By John Sarianides 

The San Francisco 49ers surprised the football world on Sunday night when they hired former Tampa Bay Buccaneers and Denver Broncos strong safety John Lynch as general manager.

Unlike other former players who have made the jump to the front office, Lynch has no coaching, scouting or front office experience. Lynch’s only experience in the NFL is as a player. His hiring is truly an outside the box move by 49ers owner Jed York.

Lynch played at Stanford and has Northern California ties. He is a smart guy who is well respected around the league. Lynch knows a lot of people in the NFL and he is not afraid to surround himself with good people that will help make his transition into management easier. 

It is obvious that soon to be head coach Kyle Shanahan wanted to work with Lynch. The two men have known each other for years. Lynch played for Shanahan’s father Mike in Denver. 

Lynch supposedly reached out to Shanahan and expressed an interest in working with him. Lynch has been tied to other general manager openings around the league. 

The 49ers have nothing to lose by hiring Lynch. Owner Jed York is already a media punching bag in the Bay Area so no matter what he does, it won’t be good enough for the fans and the media alike. 

The tandem of Lynch and Shanahan could turn the 49ers around but in order to do that, they’ll need to find a quarterback. It’ll be interesting how they go about addressing the position.