New 49ers GM John Lynch says success will make doubts disappear

John Lynch was on his first media conference call in his new role as 49ers general manager Monday when someone asked him a question about the team’s presumptive head coach, Kyle Shanahan. Lynch began to answer, then stopped to ask Niners PR director Bob Lange for an assist.

“I can tell you - I think; Bob, tell me if I’m wrong - I can speak about where my admiration for Kyle Shanahan arises,” Lynch said, not wanting to run afoul of NFL tampering rules.

The exchange brought his limitations into stark relief. Yes, Lynch was one of the best defensive players of his generation and is a potential Pro Football Hall of Famer. Yes, he is a Stanford grad and a well-regarded analyst for Fox network. But he has never held a paid personnel position of any kind. There is a lot about this job Lynch doesn’t know.

Hiring him to a key front-office role was a bold move by the 49ers. Or perhaps a reckless one. In either case, Lynch will be a big part of the team’s attempt to escape the death spiral that culminated in a 2-14 record in 2016, and to restore one of the NFL’s most decorated franchises to competitiveness.

Lynch was the stealth candidate rumored to be in play for the 49ers job. His name wasn’t mentioned until Sunday. By Monday morning, he had the job.

“I can tell you that two weeks ago I never thought that I’d be doing this,” Lynch said.

He acknowledged on the conference call that the stark turn of events began informally. He worked the Falcons-Seahawks NFC divisional playoff game as an analyst, and a few days later chatted with Shanahan, the Atlanta offensive coordinator and an old colleague. Lynch indicated he might be interested in a front-office position, and Shanahan suggested him to 49ers CEO Jed York and executive vice president Paraag Marathe, the two men spearheading the search for both head coach and general manager.

“Kyle must have been real fired up to have called Jed and put Jed in touch with me,” Lynch said. “But I felt that it was really important that I was vetted like any other general manager candidate was. … I wanted to be vetted, I wanted to be interviewed, and that happened.”

The hiring of Lynch further strengthens the notion that Shanahan is all but a sure thing to become the 49ers’ fourth coach in four years, following Jim Harbaugh, Jim Tomsula and Chip Kelly. The team can’t negotiate a contract with Shanahan until the Falcons play in Super Bowl 51 on Sunday.

Lynch declined to comment on several details that were reported since ESPN’s Adam Schefter first broke the news of his hiring. Such as whether he indeed has a six-year contract, extremely long by NFL standards; or whether, as ESPN’s Jim Trotter reported, Lynch will have control of building the 90-man (training camp) roster through the draft and free agency, but that Shanahan will be in charge of paring it to 53 players for the start of the regular season; or whether Denver Broncos director of college scouting Adam Peters will interview to become the 49ers’ director of player personnel, as Pro Football Talk reported.

Lynch did confirm that he will report directly to York, and not to Marathe.

No one questions Lynch’s overall reputation as a football guy. He joined the Tampa Bay Buccaneers as a third-round draft choice in 1993 and, with equal measures of brains and toughness, proceeded to become one of the top safeties in the game, a nine-time Pro Bowl pick in 15 years with the Buccaneers and Broncos.

It’s Lynch’s readiness for this new role that remains unclear. TV analyst is the only job he’s had since retiring as a player. Supporters of the move point to John Elway, another Stanford great who became Broncos GM with no executive experience more substantial that running an Arena Football League team, the Colorado Crush. Critics argue that Lynch more closely resembles Matt Millen, a successful linebacker and broadcaster whose tenure as Detroit Lions general manager was a flop.

“I am still mind-boggled at the 49ers taking the risk of the year and hiring John Lynch as GM,” longtime NFL writer Peter King wrote in his weekly Monday Morning Quarterback column. “Hiring a coach, 37 years old, who’s never been a head coach. Hiring a GM, 45, who’s never worked in personnel. Well, Jed York wanted to buy a lottery ticket and shoot for the moon. … He’s done that.”

Others were more forgiving.

“He found a way to succeed in football. He found a way to succeed in what he was doing post-football,” a former Tampa Bay teammate, Ronde Barber, told Buccaneers.com. “I don’t see any reason why his work ethic won’t carry over and make him successful in this, too.”

Lynch said he understands the concerns of 49ers fans, many of whom have become openly hostile to York since he fired Harbaugh following the 2014 season.

“I’m eager to earn their trust,” Lynch said. “I think the feelings that some might have there are natural. … I’m fully aware that myself, the team I put around me, we’re gonna have to earn the respect. And the only way you do that is through your actions. And for us, that’s showing it on the field.”