I have three ways of looking at the still fresh news of John Lynch being hired as the newest 49ers general manager…
Cynically: Jed York is still so spooked from the less than optimal relationship between Trent Baalke and the last two head coaches (sorry, Jim Tomsula) that he’s willing to give up prior experience for a harmonious relationship between head coach and general manager. By the way, John Lynch played for Kyle Shanahan’s father Mike in Denver. Don’t think that doesn’t have something to do with this. Lynch just called Shanahan out of the blue to offer up his services and now they’re both getting six year deals? Come on now.
Negatively: Men with the surname York have run the 49ers since 2000. In that time, they’ve only made one good football decision — hiring Jim Harbaugh. Other than that, there have been a host of bad moves. Terry Donahue, Dennis Erickson, Mike Nolan, Mike Singletary (he had final say over the 53 man roster!), choosing Baalke over Harbaugh, Jim Tomsula and Chip Kelly. Don’t get me started on the stadium in Santa Clara many didn’t want and the fans can’t stand. When viewed through the prism of recent Niners history, pairing a first time coach with a completely inexperienced general manager (reportedly, Shanahan and the Niners were impressed with Lynch’s meticulous preparation for his FOX television broadcasts. Seriously.) seems like not just a bad idea, but one that is weapons-grade stupid. Anything is possible and I want to be proven wrong, but nothing John and now Jed York have done in seventeen years leads me to be instinctually positive about a football related move.
Logically (And somewhat optimistically): A 37-year-old first-time head coach paired with a 45-year-old first time general manager seems like a comically bad idea. But when you look at the current landscape of the NFL, it has been trending young for years. The players have been getting younger for at least two decades and it seems only natural that the men who evaluate and choose those players and the men who coach them get younger, too. No longer are we at a time in the league where we’re shocked when Jon Gruden or Mike Tomlin gets a head coaching job. Sean McVay’s age was basically an interesting footnote when was hired by the Rams earlier in January. At one time, experience was the most valuable commodity in sports. So much so, that it often trumped talent. Those days might not be gone, but they are on the wane. If an individual is deemed to be of spectacular talent, their age and relative lack of experience isn’t held against them. While this seems like a shot in the dark for a desperate franchise, these two moves — especially the head coach hire — isn’t all that unusual for the times we currently find ourselves in.