49ers’ DeMeco Ryans expected to interview with four teams before next playoff game

As hectic as preparing for the 49ers’ divisional playoff game Sunday will be for everyone involved, it will be even more frenetic for defensive coordinator DeMeco Ryans.

One of the NFL’s hottest head coaching candidates, Ryans has interviews scheduled with Denver and Houston and is also expected to talk with Indianapolis and Arizona.

That’s four of the five teams currently with vacancies, with nothing set up at present with the Carolina Panthers.

The 49ers learn Monday night whether they’ll host Dallas or Tampa Bay in the divisional round following a 41-23 win over Seattle in the wild-card round. Game time will be 3:30 p.m. on Sunday at Levi’s Stadium.

Coach Kyle Shanahan is fine with Ryans planning for the future while at the same time putting everything he has in the present.

“My advice is you’ve got to set that aside and set some specific times that you are going to deal with it,” Shanahan said Monday during a conference call.

Ryans, however, didn’t have the luxury Shanahan did as offensive coordinator of the Atlanta Falcons of a bye week.

“We got three days off, I was able to set aside two days for those interviews, I knocked ’em all out and then there wasn’t anything after that,” Shanahan said. “I completely shut it off and went back to the playoffs.”

After rejecting a second interview last offseason with the Minnesota Vikings, who eventually hired Kevin O’Connell, Ryans made it clear last week he was interested in going further in the process this time around.

“There’s a lot of scenarios, a lot of situations that come up throughout the year,” Ryans said. “Not just looking at it from a defensive perspective, but looking at it from a total team perspective and just being able to sit and listen to conversation that enhance my knowlege — not just on dfense, but the overall. I feel really good at where I am right now.”

Shanahan said interviews with Denver and Houston are expected Thursday, with Indianapolis and Arizona likely to follow on Saturday, and that it won’t affect Ryans’ focus on either Dallas or Tampa Bay.

“Friday afternoon we get some time off, it shouldn’t cut into anything, and usually on Thursdays we finish a little earlier than we do other nights of the week so it’s a chance to do that Thursday night,” Shanahan said. “When you set aside time for that, it’s a lot for DeMeco to prepare for but I think when he is prepared for it. When you’re done with those you go back to the most important thing at hand and that’s us finding a way to win on Sunday.”

— The injury report coming out of the Seattle game was light as expected. Wide receiver Jauan Jennings and defensive end Samson Ebukam are both day-to-day with ankle injuries.

More to come on this story . . .