San Francisco 49ers: John Lynch Could Set The Franchise Back Years

The San Francisco 49ers shocked the football world when they named John Lynch to their open GM position – a hire that could potentially set this franchise back years.

San Francisco 49ers CEO Jed York has made some – interesting – decisions over the course of his tenure with the team. And it seems fair to say that most of them haven’t worked out so well for the franchise. His latest decision though, is one that could potentially set this franchise back – years.

San Francisco’s search of a GM – in comparison to their search of a head coach – has been a bit under the radar. Some names had been floated, a few people had interviewed, but most of the focus has been on the open head coaching position – a position expected to be filled after the Super Bowl by current Atlanta Falcons offensive coordinator Kyle Shanahan.

Well, the 49ers have now filled their vacant general manager’s position, and it went to a guy nobody saw coming – John Lynch.

Social media lit up in the wake of the announcement, with the general consensus of most being – WTF? This wasn’t a dark horse candidate that most assumed wouldn’t get the gig. This was a completely-out-of-left-field candidate that nobody even had on their radar.

According to Lynch, the request for secrecy about his candidacy was his – and probably with good reason. In his job as a broadcaster, he was responsible for interviewing players and coaches of other – and soon to be rival – teams. As some have noted, his candidacy as San Francisco’s GM could be a bit of a conflict of interest – or at the very least, give the impression of creating some opportunities to gather inside information about these other teams he ordinarly wouldn’t be privvy to.

All of that aside though, what should concern San Francisco fans the most is what Lynch brings to the table. Or rather, waht he doesn’t bring to the table. He’s had no front office experience anywhere in the league and has never been responsible for putting together a roster.

Some have suggested that Lynch’s proximity to Broncos legend John Elway may help enable him to eventually find the same sort of success Elway has had in Denver. But let’s not forget that Elway had some front office experience as the co-owner of the Colorado Crush of the AFL – yeah, the Arena League isn’t really comparable to the NFL, but at least he got to get a first hand look at how teams are constructed from the ground up.

Lynch doesn’t even have that.

No, Elway isn’t the apt comparison. The more apt comparison for Lynch very well might be to Matt Millen, the former GM of the Detroit Lions. Like Lynch, Millen went from playing, to the broadcast booth, to the GM role in Detroit – a role he held from 2001-2008.

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The 49ers faithful have to hope the comparison ends there though. Under Millen’s guidance, the Lions went 31-97 and oversaw the only winless 0-16 campaign in NFL history. About the only notable achievement of Millen’s tenure in the Motor City was that he drafted Calvin Johnson.

Needless to say, Millen’s time in Detroit as an unmitigated disaster. He’s said – in retrospect – that there were a great many things he didn’t understand about the job. And it seems fair to say that those things can only be learned by being in the front office and seeing how that job is performed.

And unfortunately for San Francisco, Lynch has never had that opportunity. It’s a lack of experience that could come back to haunt this team – not just this year, but for some time to come.

With a six- year deal in hand, Lynch will presumably, have a chance to craft San Francisco’s roster. Or at least, have a strong influence over it. If he – like Millen – doesn’t have an eye for talent, his rosters could end up being weaker and more talent-bare than even the recently departed Trent Baalke’s have been.

Next: 49ers Make A Puzzling Choice at GM

Lynch was a tremendous player. Ferocious and relentless on the field. But having incredible talent as a player doesn’t come close to guarantee that you can properly evaluate talent or shape a solid roster. Just ask Millen.

York thinks he may have hit a gold mine with his “out of the box” thinking. And perhaps he has. Maybe he’s seeing something in Lynch that none of the rest of us can. But this could also be a move that hobbles this franchise with weak and ineffectual rosters for years to come.