Because of NFL tampering rules, San Francisco 49ers CEO Jed York can't openly discuss presumptive next head coach Kyle Shanahan. In fact, York can't really even say his name, at least not in a context other than his opinion of how Shanahan is as a coach.

But York found his own not-so-subtle ways of strongly hinting at who the franchise's next coach is while appearing on the NFL Network's red carpet show before the awards show on Saturday night.

"I will be cheering for the Falcons," York said, laughing.

York and the Niners shocked the NFL world last week by naming former NFL safety John Lynch as general manager. Lynch's candidacy had been a secret throughout the process, as the team publicly acknowledged nine other candidates before opting for Lynch.

Shanahan, meanwhile, has interviewed twice with the team and it's the worst-kept secret in the league that he will become the team's next coach. The 49ers can't officially hire Shanahan until after Sunday's Super Bowl. That's expected to happen in short order after that game, though, and it's reasonable to expect the team to introduce Shanahan as the coach next week.

Although York didn't call him by name, he did offer a little insight into what he hopes to see from Lynch and Shanahan when they take over the team's football operation.

"I hate the term rebuilding because it gives people a built in excuse," York said. "What we’re trying to do is re-establish our culture and we want to be at a championship level. John Lynch brings that. You can certainly guess as to who the new head coach is going to be but we certainly believe that the new head coach will bring a legacy of the 49ers, a legacy of great football knowledge and those two should be able to work together in a way that we should have a long run of success. That, to me, is the biggest thing. I don’t care about going from 2-14 to whatever the record is this year. I care about 20 years from now when we look back, what did we do together, what did we accomplish over that period of time."