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SAN FRANCISCO (KTVU) -- The 49ers shocked many of the team's faithful when it announced that it was hiring John Lynch for the general manager position.
Lynch, who reportedly signed a six-year contract with the team, came into the job with no front-office experience after he went from the playing field to the broadcast booth.
After playing for former Niners coach Bill Walsh in college at Stanford, Lynch went on to have a stellar 15-year career with Tampa Bay and Denver that included three All-Pro selections and one Super Bowl title with the Buccaneers. He's also been a finalist this year for the Pro Football Hall of Fame.
Since retiring in 2008, Lynch has been an analyst at Fox.
Lynch spoke extensively to KTVU sports anchor Mark Ibanyez and talked about his hopes for the team.
Lynch is now tasked to rebuild a once-proud franchise that has fallen from NFC champions in 2012 to a 2-14 record this past season that matched the worst in franchise history.
That led to the firing of former General Manager Trent Baalke and coach Chip Kelly as team CEO Jed York set out to overhaul the operation after the struggles the past few years.
The 49ers made three straight trips to the NFC title game from 2011-13 under coach Jim Harbaugh, but got rid of him after an 8-8 season in 2014, in part because of a rift with Baalke. Jim Tomsula lasted one year as coach and then Kelly was also fired after one season, leading to this current search.