San Francisco 49ers CEO Jed York could not find a way to coexist with Jim Harbaugh after he guided the team through four mostly successful seasons. That 2014 final year did not go as hoped, and the two agreed to part ways after a disappointing 8-8 finish.
The team has failed to reach that many single-season wins since.
What followed were two head-scratching coaching decisions over the next two years. The team hired former 49ers assistant Jim Tomsula to replace Harbaugh and then brought in Chip Kelly after that. Neither's time with the 49ers lasted more than one season.
York, with the help of Paraag Marathe, embarked on a coaching search following the 2016 season and landed on former Atlanta Falcons offensive coordinator Kyle Shanahan to help right the ship, which at the time, seemed adrift. Shanahan, who was paired with first-time general manager John Lynch, became the fourth 49ers head coach in as many years after both he and Lynch signed matching six-year deals during the early months of 2017.
Knowing the state the franchise was in at the time, York promised patience with the new regime. The 49ers roster needed to be rebuilt from the ground up. Patience, however, was not something York had exhibited in recent years despite having preached it before.
"Chip's going to be here for a long time, period," York said after a 2016 press conference introducing Kelly as the new head coach.
The 49ers fired Kelly a year later.
Shanahan and Lynch have been on the job in Santa Clara for over two years now. The two have just 10 wins to show for it, but the fact that they remain with the team is proof that York has embraced patience after exhibiting little with previous regimes.
"We're probably not going to get it all right in the first year, first two years, but this is something we're going to try to build and I believe we have a very good foundation," York said on Sunday via NBC Sports Bay Area. "I think the future is bright for us."
The wins may not have come yet, but York is even more confident in Lynch and Shanahan today than he was when he hired the two in 2017. Much of that is based on observing how the duo works together and the plan they have mapped out.
"It's just awesome to watch those guys work together," York said.
Lynch and Shanahan have gotten through the bulk of free agency and are preparing for their third draft together. The 49ers are nowhere near a finished product, but the draft could help fill some glaring roster holes and make the team more competitive. Lynch and Shanahan managed to find their franchise quarterback via a trade in 2017 and seemingly leaped forward in their rebuild process after reeling off five-straight victories to end that season with Jimmy Garoppolo leading the offense.
Garoppolo went down with a torn ACL during a 2018 Week 3 contest in Kansas City and the once-media-darling 49ers were once again cast off as irrelevant. It was an injury that left a frustrated York punching a wall in Kansas City.
"I'm glad I wasn't on IR," York said. "I was close in Kansas City. I thought I broke my wrist in Kansas City when I heard he tore his ACL."
Who knows what the 49ers might have accomplished last season with a healthy Garoppolo at the helm all season. York's patience continued because few teams can overcome the loss of its starting quarterback. It could have faltered as the team struggled while watching the division-rival Los Angeles Rams quickly become Super Bowl contenders. York didn't ask, "Why can't we be like that?" Instead, he trusts the plan.
"I have a lot of patience with [Lynch and Shanahan]," York said. "I think there are reasons we've had the records we've had the last two years. And I feel very, very good about the team those guys are putting together."
We'll see if that team can muster up more than the four wins it had last season or the six it had in 2017.
