San Francisco 49ers CEO Jed York has been the butt of many a Niners joke over the past few seasons, even dating back to the 2000s. But this offseason, with a slew of front-office changes, perhaps reveal York is finally going about things the right way.
I’ve certainly criticized San Francisco 49ers CEO Jed York on more than one occasion.
I criticized York’s deafening silence when the Niners were bad. And like many, I poked fun at his 2016 season-ending press conference after he fired general manager Trent Baalke and head coach Chip Kelly.
But I’m also willing to praise York when it’s necessary. It’s necessary now.
San Francisco 49ers
On one hand, I’m looking over at the Washington Redskins this offseason and their owner, Dan Snyder. I read Sally Jenkins of the Washington Post, and her words make me happy knowing things in Santa Clara aren’t anywhere close to that bad.
She wrote:
"All of Snyder’s hires and fires are really just human shields for the owner’s behavior, they are there to absorb the public blame for his childish impulsivity and unpleasant little manipulations. He’s like the baby who keeps throwing his bottle on the floor, just so he can watch others have to pick it up. At this point, you begin to think the real game to Snyder is not football, it’s making other people feel his petty power, fostering tension and disorder for his personal entertainment."
Of course Snyder was part of the recent Scot McCloughan firing, and all signs point to that being more than just blaming the former GM for his alcoholism struggles.
Players want out from Washington too.
Now-49ers wide receiver Pierre Garcon did. And so does quarterback Kirk Cousins.
While most people around the league looked at the Niners as a laughingstock a year ago, York wasn’t hesitant to change that perception.
Making the Right Choices Even If They Were Tough
Firing Kelly wasn’t easy. That would have meant the 49ers would be on four different head coaches in as many years.
But York realized this was a necessity. And he realized Baalke was part of the problem, not the solution. Yes, this probably took a year, or two, too many. But give York credit for not being too stubborn when he easily could have been.
Some criticized the CEO for not identifying a general manager first, then worrying about a head coach.
And yet that’s the order in which the cards fell. York didn’t hire some up-and-coming roster assistant. No, he went out of the box and hired John Lynch to be GM, knowing fully well some would question Lynch’s lack of front-office experience.
It didn’t matter. Lynch is the antithesis of Baalke in every way. And that’s what the 49ers needed. York realized that too.
The best part of that? No leaks! Lynch’s hiring came as big a surprise as any Niners fans have experienced in years, perhaps decades.
And when the head coaching market started to dry up, York remained committed to bringing in head coach Kyle Shanahan — the candidate Niner Noise ranked No. 1 among possibilities this offseason.
Related Story: Ranking 49ers Head Coaching Candidates by Preference
York gave them six-year deals each. That’s a commitment. Even while he’s still paying out Kelly and former head coach Jim Tomsula (both a sizable amount of money left), the fact York is willing to take the financial hit and admit the mistakes puts to rest any notion of the CEO being cheap in the pocketbook.
What the Future Holds
Granted, I’m still holding reservations about the future. The best predictor of future behavior is what happened in the past. York’s track record still raises eyebrows.
Yet even good owners make mistakes. Heck, York’s uncle and former 49ers owner, Eddie DeBartolo, committed a few gaffes. One of DeBartolo’s first hirings was general manager Joe Thomas, and that did not go well.
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Now, I’m left with cautious optimism. And that’s something I, and many other Niners fans, probably haven’t felt for a while now.
The feeling even gets better when we look across the country to the Redskins.
Almost every San Francisco fan can feel comfort knowing things are nowhere close to that kind of disarray.
Next: Retracing How the 49ers Went from Jim Tomsula to Kyle Shanahan
And it’s weird, perhaps good, feeling the 49ers are trending upward after more than a couple years of controversy and disappointment.