Well, wee needed a GM, so naturally, Jed picks the guy standing next to him at the urinal during the Pro Bowl. One John Lynch. Say what you will about Lynch, and I did really like him as a no-nonsense hard-hitting strong safety, but really, this is yet another shot in the dark by a team that is making a habit of being passed over by head coaching and GM candidates these past few years. The list of GMs is fairly long this year by guys that didn’t even bother to come over to the building, so this leads to someone like John Lynch. A guy with no experience in any aspect of being a GM, a talent evaluator, or anything related to football operations. He has spent his retirement from football being the color guy for Fox’s B team announcers since retiring in 2008. Yippee. He gets to learn on the job. Which leads to . . .
Kyle Shanahan salivating over his shot. He has said from day one that he’s balls-to-0the-wall excited to coach this team, mainly because he is the man. Everything goes through him now. Like his father, he’s a control freak. Which in this day and age is a good thing I’d imagine, from a football operations point of view. His GM has no experience, and the 49er front office is a clown-car of suits and bean-counters. I’d imagine at some point Shanahan pulling something akin to Harbaugh’s infamous “the men are in here” line to denote where the real power lies, because at this point there is nothing the suits can do. Not with 4 HCs in 4 years, and a revolving door/trap door policy regarding the assistant coaches and staff.
The thing about Shanahan is that as far as we can see, he is a very good offensive coach. And he KNOWS he has the power, so there’s the fact that if he turns it around he’ll be hailed a hero. And he has a couple years to play with. As with Singletary and Harbaugh before him, the TEAM is not as bad as the collective players are, and there ARE some good points to this misbegotten franchise.
The team is young.
The team is flush with cash.
The team has a great head start in the trenches.
The needs for the team are many, but We have a nucleus of good young players on both sides of the line. Enough to be optimistic? At this point, no. There are too many holes to fill before camp even starts, so we get to wait and see how both these guys, neither with ANY experience at their new positions, will do with the draft, free agency, and trades. The good news is the suits are pretty much in a position that they CANNOT meddle in any of the team affairs as there will be massive revolt if there’s even an inkling of meddling from the Yorks or our infamous red flag bearer, Paraag Marathe.
Forty Niners Forever 
chuck- I am not so optimistic about our win-loss record this year but I am very optimistic about the culture change and our new GM and HC. I for one couldn’t be happier about Lynch. I think he will fool a lot of people about the knowledge he actually possesses. He was a monster on the field and not just for a few years, he was a monster his whole career. We have no clue as to his connections and knowledge about the GM duties. But, we will surely find out soon.
When I think of tough safeties Ronnie Lott, Jack Tatum always come to mind. John Lynch was pretty close to those guys. There won’t be one player that could ever say our GM doesn’t know what football is about. Contrast that to Baalky.
Say what you will about Baalke but he’s been a scout since ’98 and has worked under Parcells and Joe Gibbs to name a few. That being said, he sucked. Mike Nolan is a ‘football guy.’ In and of itself, it doesn’t mean jack.
Winder, there have been a couple hires like this:
Matt Millen – Utter disaster that was given 10 miles of rope and failed spectacularly over and over and over.
John Elway – Horse-toothed fuckhead that annoyed the shit out of me, but he has brought a sustained winning atmosphere to Denver, and a Super Bowl to boot.
Lind of a +100 or -100 thing. Time will tell. As I said, without a coaching staff under them, or a draft behind them, it’s hard to know where we are. We don’t even have a QB on the roster.
The reason we don’t have a QB on the roster is because of Baalky and his pedigree as a scout. Lynch might turn out to be like Millen, at this point who knows. All I know is we now have a GM that I respect and that to me means a lot. There is probably a reason we didn’t go after the guy from Minn and the Az guy, it they were so good why didn’t some other team pick them up. I am pretty sure Jed couldn’t draw the top ‘proven’ talent because he is an idiot, but we did get some people that seem to know the game and we will just have to see what happens.
I think Shanny the Younger was the top candidate to be HC of the Niners, better than McDaniels who was the other top name, so I don’t get why some are saying the Niners can’t attract top talent, which candidate was better than Shanny?
As for the GM. I have to say its a swing for the fences. Lynch was a tremendous player and brings that tough winners vibe, but what he knows about being a GM I have no idea. They do have a very competent guy in Gamble, so maybe the thinking is that he provides whatever Lynch doesn’t have at this point.
I’m not down on the Lynch hire and will be intrigued to see things unfold. One thing is for sure, they shook up the depressing (oppressive) Baalke culture in the building and that I’m all for.
12th- I think it’s obvious that Jed is the reason why so many pulled away from interviewing with the Niners. We have had a very dysfunctional FO for awhile now. I also think Shanny jr is a better choice that McDaniels. But, none of the experienced GM candidates wanted to be here and there is a reason for that.
Yeah, there is that 12th (and WInder). And I’m with you on the Shanahan hire. I did NOT want McDaniels. I think Shanahan is a very good offensive coach who brings a lot to the table.
As well I didn’t want McDonough from AZ for GM. They were shoving him out the door while singing his praises. The knock on Paton was Minnesota’s recent poor drafts as well.
I’m not dissing the Lynch hire, but I’m not singing its praises yet either. It’s yet another leap of faith from a group that has been more miss than hit by a long shot. Lynch certainly won’t take any heat from the suits.
I do dig Lynch as a player and a presence in the building though. As I’m sure a lot of people in Detroit thought about Millen.
