Are the San Francisco 49ers a legitimate Super Bowl contender or in the midst of a rebuilding period?

The first window for the 49ers to win the Super Bowl with John Lynch running the front office and Kyle Shanahan the field has closed. It was slammed shut on this longtime powerhouse over the second half of last season with the team losing seven of their final eight games.

Only a year earlier, the 49ers were an overtime decision away from a Super Bowl win.

Lynch and Shanahan joined the 49ers in 2017, Lynch a great player without any front office experience and Shanahan a first-time head coach. They took over a squad that needed a full makeover from a personnel perspective and adjusted culture that was only a shadow of the organization Eddie DeBartolo had developed during the 1980’s.

DeBartolo’s nephew, Jed York, was now the owner in charge of day-to-day operations and appeared in over-his-head. Misses on head coaches since the retirement of Bill Walsh and departure of George Seifert had the Niners drop in the standings like an anvil off a rooftop. The hiring of an inexperienced front office and never-before head coach looked like another ill advised move that carried with it a six-year financial commitment.

Whether is was pure genius on York’s part or the blind squirrel finding a nut in the snow doesn’t matter, what does matter is that Lynch and Shanahan are one of the best and most successful general manager/coach tandems in professional sports.