Returning to action, facing their nemesis
SANTA CLARA >> Two weeks have elapsed since a euphoric mosh pit struck the 49ers victorious locker room. Jumping wildly among the players was a wide-smiling, 46-year-old rookie executive, with his white-collared shirt and tie peaking out of his Armygreen pullover.
It took 10 games before general manager John Lynch and the entire organization finally could, in his word, “exhale.”
So, when they broke free from an historic 0-9 start and defeated the New York Giants, bedlam ensued. Their trust in an ongoing rebuild had reaped its first win under the new regime of Lynch and coach Kyle Shanahan.
“We’re 1-9. It’s not like we’re doing cartwheels saying we’ve got this figured out,” a calmer Lynch said this past week in a state-of-theteam interview. “We’ve got a long way to go. I know that.
“But I don’t and haven’t felt overwhelmed, like this is too big.”
No franchise has made the 49ers feel worse about themselves in recent years than their next foe, the Seattle Seahawks (6-4).
The 49ers have lost eight straight to Seattle, dating back to the 2013 season’s NFC Championship game. The Seahawks are 3-0 at Levi’s Stadium, starting with a 2014 Thanksgiving Night win that foreshadowed the rivalry’s lopsided state.
Rather than dwell on past failures, the 49ers actually enter with upbeat mojo thanks to beating the Giants 31-21, the first win in 12 home games since the 2016 opener.
“It feels like there’s a lot of positive momentum,” Lynch said. “But we’re going up against the reality, ‘Hey we’re going up against a very good football team in the Seattle Seahawks.’ That’s a stark reminder that we have to go back to work and we have to play better than we did in the first win.”
Lynch, after that win, sprung into the leadership mode that served him well an all-pro safety and television analyst. He had two game balls to distribute, and the first came with heartfelt words to Marquise Goodwin, who played hours after losing his son to pregnancy complications.
The next game ball Lynch gave was to Shanahan, saying: “It’s the first of many for this guy. He’s going to be unbelievable. Proud to work with him.”
Therein lies a key to the 49ers’ turnaround. The Lynch-Shanahan — or Shanahan-Lynch — tandem has shown no cracks amid its 1-9 infancy. Lynch, you’ll recall, was Shanahan’s handpicked general manager.
Shanahan credits a “trust” factor with Lynch that makes for easy, constructive dialogues.
“When you trust how someone thinks and how their intentions are, it’s very nice to have someone you can say anything, too,” Shanahan said. “We know we’re both not going to be perfect but we can talk about everything we do, every mistake we made. It allows you to get better.”
The 49ers hired Lynch after interviewing eight other candidates, and two weeks after their meeting with the Seahawks co-directors of player personnel, Scott Fitterer and Trent Kirchner. Lynch has shown no regrets about leaving his job as a Fox announcer. (By the way, former Buccaneers teammate Ronde Barber will be Fox’s analyst for this 49ers-Seahawks game, so expect a few anecdotes and insights from him on Lynch.)
While Shanahan may have 53-man roster control, he and Lynch constantly communicate on personnel moves. “It’s important, and I appreciate he gives me that time because he has a lot going on,” Lynch said.
All they needed was a 10-minute chat to agree on last month’s trade for quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo. Lynch and Shanahan have been lockstep in saying they’re not rushing to debut Garoppolo, instead opting for C.J. Beathard to make his fifth-straight start Sunday.
Lynch never went into this role as a know-it-all. The Stanford graduate wasn’t expecting the “helpless” feeling, however, of having to just watch games rather than play in them or call them on TV. So he takes notes during games, after games, and at 3 a.m. when he awakens with thoughts. He’s thankful for his support staff, particularly Paraag Marathe, Adam Peters and Martin Mayhew.
Best of all, Lynch has returned optimism to a job that grew dark under previous GM Trent Baalke.
One more game ball got distributed in the 49ers’ joyous locker room Nov. 12. Linebacker Elvis Dumervil stepped forward to award it to his former Denver Broncos teammate from a decade ago: “This ball here is for one special dude,” Dumervil announced. “I’ve played with him. He’s a great guy as a teammate, and it’s great to see him as our GM. A humble guy. A great person. John Lynch.”
Lynch vows to hit the college road more next season to scout players. This season, however, he’s intentionally stayed around the facility, “to be a resource for your head coach, to create a culture in the building. It’s important that people see you.”
Lynch watches practices and sits in on every team meeting, where he’ll watch players’ attention spans and see their heads nod as they come to understand Shanahan’s methods. “Buy -in has not been a problem,” Lynch said. “Kyle’s done a tremendous job. … I’ve never done this but I was confident that I could. I still have a lot to learn and hopefully always will.”
Their Seahawks counterparts, coach Pete Carroll and general manager John Schneider, are in their eighth season together. Schneider is 46, like Lynch, but with 17 years of personnel experience before becoming a GM. Carroll, 66, is as fiery as ever if anyone challenges the Seahawks’ capabilities.