San Francisco 49ers general manager John Lynch and head coach Kyle Shanahan sat down next to each other on Friday for their annual press conference to kick off training camp. If you didn't listen to some of the offseason reports, you would think the two actually like each other.
I am joking, of course. There were no signs of friction between the two. There have never been, at least in public view.
You received a very different impression from a couple of offseason stories from Bleacher Report. The first came in April from respected analyst Matt Miller, a Niners fan himself, who said there was some friction brewing between Lynch and Shanahan.
Miller wrote the following in part of a larger feature for Bleacher Report.
"According to sources in the team's scouting and coaching staff, the two aren't in lockstep as far as the vision of the offseason and the future of the franchise. The coach, Shanahan, wants to scheme and develop players while not being bothered with the player evaluation process, but more and more he finds himself involved while not trusting the decision-making of Lynch—a former media analyst after his Hall of Fame playing days but not someone with a scouting background."
What do Lynch and Shanahan think about that report? They addressed it during the offseason with Shanahan calling the report "complete bulls—t."
We already know that their two families have vacationed together, as if spending countless hours together at the team's facilities wasn't enough. On Friday, the general manager smiled and joked that the two drive into work together every morning.
"[The report] is what it is," Lynch continued. "The only thing I'll say is that I think the respect continues to grow in what we're doing. I think with time, you try to improve on everything you do and what I can assure people is that number one, we really do like each other.
"Number two, more importantly, in our roles we communicate really well, and we communicate real well on every facet of this football team, and that's fun. It's fun to work with someone you believe in, and I'll leave it at that."
Shanahan was a bit blunter in his opinion of the offseason report from Bleacher Report.
"For anyone who questions our relationship, it's the stupidest thing ever," he said. "Hang around us. It's kind of a joke."
Then there was a second report, more recent and also coming out of Bleacher Report. This time it was Tyler Dunne reporting that some of the scouts in the building are feeling demoralized and their opinions aren't being heard. The quotes in the impressive feature by Dunne come from a former 49ers staffer but discuss some of the scouts still in the building.
Lynch believes the atmosphere within the building is a positive one.
"I think we have a really good process going," the general manager said. "I can't speak for people that aren't here anymore, but I know that change is never always 100-percent comfortable. I think the way we chose to do this may be different from some others; it's the way we think is best.
"Ultimately, I think one thing we're really proud of is that we try to surround ourselves with a really good team. We really pride ourselves on listening to everyone and everyone's voices being heard. Ultimately, two people have been charged with making decisions to give this team the best opportunity to win, and that's Kyle and myself, and that's the way it is.
"I think it's actually, what I feel and I think what our scouts feel, very harmonious and I think we feel really good about the process."
Shanahan also insisted that he and Lynch listen to everyone in the building but also have to take in a lot of information and make the best decision based on that information.
Shanahan also questioned the credibility of both reports which come from the same media outlet and possibly two sources no longer with the team. Although, Miller insisted his source came from inside the building, which must have happened because the report was based on some observations in the draft room.
"To go through this entire offseason, and sounds like there's been two stories that have been negative towards us and both of them come from the exact same spot, that to me is a person who is not here, yeah I feel pretty good about that," Shanahan said. "I don't think everyone would write that stuff, but some people do choose to and the credibility of that--"
Shanahan didn't finish that thought and instead quickly went on to say he's been in a lot of NFL buildings and is proud of the limited number of leaks in Santa Clara. There are, after all, in his estimate, 200 to 500 people working in each NFL facility, not counting the players.
