National Football League

San Francisco 49ers: For the First Time in a Long Time, CEO Jed York Got It Right

Updated Mar. 4, 2020 2:00 p.m. ET

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Fansided, Peter Panacy/FanSided via Niner Noise

The San Francisco 49ers are bringing in Kyle Shanahan as head coach and have already inked John Lynch as general manager. So, for the first time in a long while, CEO Jed York got it right.

One doesn’t have to dig too deep to figure out San Francisco 49ers CEO Jed York doesn’t have the best reputation among the fan base.

Aside from the four-year stretch with former head coach Jim Harbaugh, York’s tenure as CEO has been marked by dysfunction and poor decisions. Just count the number of aerial banners flown above Levi’s Stadium over the past two years.

That’s changed now. With the hiring of John Lynch as general manager, and the presumptive hiring of Kyle Shanahan as head coach, York’s reputation improves.

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A lot.

Sure, we can still poke fun at York’s press conference at the end of the 2016 season. It was awkward, painfully awkward. And yet we should still give him credit for clearing house — parting ways with former GM Trent Baalke and former head coach Chip Kelly.

Those were the right moves, even if they risked increasing the reputation of being an unstable franchise.

And we should give York credit for thinking outside the box with Lynch. True, he doesn’t have front-office experience. But he has connections, and he has clout. Lynch is a respected name in NFL circles, and that alone can go a long way in creating a new face to the franchise.

Whatever York’s reputation might be, he at least was able to convince the new GM he was committed to changing things for the good.

“The commitment that Jed and the 49er organization have shown to me to make this thing come to fruition has been incredible,” Lynch said, via a conference call, per Eric Branch of SFGate.com.

Oh, and that six-year deal handed out to Lynch also helps. We can assume the same will be given to Shanahan as well.

There’s one final thing to consider as well. Lynch’s hiring came as a complete surprise. There were no leaks or rumors. And that’s saying something, especially for a franchise known for being leaky.

York’s popularity among the fan base won’t entirely change. But it has moved in a different direction.

It’s exactly what San Francisco needed to happen.

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