The San Francisco 49ers surprised everyone when they hired John Lynch to be their new general manager. For those who don’t know, Lynch is a former NFL safety and current NFL analyst for Fox Sports. 49ers owner Jed York explained his decision via Peter King of MMQB.
“Nothing is guaranteed,” York told The MMQB’s Peter King. “But so many opportunities are missed in the NFL because people don’t want to do something different. We’re okay with that, because I am confident in Kyle and John. John has watched John Elway, and how he’s built a team in Denver. As easy as it is to say he hasn’t built a team yet — I get that — I talk to Kyle, and he says John is the most prepared of all the TV [people] he meets in the production meetings before games. We understand we’ll have to live with growing pains, but I’m willing to do that because I believe the upside with both of them is so great.”
Lynch is expected to be paired with Falcons offensive coordinator Kyle Shanahan whom Lynch apparently wanted to hire anyway. Lynch has never held any position in an NFL front office. Of course, that doesn’t mean he won’t have success. His biggest challenges will be navigating the salary cap and evaluating talent in the NFL Draft. You don’t necessarily need prior experience to do those things. Hey if the Lynch hire doesn’t work out, I’m always available too.
