The San Francisco 49ers were at peace on Christmas, as far as we know.

No practice, no deep organizational meetings, no factions, no finger-pointing, no hurly-burly, no frustration, no spin, no chaos.

Just silence and peace, at last, in the waning days of Mike Singletary's interim appointment. As peaceful and settled as the 49ers have been in this millennium.

How amazing is that?

We don't know when 49ers management will officially move to make Singletary the permanent coach, though the Sacramento Bee is reporting the decision has already basically been made and the Singletary announcement could happen a day or two after Sunday's final regular-season game against Washington.

We don't know if Singletary will need a few moments to step back from the nine-game interim sprint before he accepts the 49ers' offer, though his meeting with management earlier this week probably did much to smooth all roads to an offering and a quick acceptance.

We don't know if Singletary will be a dominant NFL head coach and if the 49ers' structure will help him or hurt him.

A great NFL coach without noticeable guile and a thirst for public trickery? Maybe Tony Dungy, Jeff Fisher and Bill Cowher have done that. Throw in George Seifert, too. That's certainly not the path of Belichick, Shanahan and Parcells.

We don't know if Singletary has the players properly assembled or what his staff will look like and operate, and that will be a huge issue, obviously.

But we do know that Singletary's singular achievement in 2008 is a massive one: He has turned the final days of 2008 into a sea of tranquility.

You remember, of course, that the previous few Decembers have been hurricanes of crossed agendas, demotions, firings and counter-attacks for the 49ers.

At least for now, Singletary has shut down the 49ers' rampant insecurity. He has been genuine, fierce, dependable and accountable. He has ejected Vernon Davis, dropped his pants and yet never lost ground or credibility.

After Mike Nolan's manic sloganeering, after Dennis Erickson's sleepy hopelessness, after Steve Mariucci's ambition and calculation, Singletary is unvarnished and inevitable.

He has, in other words, been the best thing to happen to the 49ers since Bill Walsh left the front office for the last time.

Singletary has wholeheartedly earned the job, though we know interim coaches almost never accomplish that feat. Singletary has won the job because he proved, by reeling off four victories and several other close, passionate losses, that the 49ers can do no better than him.

There is nobody else worth discussing, at this point. A national search would roil the locker room and would just be silly ""the last one produced Nolan.

Did Singletary know all this when he gave the players a much appreciated day off for Christmas? Hard to say. It sounds like he knew something.

He almost certainly knew his meeting with the brass, presumably Jed York and Scot McCloughan, was coming up and Singletary probably knew he'd ace it.

He knew he'd be far better prepared for this discussion than he'd been in his previous interviews for a top spot.

He knew this team, he knew his qualifications, he knew his plans.

And he knew that, if the brass wanted to talk before the end of the season, they were probably focusing in on hiring him quickly after Sunday, once NFL rules allowed it.

If he convinced the higher powers of a big-picture offensive philosophy (which Nolan never had) and the higher powers convinced Singletary that he'd be granted wide latitude to do what he does best . . . well . . .. slam dunk.

So now we have the reports of a very positive meeting, in which the Bee says Singletary suggested retaining defensive coordinator Greg Manusky (smart) and offered a list of offensive coordinator candidates to replace Mike Martz (smarter).

Now we know that there is almost no way the 49ers can blow this one. We know that Singletary gave the team Thursday off, so it was quiet. Peaceful. That's a gift for the 49ers, and they should know it.