National Football League

Jay Glazer: 49ers made right hire in John Lynch

Updated Mar. 4, 2020 12:40 p.m. ET

Fansided, Matt Verderame/Fansided

Despite heavy criticism, FOX Sports insider Jay Glazer believes the San Francisco 49ers made the right decision by hiring John Lynch.

When the 49ers announced the hiring of FOX Sports broadcast analyst and former NFL safety John Lynch as their general manager, the response was predictable. San Francisco was hammered from all sides, and understandably so. Coming off a 2-14 season, owner Jed York fired general manager Trent Baalke and head coach Chip Kelly, meaning a third coach will be coming in over a three-year span.

After a long and at times clumsy search, York settled on Lynch. Lynch, a star with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and Denver Broncos over a 15-year career, has no front office experience. Many immediately compared this hiring to Matt Millen, who also went from the FOX booth to the Detroit Lions’ front office back in 2001. On the opposite side is John Elway, hired by Denver in 2012 without any prior experience. Millen watched the 2007 Lions go winless. Elway led the Broncos to a Super Bowl in 2015.

Jay Glazer, FOX insider and admittedly a friend of Lynch, believes San Francisco will get more of the latter than the former in the California native.

“The biggest thing you want in that position is you want someone to take over the personality of the team,” Glazrer said. “… You want that in your organization. There has been so much drama and so much politics in that organization, these are drastic times. You want somebody to come in and give a completely different edge and attitude toward the place, and John Lynch will do it.”

Lynch has work to do. San Francisco arguably has the worst roster in the NFL, and is in desperate need of a quarterback. With the No. 2 overall pick in the upcoming NFL Draft, Lynch could opt to fill the need with Mitch Trubisky or Deshaun Watson. If he goes that direction and hits, San Francisco is off and running. A miss, and Lynch is already behind the proverbial 8-ball.

Already, there is reason for optimism by the bay. Lynch made a hiring in Adam Peters as vice president of player personnel, prying him away from Elway and the Broncos. Combined with the expected hire of Kyle Shanahan as head coach, the 49ers are seemingly moving in a younger, intelligent direction.