Concerns arose with the departure of San Francisco 49ers assistant general manager Adam Peters, who took on the general manager role with the Washington Commanders. Peters was seen as a natural successor to 49ers general manager John Lynch, should he ever decide to leave for a lucrative broadcasting career or retire.
With Peters gone, fans grew increasingly concerned about the repercussions of Lynch potentially opting to depart his general manager role. Speaking to Tim Kawakami of The Athletic, 49ers CEO Jed York expressed that he doesn't envision that happening in the near future.
"I don't see John leaving anytime soon," York declared. "We're excited to have John and [head coach] Kyle [Shanahan] here for a long time."
While speaking to reporters on Friday, Lynch was asked about the plan to replace Peters. He responded, "We've got the plan in place. I want to give the due to these guys playing in this game. We've got a really good plan. I can tell you this: It's going to come internally. Not to say that later on, there might not be an add. We're always looking, but we've got great candidates."
York added, "Adam is super, super talented. I think he'll do a great job. ... But anytime you lose good people, it's tough. But I think this group is used to losing good people. I think we've had three people become GMs outside of here and three or four head coaches. So, it's a good problem to have."
When asked about Lynch turning down a broadcasting job with Amazon, York stated, "I don't want to speak for John on any of his stuff, but we're glad that he didn't [take the job], and we're very glad that he's still here, and he'll be here for a while."
York is hoping the duo stays with the 49ers for a long time. When asked if he can envision Shanahan coaching for 20 years, York said, "I hope so. I want Kyle to be here for a long, long time."
York also discussed the 49ers almost hiring Mike Shanahan for the head coaching job after parting ways with Jim Harbaugh. However, York wanted Mike to bring his son, Kyle, with him. The idea was to create a smooth transition when Mike eventually retired.
"We were close [on an agreement]," York shared. "And that was part of it, where I asked, 'You know, would you bring Kyle with you or somebody so we can transition and keep this?' And he's, 'Well, I don't know.' They had already done that. They had already worked together. ... Clearly, Mike Shanahan is and was a better football coach than the two people that we hired instead of him in [Jim Tomsula] and Chip [Kelly]—no disrespect to those guys. Mike Shanahan is a Hall of Famer.
"I wasn't looking for somebody that was going to be here for four years. I wanted somebody that's going to be here for a decade, two decades, more. That's what I wanted, and I think Kyle is that person."
Lynch and Shanahan agreed to multi-year contract extensions in September, keeping the duo linked together for the foreseeable future. In their seven seasons, the 49ers have reached the postseason four times (2019, 2021-23), claimed three NFC West division titles (2019, 2022-23), reached four NFC Championship Games (2019, 2021-23), and earned two trips to the Super Bowl (54, 58).
On Sunday, February 11, in Las Vegas, the two hope to bring the 49ers their sixth championship.
You can listen to that entire conversation with York below.
Comments