Kyle Shanahan, John Lynch’s 49ers jobs are secure

The San Francisco 49ers entered the 2024 NFL campaign with Super Bowl expectations after falling just short against the Kansas City Chiefs last season. An injury wave has derailed everything, though, leading to the 49ers missing the playoffs. Because of this year’s failures, there have been rumblings about the job security of head coach Kyle Shanahan and general manager John Lynch. Well, 49ers owner Jed York put to bed any speculation about Shanahan and Lynch’s futures on Monday night before the 40-34 loss to the Detroit Lions that dropped San Francisco to 6-10.

“They’re not going anywhere,” York said to Tim Kawakami of The San Francisco Standard. York made it a point that this statement could be put on the record and then doubled down on it.

This shouldn’t come as much of a surprise. While this has been a disappointing season in The Bay, it’s hard to blame Shanahan and Lynch too much. Lynch put together a loaded roster for Shanahan, but the injuries were simply too much to overcome. Brandon Aiyuk and Christian McCaffrey are just two of the players who suffered long-term injuries, while Brock Purdy is dealing with a troubling elbow issue that has played a role in him taking a step back.

Amid the 49ers’ struggles this season, some have wondered whether the Chicago Bears would try to trade for Shanahan. As much of a long shot as that was to begin with, now we can effectively rule out the possibility.

Kyle Shanahan, John Lynch’s 49ers tenures

Kyle Shanahan and John Lynch came to the 49ers together after the 2016 season. In fact, Lynch even asked Shanahan about the GM job as the coach was in negotiations to leave the Atlanta Falcons for San Francisco.

The two men have enjoyed a lot of success together. After two rough seasons to start, the 49ers have since made two Super Bowls and two other NFC Championship Games. Unfortunately, they just haven’t been able to get over that Super Bowl hump, losing to Patrick Mahomes and the Chiefs both times.

Shanahan and Lynch will now get the chance to turn things around in 2025. Brock Purdy’s contract negotiations will be something to watch, especially with this elbow injury, but there’s no doubt San Francisco will return a talented roster. With more injury luck, the 49ers should be a Super Bowl contender yet again.

Jason Patt is the head of the editorial team at ClutchPoints. The Illinois alumni specializes in NBA, NFL, and MLB coverage, and he has previous bylines at SB Nation, FanSided, and Forbes.