Former San Francisco 49ers tight end Brent Jones joined KNBR on Monday to give his thoughts on the unexpected hiring of John Lynch as the team's new general manager. Lynch's name never came up as a candidate for the job in any reports, which made his hiring a complete surprise to many around the NFL. Jones called the hiring "wild" and was just as shocked as everyone else when he first heard the news on Sunday night.
"I like John Lynch," Jones said. "I like him personally a lot. He's a high-character, high-integrity guy. Obviously, a great player. Most likely going to be in the Hall of Fame in the next week."
Jones went on to say that, had the 49ers hired one of the general manager candidates from the Green Bay Packers or the Seattle Seahawks, it still would have been a gamble. "I do know this," Jones said. "[Lynch] is extremely bright and he's very forthright, an honest guy. I think we're going to get real information. But that doesn't really always matter. We want real players and that's a whole different skillset that I don't know any of those [other candidates] have absolutely proven at this point."
"I actually think he's going to really be great, but we're not going to know for a couple of years," Jones continued. "But he's got a lot of characteristics and a lot of great leadership characteristics in a person in a role like that."
While Jones sees 49ers CEO Jed York distancing himself from the team's legendary past and trying to carve out a new identity for the team, he believes that Lynch can be successful with the 49ers and turn things around. "Needless to say, it's all about getting it right," Jones said. "No matter who they hire, we're not going to know for a couple of years, but if I had to wager, I would put the house on John Lynch."
How difficult will it be for Lynch, who has no front office experience? He knows the NFL game, but doesn't necessarily have the same knowledge of the collegiate level. Jones feels that Lynch will be a quick study when it comes to evaluating college talent, but knows that he will build some support around him.
"Maybe we're going to have a heavier football operations than we've had in the past, which I think can only be positive," Jones speculated. "We'll just have to see how it all plays out."
You can listen to the entire interview on KNBR.
