Stepping into a new job that you have no experience in could be daunting for most people but not for John Lynch. The San Francisco 49ers new GM spoke to MMQB’s Albert Breer about how the transition has been going. It seems he’s been breaking down his job into smaller portions to make sure he doesn’t get overwhelmed.
A priest once said to me, ‘Think about eating a huge steak, you can’t eat it all in one bite. You gotta take one bite at a time.’ And that’s the way we’re going through it. You can get overwhelmed in this job, particularly coming in late. I got all this to do, how do I do it? Instead, we’re just going about our business each day and taking things as they come. It does feel very natural.
One of Lynch’s best quotes was from his introductory conference call where he said he is smart enough to know what he doesn’t know. Because of this, he knows he has to rely on people who have more experience than he does thus luring Adam Peters away from Denver to be the 49ers VP of player personnel.
Lynch and new head coach Kyle Shanahan are already knee deep in the process of evaluating players which included Shanahan giving, “a lengthy, detailed presentation for the scouts on what his staff would be looking for at each position. And that adds detail to the character traits Lynch has talked to his scouts about seeking.”
One of the more notable points about Lynch’s interview with Breer is his experience in Tampa Bay early on when there was very little stability. It parallels what has happened in Santa Clara recently.
“There’d been constant change, so the thought process as a rookie was ‘don’t get close to the guy next to you, because he may not be here in a couple weeks. Don’t let your wives make friends, because they’re not gonna be here.’ That was the culture. Everybody talks about Tony [Dungy], and Tony was certainly integral.
“But before that, Rich McKay came in and brought some stability—we’re gonna draft good winning players that have certain traits, and football character. Then Tony came in and gave it more stability—these are the schemes we’re gonna play. We’re not deviating in Week 1 or Week 2 if it’s not working. We’re sticking to them.”
The similarities are uncanny. There has been so much turnover in the 49ers locker room and with the coaching staff that it wouldn’t be surprising to hear those same quotes in Santa Clara. This experience in invaluable for Lynch in his role with the 49ers. Although he didn’t create or build the consistency or stability himself, he knows what it will take to get it done. It can only help.
You can read the full article here.