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John Lynch Hire Another Bemusing Tale of the Unexpected from 49ers

By Nicholas McGee

Nov 3, 2016; Tampa, FL, USA; Tampa Bay Buccaneers former safety John Lynch addresses the crowd as his name is added to the Buccaneers Ring of Fame during the halftime ceremony of a football game between the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and the Atlanta Falcons at Raymond James Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Reinhold Matay-USA TODAY Sports
Nov 3, 2016; Tampa, FL, USA; Tampa Bay Buccaneers former safety John Lynch addresses the crowd as his name is added to the Buccaneers Ring of Fame during the halftime ceremony of a football game between the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and the Atlanta Falcons at Raymond James Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Reinhold Matay-USA TODAY Sports /
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With the hiring of John Lynch as general manager, the 49ers have continued their streak of bemusing decision-making.

The 49ers have done it again.

With the hiring of John Lynch as their next general manager on a reported six-year-contract, the Niners have delivered a stunning reminder of their penchant for unexpected and utterly bemusing decisions.

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And, once again, a fan base frustrated by the franchise’s pattern of decision-making is left to try piece together the reasoning for an appointment nobody anticipated.

Indeed, to call this one left-field is to grossly undersell it.

Lynch, a nine-time Pro Bowl safety in a storied career with the Buccaneers and Broncos, has no personnel experience and has worked in the broadcast booth for Fox Sports since announcing his retirement in 2008.

That he was selected at the end of a process in which the Niners interviewed a wealth of candidates with significant personnel experience, and ahead of two well-respected executives in the form of Vikings assistant GM George Paton and Cardinals vice-president of player personnel Terry McDonough, will have fans and most observers scratching their heads.

But subsequent reports are beginning to paint a picture of how this shocker came to pass and, from what is being put out there, it would seem that this hire fulfills CEO Jed York’s desire to have a GM and coach that mesh together and to reestablish a championship culture.

In his followup report for ESPN, Adam Schefter said Lynch contacted presumptive head coach Kyle Shanahan and volunteered to take the job.

Shanahan apparently saw a fit with Lynch, who played for his dad, and former 49ers offensive coordinator, Mike Shanahan in Denver and under Bill Walsh during his college career at Stanford.

That connection with Walsh apparently helped sell Lynch to York who, per Cam Inman of the San Jose Mercury News, was impressed by his leadership and communication skills and is confident Lynch can surround himself with a “great staff.”

Assembling a talented staff will be pivotal for Lynch if he is to blossom as a first-time GM. He will need astute personnel people around him as he transitions to the role, and former Bucs GM Mark Dominik is a name to watch for in that regard.

Dominik crossed paths with both Lynch and Shanahan in Tampa Bay and had been talked up as a potential GM candidate for the 49ers himself.

With his history with both Lynch and Shanahan, Dominik is already being viewed as a possible member of Lynch’s staff. Pro Football Talk reported Lynch will hire a No. 2 as a personnel specialist and already knows who that person will be.

If Lynch can succeed in bringing in some talented personnel minds, then there is every chance this could work for San Francisco.

Even if this move does pan out, the Niners will have found a winning formula in one of the strangest ways possible.

After what seemed an exhaustive search, the 49ers settled on a GM who volunteered for the role. That says little for the abilities of York and is a byproduct of rejecting the conventional approach of hiring a GM and letting that person decide on the head coach.

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York’s apparent excitement at Lynch’s ties to Walsh is a clear indication he remains obsessed with the bygone area of 49ers’ dominance engineered by their greatest ever coach.

For all the surprise and confusion Lynch’s appointment will bring, 49ers fans can console themselves with the knowledge that come the Monday after Super Bowl LI, one of the brightest offensive minds in the game will likely be the head coach.

If Shanahan and Lynch do mesh, then these could be exciting times for the Niners.

Next: 49ers Hiring John Lynch as General Manager Reveals a Major Shift in Team Philosophy

However, given the return from York’s recent hires, an increasingly pessimistic fan base could be forgiven for expecting the worst from this latest bizarre decision.