Bleacher Report analyst Matt Miller made headlines last week with his report of friction between San Francisco 49ers general manager John Lynch and head coach Kyle Shanahan.
Lynch has since called the report "nonsense" while Shanahan's short response was more colorful.
Word out of Santa Clara is that Miller is not too popular at the 49ers facility because of his report, which he stands by. Miller, who grew up a Niners fan and remains one to this day, joined Matt Maiocco for the latest 49ers Insider Podcast and discussed the headline-grabbing report which took a lot of people by surprise.
Miller shared that he was surprised by the initial reaction to the report because he felt some of the other tidbits within the article would be bigger news.
"From everything I've been told, there is some friction, or was some friction there," Miller told Maiocco.
Most of that is due to several draft misses in recent years, and the team managing just 10 wins over the past two seasons.
"At least one of the things that I heard was that there was some finger-pointing," Miller continued. "That picks like Joe Williams or even Solomon Thomas or C.J. Beathard, picks like that didn't work out. And those are early picks, guys that you would expect several years in to be, if not starters, at least high-level backups, the building blocks of your team.
"The fact that those picks have not panned out, again, I'll keep using that same word because it's the word that was told to me, there is some friction right there."
Miller has built a solid reputation over the years and continues to have sources within the 49ers organization. He recently mentioned he has had sources within the 49ers since the Trent Baalke regime but clarified to Maiocco that it doesn't mean those individuals are linked to the ex-49ers general manager.
One of those sources, as recently as within the last few days, continues to confirm the report of friction and told Miller that a lot of people inside the building are upset with him right now.
"Yeah, it's because you know what's going on and aren't afraid to tell people about it," the source told Miller via a text.
Following Miller's report, Maiocco tweeted out that he has not witnessed anything that would support the Bleacher Report story but clarified that doesn't mean he was shooting it down. Maiocco acknowledges that he is not with Lynch and Shanahan every minute so he cannot say for sure that there is no friction between the two. He simply has not observed it for himself.
Kyle Shanahan and John Lynch signed matching six-year contracts in 2017. They both have four years remaining on their deals. There has been no indication of any acrimony or distrust from what I've personally seen and heard.
— Matt Maiocco (@MaioccoNBCS) April 30, 2019
"I will say this," Maiocco said of the tweet. "I don't see it. I haven't seen it. I still don't see it or heard about it, as I mentioned in the tweet. But it doesn't mean it's not true. I don't know what's happening between two people. Heck, I don't know what's happening with my next door neighbors let alone two professionals working in an office in Santa Clara."
Miller used the word "friction" in his report. It's something he still believes could lead to a Lynch and Shanahan split down the road.
"Maybe they wouldn't come out and classify it as friction," Miller explained. "Maybe they would say, 'It's just we're both really competitive, and we want to win here.' But I think at some point and time; if they don't win in 2019, there are going to be questions asked about does this group work together?
"The way I've been told ... if a decision had to be made between the head coach and the general manager, that the head coach would win this time around. It wouldn't be like a Trent Baalke situation where Jim Harbaugh goes away and does his own thing. That Kyle Shanahan was the guy they wanted and that John Lynch was the guy that they got with him."
A front office shuffle could mean bringing in someone from the outside or possibly promoting someone more experienced like VP of player personnel Adam Peters.
Lynch understands there is a lot of pressure as he and Shanahan head into Year 3 of their six-year deals.
"We understand full well we're going into Year 3," Lynch said last week on 95.7 The Game. "This is a production-based business, and we've got to start winning football games.
"We feel really good about where our team is in terms of being set up to do that. We feel great about the progress we've made. Now we've got to go do it. It's put-up time, and we understand that. We're looking forward to that opportunity and challenge."
You can listen to the entire interview with Miller below. It is a great discussion and well worth 27 minutes of your time.