So, there you have it. The great unknown.
Law of Averages are bound to kick in sometime……..perhaps Jed has stumbled into a good decision and his image will swing upward. Who knows? This world is crazy.
Just think if Crazy Crab bumped into Jed instead. Imagine that outcome.
Lynch must be for the public face of the franchise along with Shanny. Gamble works in the background doing the “real” work. Perhaps that’s going to take place. These things get worked out away from the public and media and the results will eventually be evident.
I wish they would bring back the ‘crazy crab’ to help lou seal out. Maybe they could dance all around the park.
A few years ago at the Stick I asked about the whereabouts of Crazy Crab to Lou. He blasted me in my seat with his water gun. Lucky for me I was sitting in a lower box seat and the sun was on me at the time.
lol. yeah it could really get cold if you are wet. Kinda like spilling a beer all over youself.
I think Lynch is gonna surprise a lot of people. He really doesn’t seem like a Yes man to me. But we are talking major bucks so who knows.
It’s just odd that he got a 6 year deal. He’s getting a major deal on pretty much a whim. I think Shanahan also is getting a 6 year deal, so they ride the wave together, success or failure.
Smacks of pure desperation. Which it is. He’s a Stanford guy (hey, I went to Stanford . . . football games) just like Elway, so the possibility exists that he’s smarter than the average bear.
But they are obviously throwing a bone to these guys to come here. they both used their leverage to bilk the Yorks, which makes me happy.
All they need to do now is find a QB, a couple WRs, a couple pass rushers, a safety and a CB or 2 and everything will be fine.
This ride should at least be a lot more fun than the last two. It might be desperation but I think they had Shanny locked up awhile ago, so unless we hear different we don’t actually know how long Lynch has been on the radar. I would rather believe that his name was brought into the mix by shanny and not some random conversation at a bowl game.
Well, according to what’s out there, Lynch wasn’t in the mix till very recently. He talked to Shanahan last week and that was the first time he was considered.
Thing is, Lynch may bring in Mark Dominik, former Tampa Bay Buccaneers general manager when Lynch played there.
I’d get a little fuzzier feeling should that come to pass.
Oh Chuck go ahead and get all warm and fuzzy on us. Take a pic of your joy and put it on the blog for fun.
And 12th, Shanahan is a control freak like his father. he KNEW he had a massive amount of leverage as HC candidates fell by the wayside.
Yeah it’s all about leverage and Shanahan is in the driver’s seat right now.
i think this is going to be fantastic. really. we have the best organization. it’s true. the seahawks lost to atlanta. they’re fake. it’s true, they’re a fake organization. we have the best uniforms in the nfl. we’re going to be great. we already have an offense and defensive wall. they’re fantastic. they’ll make anyone pay. believe me. niners first, everyone else second. it’ll be great.
It’ll be yuuge. Bigly even.
For what it’s worth . . .
http://www.sfchronicle.com/49ers/article/49ers-GM-Lynch-says-he-ll-attack-new-role-like-10895477.php
Lynch worked with Elway and is using Elway as his guide post.
Well yes, I totally agree. We have the best uniforms in the NFL. Front office, not so much.
John Lynch? Really? I am stumped. How is he even remotely qualified at this point in his career to be an NFL GM? Boggles the mind. Maybe he’ll be great. But how Jedster has arrived at that assessment is just unfathomable.
I do hope that we truly hire Shanahan. But SB6 does not feel exactly just round the corner. Several city blocks away at this point.
Did you open your brew house in Grass Valley? If so, what’s the name of the pace. I’d like to come by a buy a beer from you when the weather gets warmer.
The simplest answer to a rookie GM/HC tandem is additional support in the football Ops Group.
Remove Paraag and see what happens.
Someone with Draft experience would be a great place to start, as the Combines will be getting under way in just a few more weeks.
The only way Jed changes the culture is to get the eff out of the way.
Let the football guys do what needs to be done.
Lock Paraag in his office. Unlock the door when there’s a Contract to negotiate.
The meddling and media leaks HAVE to stop dividing the Organization.
Read a piece tonight that suggested Lynch will report directly to Jed.
Anything that circumvents Paraag is a GOOD start.
Lynch has final say in the draft and the 90, Shannyn has final say over the 53.
I like it.
So long as they work together I’m good with it as well 12th.
Leave the football guys to handle football 😀
KISS – Keep it Simple S….
Any chance Lynch gives his buddy Sapp a Coaching offer? DBrooks?
Gotta see how those long time ties play out in the coming weeks as things get assembled.
Sapp is a major character risk but, he’s always been tight with Lynch.
Tony Dungy? DCo perhaps?
At least that Mark Davis Raiders move blew up. That would be funny if Davis is forced to move to Levi’s and pay rent to the Niners at least for a few years. Perhaps Davis will relocate to San Diego and play in Qualcom or better yet the Zoo to avoid playing in Santa Clara. One thing for certain he wants out of Oakland at all costs.
The Las Vegas deal is giving 750 million to build a stadium and open a new market for the NFL. I doubt this deal will fall apart. It could get delayed but Goldman Sachs has been said to take the place of the private investor.
The NFL is killing itself with these moves. LA didn’t want the Chargers. They’ll barely support one team. Vegas? Don’t see it being a prime destination. Sleazy? Sure. I think all the games will be attended by away fans. I mean really. Who’s FROM Vegas?