San Francisco 49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan joined the "Rich Eisen Show" and explained that it was John Lynch who first contacted him about becoming the team's new general manager. As you know, Lynch was hired before Shanahan because the then-Atlanta Falcons offensive coordinator still had his team in postseason play.
Eisen asked Shanahan if it was he who asked Lynch to become the 49ers' general manager, as has been reported by many. Shanahan said that it was actually the other way around and that Lynch's request really took him by surprise.
"Actually, he reached out to me," Shanahan told Eisen. "I never knew that he was interested and John and I have somewhat of a relationship just over the years talking.
"I think it was the day before we played Green Bay in the playoffs -- it was a Saturday. He actually texted me earlier in the week. He's like, 'Hey, give me a call if you got a chance.' I told him I was a little busy, 'Can I call you at the end of the week?' He said, 'Yeah. Not a big deal. Call me at the end of the week.'
"I didn't think it was that big of a deal so I called him on Saturday thinking it wasn't much and he dropped it on me. It came out of nowhere so I really didn't know what to expect. I sat there and I thought about it. I was like, 'Man, this really surprised me.' I got off the phone and I went downstairs and talked to my wife. She's like, 'What was that?' I was like, 'John Lynch just said he'd be interested in trying to be a general manager.' And she's like, 'What do you think about that?' I'm like, 'I'm not totally sure. It kind of threw me off but what I'm feeling right now is that's the best thing I've heard.'"
Shanahan said that he had to focus on the Falcons' game against the Packers and that he would later consider the possibility of Lynch joining him.
"It kind of shocked me because it came out of nowhere," Shanahan said. "But within a few minutes -- you know, I was kind of stressed going through the whole process, trying to get ready for a playoff game and all that and not really spending much time thinking about the Niners and how that was going to pan out. And then when John told me that, it took a lot of stress off of me. I was like, 'Man, that's a hell of a deal'"