The San Francisco 49ers stunned the entire fan base on Sunday with their decision to reportedly hire John Lynch as their next general manager. I can’t imagine a single person expected this, which is a rarity these days. And apparently Shanahan wanted to make that very clear from the beginning.
There are numerous reports out about how all this came together. Ian Rapoport tweeted that the 49ers identified him “weeks ago,” but he said he would only go through if it remained a secret. Jason Cole tweeted that a source close to Shanahan said the move was slightly surprising, “but Shanahan is good with it.” Adam Schefter reported that the idea on all this was Lynch’s.
The idea to hire Lynch was his own. He personally called Atlanta Falcons offensive coordinator Kyle Shanahan about a week ago, and volunteered for the job.
Shanahan, considered the favorite to be named the Niners' next head coach, thought about Lynch, and the more he thought about it, the more he felt Lynch was a fit for the job. Lynch played for Shanahan's father, Mike, in Denver.
I am inclined to believe some combination of Schefter and Rapoport primarily. My guess is Mike Shanahan helped push this through to some extent. Pro Football Talk is reporting Lynch will hire a personnel specialist to be his No. 2, and already knows who it will be. Mark Dominik would make a lot of sense in that regard, if he were so interested. I don’t think we’d see Mike Shanahan in such a role, but that doesn’t mean he does not join the team as some kind of senior advisor. That’s all just speculation on my part, but would it be all that surprising at this point?