Rival GM reveals how Seahawks' brass inspired him to embrace youth movement

The Seattle Seahawks' longtime leaders inadvertently inspired one of their greatest current divisional foes.

Oct 6, 2024; Santa Clara, California, USA; San Francisco 49ers general manager John Lynch walks on the field before the game against the Arizona Cardinals at Levi's Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Darren Yamashita-Imagn Images | Darren Yamashita-Imagn Images

Everyone knows that the NFL is a copycat league, with teams constantly taking pages out of one another's books in hopes of gaining an advantage of any kind.

It's not always as simple as just taking coaches and/or players from an opponent, though. In many cases, it's more so ideological inspiration, even if it happens several years down the line.

That's exactly what happened for the Seattle Seahawks, and interestingly, it was their greatest rival taking some inspiration from them.

Pete Carroll, John Schneider inspired John Lynch years ago

Oct 2, 2023; East Rutherford, New Jersey, USA; Seattle Seahawks head coach Pete Carroll with GM John Schneider pre game at MetLife Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Robert Deutsch-Imagn Images | Robert Deutsch-Imagn Images

Today, Hall of Fame safety John Lynch is the general manager of the San Francisco 49ers, and has helped them become one of the NFL's more successful teams over the past several years. Before that, though, he was a broadcaster for NFL on Fox, and he picked up a key lesson from longtime Seahawks head coach Pete Carroll and general manager John Schneider.

The 49ers have had to say some difficult goodbyes to many of their veteran leaders over the past few years, leading to their roster being notably younger going into the 2025 season. While speaking with Sports Illustrated's Albert Breer, Lynch revealed that Carroll and Schneider partially inspired him to take that leap of faith.

“I’d go broadcast for years in Seattle; I did a lot of Seattle games,” Schneider said. “And I always thought Pete and John understood that really well, that you play young guys. You may not be there early in the year, but they get better. They get better, and if you can hang with them, love them up, and teach them, you’re gonna be a competitive, really good team. And the young guys tend to stay a little healthier. They can practice, and then you can compete late in the year. There are a lot of blueprints. We’ve got to embrace it.”

Indeed, the 49ers have much lower expectations this year than they have in the past. This comes after a disastrous 2024 season where they went 6-11 while dealing with a litany of injuries, which all but forced them to retool their roster.

Maybe it will work out for them, maybe it won't, but it's interesting to hear where Lynch took inspiration from.

The Seahawks and 49ers will open the regular season against each other in Seattle on Sept. 7, then meet again in the regular season finale on Jan. 4.

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