The San Francisco 49ers have had a significant problem with leaks over the last three years. There are plenty of arguments to be had over who is responsible for what leaks, but material has been flowing out of the building with a little too much regularity dating back to the beginning of the end of the Jim Harbaugh era.
It is no surprise then that new general manager John Lynch wanted to assess that issue in his interviews with the team. Lynch was on KNBR this morning discussing the interview process and where things stand.
One of the more notable aspects of the process was that Lynch was not a known candidate until Adam Schefter reported that he was getting the job. Given what has come out of the 49ers building the last few years, it was stunning that we did not hear anything until the end of the process.
Lynch said that was for a couple reasons. He pointed to having his family and wanting to keep them out of the limelight during the process, but he also said it was a test of Jed York.
“I made a big deal that this stayed quiet. First of all, you know what I was doing? Part of the rumors are things fly out of that building. So I wanted to see, could I trust this building, you know? And, so that was part of my thinking.”
Lynch said in the conference call and again on Wednesday that he always felt like he was in a good position because he had a job at FOX that he loved. He could ask any and all questions without walking on egg shells. Ideally that put him in a position to ask about the leaks, to ask about the many questions that arose over the past three years of turmoil.
And it would seem like he got the answers he wanted.
“If I was going to engage in these conversation, we can’t beat around the bush,” Lynch said. “We gotta get right to: ‘Do I want to work for these people?’ I can tell you what I found, my interaction with Jed York, he’s a guy that all he wants to do is win.
“He’s tired of some strife and some contention in the building. He wants harmony. He wants to give us the resources. He wants to be a support mechanism, but he wants to get out of the way and let us work. And, to me, that’s an awesome deal.”
Jed York has talked about instilling a championship culture. That’s all well and good, but instilling a culture of trust among executives and coaches, and creating a strong working environment for everybody in the organization is part of changing the culture. It seems like things are off to a good start, but it will be something to watch in the coming months and years.