49ers’ John Lynch credits trust, communication as reasons why Kyle Shanahan doesn’t attend the NFL Scouting Combine

For the second consecutive year (or the third, if you count the canceled 2021 event), San Francisco 49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan is not in Indianapolis for the NFL Scouting Combine. His general manager, John Lynch, and the team’s capable scouts are there, though.

In the past, Lynch has stated that Shanahan remaining in the Bay Area seemed more beneficial. After all, there are significant coaching changes that seem to occur on a yearly basis now. This year, Steve Wilks replaced DeMeco Ryans as the 49ers’ defensive coordinator. Others have departed, too, finding promotions around the league.

But coaching changes aren’t the only reason why Shanahan remains behind. For the second consecutive year, the 49ers’ season went deep into January. That’s a long run for NFL coaches.

“The good thing about Kyle is we’re always talking,” Lynch told NBC Sports Bay Area. “After a long season, we all need a little break. We really don’t get it. We will get our break after the draft. But coaches, they do need that to kind of recharge, and I think we’ve got a system in place where there’s a trust.

“And then, the great thing, Kyle and I are always communicating, and we just try to kind of chip away at decisions. And it’s not an easy process. We challenge each other, our staffs. We challenge them, and you gather information, and you try to put the best possible roster together.

“So Kyle not being here, that’s not an indication that the Combine is not important to him or to us. Couldn’t be further from the truth. In fact, I think COVID taught us all that they can be very much a part of this, via Zoom, with the player interviews. They can watch the workouts that happen. We all get tape, and you’ll go back and watch them anyway.”

Lynch added that, aside from the Zoom meetings, Shanahan and his staff are working hard in their evaluations. They are just doing it in the Bay Area while immigrating the new coaches into their day-to-day processes.

“And so it was just a fundamental decision that their time was better spent there, taking care of things,” Lynch continued. “Also geographically, different for us than some teams that are very close in proximity to Indy. It’s a big haul, and so to leave everybody there, trust our personnel staff to go take care of business, then we all get back together. But we’re talking every day, and it’s all good.”

You can listen to the entire conversation with Lynch below. It begins at about the 20-minute mark.