl as defensive head coach.