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San Francisco 49ers: 5 Steps to Fix the Franchise in 2017

By Peter Panacy

January 20, 2016; Santa Clara, CA, USA; San Francisco 49ers chief executive officer Jed York addresses the media in a press conference after naming Chip Kelly (not pictured) as the new head coach for the 49ers at Levi's Stadium Auditorium. Mandatory Credit: Kyle Terada-USA TODAY Sports
January 20, 2016; Santa Clara, CA, USA; San Francisco 49ers chief executive officer Jed York addresses the media in a press conference after naming Chip Kelly (not pictured) as the new head coach for the 49ers at Levi's Stadium Auditorium. Mandatory Credit: Kyle Terada-USA TODAY Sports /
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Jul 17, 2014; Santa Clara, CA, USA; San Francisco 49ers CEO Jed York holds the scissors from the ribbon cutting ceremony at Levi's Stadium between his father John York and mother Marie DeBartolo with his sisters, brother, wife and son. Mandatory Credit: Kelley L Cox-USA TODAY Sports
Jul 17, 2014; Santa Clara, CA, USA; San Francisco 49ers CEO Jed York holds the scissors from the ribbon cutting ceremony at Levi’s Stadium between his father John York and mother Marie DeBartolo with his sisters, brother, wife and son. Mandatory Credit: Kelley L Cox-USA TODAY Sports /

No. 4: Let Football People Do Football Things

The next step in the line of fixes for CEO Jed York, or whoever, would be to find someone capable of making all the high-level football decisions for the franchise.

Let someone with a football IQ make the selections for general manager, vice president of player personnel, head coach or whatever.

In short, get someone else to make the football-type decisions. Meanwhile, whichever York in charge steps away from power.

There are plenty of NFL owners who operate behind the scenes. Not everyone needs to be a Jerry Jones or act like the late Al Davis. No, some of the most effective owners are those who let football people make football decisions.

Case in point, Washington Redskins majority owner Dan Snyder used to be considered one of the worst executives in the NFL. But in recent years, Snyder has taken more of a back-seat approach.

The Redskins, well, they’re pretty good now.

San Francisco needs to follow this path.