San Francisco 49ers: 2017 NFL Draft shows times have changed

For the past few years, the relationship and communication among the levels of the San Francisco 49ers’ organization was weak. There was reported to be division between the coaches, the front office and ownership. The 2017 NFL Draft shows that can no longer be said — it’s a new chapter in Santa Clara.

One of the most crucial elements to sustained team success in sports are franchises’ ability to be a unified structure, from top to bottom.

In order for this to happen, there has to be open dialogue between the hierarchy of the structure to ensure operating members are on the same page. As well as this, there has to be some camaraderie established throughout the organization, particularly with the heads of each level (owner/CEO, general manager, head coach).

None of that has been present for the San Francisco 49ers for the past few years. The Trent Baalke-era was marred by dysfunction, with reports of rifts between head coach and general manager, all culminating in a complete teardown of football operations.

San Francisco 49ers

Although Baalke was close with CEO Jed York, that’s where the relationship building stopped — there was never a true symbiosis between all the key figures in San Francisco. Tim Kawakami of the San Jose Mercury News reported on the nature of the atmosphere surrounding the 49ers during Baalke:

"As the years went on, and Baalke’s paranoia grew, his sour countenance became a thing of its own inside 49ers HQ–he was isolated, he stewed about imagined slights, he plotted against his coaches, he obsessed about everything written about him (but swore he didn’t), and he became more and more sure that he was the only one who knew how to do anything.But eventually, York had to move on from Baalke–the personnel misses were coming too often, the roster had fallen off too much, and portions of the entire football operation were either slavishly devoted to Baalke or just trying to avoid him as much as possible.There were no real connections. There was no chemistry. There was no teamwork. The GM wanted no part of any of that because he just didn’t like talking to people very much."

The division in San Francisco simply became too much. It was evident when Jim Harbaugh was head coach, and became more and more noticeable as the years went along.

There were even rumblings Baalke himself went to York to ask for then-head coach Chip Kelly to be fired, although that was never confirmed. It appeared to be utter chaos, leaving the franchise in a delicate state.

This is no longer the case. As the saying goes, “times are a changin’.”

With general manager John Lynch and head coach Kyle Shanahan now in place, the atmosphere is vastly different than it was with Baalke.

And all for the better.

The whole offseason has been the antithesis of previous regimes — an aggressive and collaborative effort in free agency and roster building. The 2017 NFL Draft was the perfect example of that.

For the draft, the 49ers allowed Peter King from MMQB to be present in their war room during the seven-round affair.

There, King was granted unique access to the most pivotal moments a team faces during the draft. One moment that particularly stood was detailed in a podcast with Matt Maiocco of NBC Sports Bay Area.

It dealt with the drafting of running back Joe Williams, a figure who has drawn criticism due to his dismissal from UConn and the fact that he quit for part of the 2016 season. The moment highlighted showed that this team has changed drastically (h/t The 49ers Insider Podcast):

"[After Day 2] Kyle Shanahan is standing there, staring at the draft board … I went up to him and I said to him, ‘what are you looking for tomorrow? Basically, what’re you looking for now?’ And he goes, ‘Joe Williams, running back, Utah.’ And I looked over at the stack of running backs — there was no Joe Williams on the board.They came in the next day, and Lynch still was tired because he thought about Joe Williams. He calls Joe Williams and he spends a half-hour on the phone basically saying at the beginning of the conversation, ‘look, you’re not on my draft board. But our head coach is interested in you, and before I make a decision, I wanted to talk to you.’"

The 49ers ended up trading for Joe Williams and selecting him in the fourth round. Not only did they select, they traded up to get him. The insight from King illustrates the rapport and trust Lynch and Shanahan already have. It was what allowed for a player that Lynch had originally deemed to be undraftable to end up being drafted.

That would of never happened in during the days of Baalke.

Next: San Francisco 49ers: Only eight 2016 starters may actually start in 2017

For the past few years, the volatile nature that plagued the 49ers was certainly a factor in the demise of the franchise from its elite status. This new regime has proven through the phases of the offseason that this isn’t the days of closed doors and hushed meetings.