Through the years as an analyst on FOX Sports’ No. 2 NFL broadcast team, John Lynch had ample opportunity to sit down with Seattle coach Pete Carroll.
During production meetings, a routine in which the announcers meet with coaches and players a day before the broadcast, Lynch went deep during his conversations with Carroll.
In fact, Lynch called the Seahawks’ playoff game against the Atlanta Falcons last season. Less than a month later, Lynch teamed up with then-Falcons offensive coordinator Kyle Shanahan with the 49ers.
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The 49ers will face the Seahawks on Sunday in Week 2 of the NFL regular season.
“I’m kind of disappointed he went on to be a GM in our division because I like John a lot,” Carroll said Wednesday on a conference call with Bay Area reporters.
“He asked a lot of questions – more than most guys do. We went into a lot of depth. So he does know how we think. Whether that’s becoming part of what they (the 49ers) do, I don’t know.”
Carroll said he is not surprised that Lynch yearned to return to the competitiveness of the NFL. After all, Lynch was a nine-time Pro Bowl safety with Tampa Bay and Denver. In looking back on it, Carroll can see that Lynch had front-office aspirations.
San Francisco 49ers
“I don’t think there’s any question, the way he went about finding his information and getting answers to things,” Carroll said. “He was in-depth beyond where most guys go. He wanted to know why. And ‘What were you thinking?’ Those kinds of things. I didn’t really put it together. I thought he’d be doing Monday Night Football or something, some day.
“He was adding up his background and reservoir of information at the time. It makes sense it came out to get him a GM job.”