SANTA CLARA — They say football is the ultimate people business. You can’t win without the right people.
And if that’s truly the case, Jed York and the San Francisco 49ers may have already gotten the hard part out of the way.
Head coach Kyle Shanahan and general manager John Lynch both knocked home runs out of the park at their opening press conference, reaffirming they will both be equal partners — in sickness and health, in wins and in losses and in control of the roster.
“There’s no hidden agendas with any of us,” Shanahan said. “We just want to win football games.”
Winning a press conference is the most overrated thing in sports, of course. These are just words in February, seven months away from Week 1.
But even the most cynical 49ers fan should be able to read between the lines: This partnership approach from Shanahan and Lynch will be a refreshing reprieve from the toxic nonsense, backstabbing through the media and communication neglect that plagued York’s organization the last three seasons.
Maybe the most telling answer of the entire press conference was when Shanahan was asked why didn’t he demand entire control? Given Lynch’s lack of experience and Shanahan’s leverage as the only credible candidate left on the market, the former Atlanta offensive coordinator could’ve insisted York deliver him the moon.
That’s not how Kyle wants to operate. Dictatorships are not how championship teams are formed.
“Why demand all that stuff when I don’t think it matters?” Shanahan said. “It wasn’t something to fight for, it wasn’t something John needed to fight for. I want us both to have shared responsibility and I think John felt the same. Were not coming in here, ‘If things go bad, I want to make sure I have all this stuff.’ Things aren’t going to go bad. We’re coming in here together. It’s going to work together or we’re going to lose together.”
Just because the 49ers are rowing the boat in the same direction and have identified the right men to fix the culture, doesn’t necessarily equate to wins.
A brand new quarterback, defensive coordinator, attitude in the locker room, veteran free agents and quality draft picks all still need to be delivered. This football team is barely assembled at the current moment. As gifted as they may seem, Shanahan and Lynch aren’t angels sent from the heavens, either. They know and openly recognize in interviews that mistakes are going to happen along the way. They aren’t promising a timeline on any of the results.
But the belief in the men now calling the shots for the 49ers is mostly undeniable. And that truly is the first step in the right direction for a team coming off of a 2-14 season.
“It’s a different feel,” safety Eric Reid said after the press conference. “I believe what they are saying.”
The vibe matched the words on Thursday. Current players and members of the scouting department filled a buzzing standing-room-only auditorium at Levi’s Stadium. NaVorro Bowman, Torrey Smith, Bruce Ellington and Quinton Patton were among the players in attendance. Lynch was busy calling out scouts by their first name, thanking them for stopping by.
A month ago, Chip Kelly and Trent Baalke’s firing press conference felt like same ghoulish funeral we’ve seen year after year. The night before the game, Kelly had to angrily call York and ask him why there were reports in the media about him being fired. York also still allowed Baalke to re-sign upcoming free agents like Vance McDonald and Ray-Ray Armstrong to contract extensions. It was essentially every man for himself in Santa Clara the last few seasons.
Now? Shanahan and Lynch’s introduction legitimately felt like the rebirth of this once proud organization. This is as fresh a start as this team could’ve hoped for. Structures that never existed under Baalke are already being put into place. At least at the start, this will be one of the most collaborative buildings in the NFL.
York is partially lucky that he’s the CEO of a franchise who was essentially the New England Patriots of the 80s and 90s. To the new head coach and GM, the prestige of the 49ers was part of the allure of this job (in addition to handsome six-year contracts and the power to reboot a franchise from the ground up). But no matter where the 49ers stand on the totem pole right now, this isn’t the Jacksonville Jaguars.
Lynch has already begun the process of reaching out and calling distinguished alumni, urging them to come to the facility and be more involved. Shanahan recollected on living in the Bay Area as a middle schooler when his dad Mike coordinated San Francisco’s offense. Shanahan’s dreamt of being a head coach his entire life, but he wasn’t just going to go anywhere. Both made that clear and both are willing to stake their prominent reputations now on York and the 49ers. That says a lot.
The pair of gifted communicators do both use cliches from time-to-time, but there’s meaning to them.
You’ll hear Shanahan say, “Let’s do things the right way.” What the 37-year-old is trying to say is success doesn’t happen in the microwave. The 49ers will be an oven baked team and their decisions are not meant to be quick fixes. Shanahan has seen his fair share of disasters in Washington and Cleveland, but he’s also seen the Falcons flourish all the way to the Super Bowl. It’s this type of experience that’ll lead to the playoffs and maybe another Super Bowl trip next decade.
“When I keep saying ‘doing it the right way’ it means making whatever the best decision is available,” Shanahan said. “Not, hey, we’ve got to make sure we look good in Year 1. So let’s go do this just so we have a chance to win a few more games. Like, how does that help us in Year 2? If it doesn’t than that’s not the right decision. John and myself, we don’t want to make decisions based off of what can make you look good, what can save you, how’s this going to look for perception? You want to just work as hard as you can and make the right decision.”
The understanding of human emotion and how to make the 49ers one big family looks to be the role Lynch will instantly fill. In a private media session with beat writers after the press conference, Lynch got choked up talking about his own kids and wife, who were stuck down in San Diego because of a postponed flight. He comes across as both genuine and passionate in everything he says — to players, to staff members, to the media.
More pertinently to this rebuild, Lynch can read people in a room before you know he’s in it. Especially an NFL locker room where he was once a nine-time Pro Bowler.
“I don’t know if you call it a B.S. meter or not, but I can cut through a lot of things because I’ve been there,” Lynch said. “I plan to use that to my advantage.”
This isn’t about credit anymore. This isn’t about a power struggle over the 53-man roster. This isn’t about hiring a prop coach Baalke and York could hide behind and blame.
Hiring Lynch and Shanahan is about synergy. The six-year contracts are a signal of stability, not just to the GM and head coach, but to players considering the 49ers in free agency.
Five years from now, we might be laughing at buying into the hype of a pair of first-timers running the San Francisco 49ers. Or as York kept reiterating, there could be a parade on Market Street.
In the meantime, 49ers fans can start to feel slightly positive again. Two revered individuals are now leading your football team. And the respect they have for each other is already starting to trickle down to the entire organization.
