SANTA CLARA – After the scouts go home from a long day at work, 49ers general manager John Lynch remains behind and plays catch-up.
He wants to gain a firm grasp on the talent level of the players who suited up for the 49ers last season.
“In order to know what you need, you better first look at what you have,” Lynch said.
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Shortly after the 49ers’ 2-14 season, the club announced the firings of coach Chip Kelly and general manager Trent Baalke.
“There’s some work to be done,” Lynch said. “I don’t think it’s a 2-14 roster, though. I think it’s a little better than that.”
Coach Kyle Shanahan will run the 49ers’ offense. He will not have anyone on his staff with the title of “offensive coordinator,” because he will handle the same responsibilities with the 49ers as he has held the past nine seasons while running the offenses in Houston, Washington, Cleveland and Atlanta.
“You can look at tape and see good football players, but system fit is critical to this whole thing,” Lynch said. “Having Kyle here has already helped because he’s able to come in the room and say, ‘OK, at receiver, here are the traits I’m looking for.’ We need that same thing on the defensive side of the football. And that’s why we started on offense as we worked through the players.”
San Francisco 49ers
The 49ers have yet to make any official hires to their coaching staff, but the team is zeroing in on going with co-defensive coordinators Robert Saleh and Jerome Henderson, Alex Marvez of SiriusXM NFL Radio and The Sporting News reported. Saleh coached linebackers with the Jacksonville Jaguars last season, while Henderson was the defensive passing game coordinator with the Atlanta Falcons.
“We’ve talked to guys who run 4-3. We’ve talked to guys who run 3-4,” Lynch said. “I think we both know, on defense, we want to be aggressive. And people say aggressive, and they think we want to blitz like crazy. Aggressive in everything we do. We don’t want to sit back. We want to attack. That’s what I know as a player. We want to be multiple.
“Kyle talks about what gives him problems as an offensive coordinator. And so I think those are things we’re looking for. A lot of it is going to depend on the coordinator -- where we end. We’re working toward that. We’re really excited with where we’re heading.”