49ers made right move in prioritizing Shanahan over Lynch
SF moves quickly on head coach because he’s the most important person in the organization to keep happy
The other shoe failed to drop Tuesday.
With Kyle Shanahan agreeing to a six-year contract extension for the 49ers, certainly general manager John Lynch can’t be far behind.
Consternation among 49ers fans over Lynch is either wasted emotion or harmless offseason banter.
Although Shanahan and Lynch essentially arrived as a package deal and helped re-elevate the 49ers to Super Bowl status, that doesn’t mean they’re equals in terms of importance to the organization.
The 49ers took care of their most important commodity first.
Imagine the 49ers for a moment without Shanahan but with Lynch as general manager. Then envision Shanahan as head coach and someone else — say Adam Peters or Martin Mayhew — as the GM.
Everything the 49ers are in terms of philosophy and style of play emanates from Shanahan. He is rightly recognized as one of the NFL’S elite play designers, but also has assembled a strong staff. He coaches the coaches as much as the players, and it’s written all over the way the 49ers execute with precision and creativity on Sundays.
Shanahan is only 40 years old and among the best coaches in the NFL. The way he stayed the course after starting 0-9 and going 10-22 through his first two seasons surprised some of his critics.
Even those who disliked Shanahan couldn’t deny his coaching chops, but considered him entitled, petulant and likely to blame someone else if things didn’t go his way.
Instead, Shanahan has fit nicely in the big chair. He’s great with the media, keeping the truly important things to himself but unafraid to occasionally share strategy and explain his thinking without being condescending. Shanahan has good perspective in a profession that doesn’t often foster it.
If there is someone who is going to weather the collapses in Super Bowl LI with Atlanta and LIV with the 49ers, it’s Shanahan. There hasn’t been an excuse in sight, nor any sign he’ll be a lesser coach because of it.
As for Lynch, his leap from the television booth to the front office is to be applauded and an extension should come his way. Look no further than Matt Millen’s disastrous TV-TOGM transition with the Detroit Lions 20 years ago to see what Lynch has accomplished.
Even the Raiders’ Mike Mayock at least had been hip-deep in scouting for years before moving in to the front office to assist Jon Gruden.
In part, Lynch succeeded where Millen failed because of approach. Millen took charge of the operation, while Lynch learned the ropes and leaned on Shanahan. Which is as it should be since Shanahan was responsible for bringing Lynch to the 49ers.
Lynch understands his job is to help provide Shanahan with the players he needs. The more he’s learned about his head coach, the better Lynch can perform from a front office perspective in terms of keeping the 49ers’ talent supply and salary cap situation in a balance that can pay off in consistency.
Before the 49ers departed for Miami and the Super Bowl, owner Jed York made an unannounced visit to the media room. Having lived through the Jim Harbaugh-trent Baalke cold war, York raved about the Shanahan-lynch collaboration.
“Their strengths complement one another,” York said. “Neither one of them is trying to elbow the other to the front of the line and say, ‘I’m executive of the year,’ or, ‘I’m coach of the year.’ They’re happy for the other one. I think that’s both their personalities.”
Part of that is understanding the chain of command. Although it’s not spelled out specifically, Shanahan is the man in charge.
Whether it was Shanahan or Lynch that thought the best course of action was to sign Arik Armstead and trade Deforest Buckner doesn’t matter.
If Shanahan came up with it and asked Lynch to make it happen, or Lynch suggested it and Shanahan agreed, we still wind up in the same place.
Which is why it makes perfect sense that the 49ers made sure Shanahan was taken care of relative to where he ranks among other coaches in the NFL in terms of pay. He will rightly take his place in the Bill Belichick/pete Carroll/gruden/ Sean Payton/john Harbaugh realm and the 49ers have him through 2025.
As for Lynch, he too could be in line for a better payday. It’s conceivable he could be with Shanahan for years, with the two finishing each other’s sentences like an old married couple.
But getting Lynch signed isn’t nearly as crucial to the organization. With Shanahan in the fold, the 49ers have already done the heavy lifting.