John Lynch was admittedly a surprise hire at general manager for the 49ers. There was no mention of him even interviewing for the job, and yet here he is; the man whose job is to rebuild the team Trent Baalke destroyed.
Lynch just got hired, yet he already has more going for him than Baalke did. Here are 5 of the ways John Lynch differs from Trent Baalke.
1. Voice
Baalke’s voice was like nails on a chalkboard combined with Hillary Clinton if she smoked. I am almost certain that 90% of people watching his press conferences turned it off after about 3 seconds due to his irritating voice. Just imagine how the 49ers staff felt when they got a phone call from him?
Meanwhile Lynch, a former color commentator, speaks very smoothly and is easy to listen to. If all else fails, this is at least a reason to be happy.
2. Charisma
John Lynch carries himself with confidence and has a positive aura about him that Trent Baalke lacked. This is very important, as many players and coaches declined to work for the 49ers and even took less money to go to other places. It is clear that Baalke’s (and York’s) reputation had a lot to do with this. John Lynch is well respected around the league, so expect the 49ers to be a desired location again with him at the helm.
3. Relationship with the press
Trent Baalke was notorious for not speaking to the press. I don’t know if he realized this but it was kind of part of his job to do so. This franchise went from 12-4 to 2-14 in three seasons and there were zero answers from the guy who made that happen.
No more. John Lynch has already shown to have a great relationship with the press in his short time with the 49ers and in his career as a broadcaster, he came off very comfortable talking in front of an audience and always has something knowledgeable to say. If he fails as badly as Baalke did, at least he won’t be afraid to explain himself.
4. Knowledge
Trent Baalke wasn’t a dumb guy, but his experience always came in the form of scouting of some sort. He only knew how to evaluate raw talent, ignoring other factors such as fit in the coaching scheme, injury history, and just about everything else.
Enter John Lynch, a Stanford alumni who played in the NFL for 14 years and was a 9 time pro bowl. His knowledge of the game is leaps and bounds ahead of Baalke’s, which will help the 49ers get back to the winning they are used to Besides, he’ll have more credibity if he pretends to be a coach.
5. Relationships with coworkers
Trent Baalke chased two head coaches out of town, one of which had a 49-22-1 record while he was there. He was notorious for being difficult to work with and being too controlling over matters that did not concern him.
Lynch on the other hand, seems to know his role. While it is too early to officially tell, he and Shanahan were both hired at the same time and were chosen as the best fit together of any of the many candidates for both jobs the 49ers had. They seem to get along great, which will be huge if the Niners are going to build this roster back to where it needs to be.
Bottom Line:
Overall, this will be a big test for John Lynch. He is literally building this 49ers roster from nothing. It will take a few seasons before we can reasonably expect results. However, it would have been an eternity under Baalke, so Lynch definitely deserves a chance and the early signs are promising.
And Jed York, just stay out of the way.
KZ Rider
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