The San Francisco 49ers interviewed Buffalo Bills interim head coach and offensive coordinator Anthony Lynn on Wednesday. Lynn is moving on to conduct his interview with the Bills on Thursday, and one Bills writer thinks that will all but wrap up the search.
Won't be a shock if the #Bills end HC "search" today after interviewing Anthony Lynn.
— Vic Carucci (@viccarucci) January 5, 2017
Lynn interview with the 49ers last year, and then was under consideration for Chip Kelly’s offensive coordinator. He removed his name from consideration and remained with the Bills where he saw a promotion once the season got going.
NFL Network reporter Ian Rapoport recently made an appearance on KNBR, and he was asked specifically what he could tell people about Lynn. Some folks figure he’s a Rooney Rule interview, but Rapoport had some interesting stuff to say about what Lynn brings to the table. Most specifically, he seems to be a well-respected individual among players.
It seems like Lynn will not be coaching the 49ers this fall, but in the meantime, here is what Rapoport had to say about him.
On Anthony Lynn:
He’s very detail oriented, very disciplined. Very serious guy. Players LOVE him. And I don’t mean love him like they wanna hang out with him. I mean they just respect him. The example I’ll give for Anthony Lynn is, during Week 2 and 3, Bills ownership sat down with a bunch of key players, LeSean McCoy, Tyrod Taylor, Sammy Watkins, and asked them about offensive coordinator and play-calling. This is before they fired Greg Roman. And the refrain from these players was how much they wanted Anthony Lynn to have the job, and really just be in charge. That’s how much respect they had for him.
And so the owners kind of struck up a relationship with Anthony Lynn based off that. And then really liked what he’s done as far this role; putting people in the right place, getting the offense to be functional, getting players to do what they’re supposed to do. So he kind of got the respect from the players there, and that’s, if the players have a vote, I have no doubt Anthony Lynn would be the Bills head coach right now.
GMs Lynn is linked to:
I have not found his GM pair yet. And you know, it doesn’t have to be like say, Josh McDaniels and Louis Riddick. Or like Fitterer/Cable or Kershner/Cable. It doesn’t have to be like that, because I’m not sure George Paton has a coach to come along with him, you know what I mean. I’m not sure Eliot Wolf has a coach to come along with him. Although Edgar Bennett I know gets a ton of respect in the NFL. So maybe that would be a name to watch, if they do decide to interview a Green Bay coach. But you know, I think with Anthony Lynn, it would have to be somebody he’s comfortable with if you were going to hire him.