49ers: Q&A; with team CEO Jed York

(12-28) 21:15 PST -- Team president and CEO Jed York took a break from looking for the next 49ers general manager to give an exclusive interview to The Chronicle on Tuesday afternoon.

So far, York has interviewed general manager candidate Tony Softli, a former Rams executive, according to a team source. York also plans to sit down with former Broncos GM Ted Sundquist. The 49ers' CEO said he will interview candidates through Sunday before he decides whether to include candidates currently employed in the NFL, whom he is not able to interview yet because of league rules.

Here's what York, 29, had to say.

Q: What have you learned in two years of running the team?

A: I saw the relationship with Scot (McCloughan) and Mike (Singletary) and I think they worked well together, and I think Mike got to a position where he wasn't working with Trent (Baalke) and the new personnel staff, and he retreated a little bit, especially after a poor start. I think it is so important to have a GM and a head coach working together to make sure this is a successful organization.

Q: As the new team president, you hired Mike Singletary as head coach yourself two years ago to this date. Have you learned it's best to leave such football decisions to football people?

A: Absolutely. I think that is why we want to make sure we get the GM here and the GM is going to be running the football operations for the 49ers.

Q: The one constant in the past eight years is the York ownership. How much responsibility do you bear for the results, and how has your family's ownership fared?

A: I think my family has done a good job of trying to put the best product on the field. We obviously have not gotten to where we expect to be and we are going to continue to work to make sure that we have a team that people can be proud of. ... I am proud of the things my family has done, I'm proud of the things my mother has accomplished, and my uncle as well. I am going to continue to draw on their experience and strength, and make sure that I have the success they had.

Q: How do you match Eddie DeBartolo's success when the financial rules have changed with a salary cap?

A: I think there are still the same concepts. When you look at what my uncle and Bill (Walsh) were able to do, they obviously had the ability to pay in excess of what anybody else was able to pay, but if you look at the philosophy, the philosophy is the same that we have. You want to build your team through the draft, you want to extend your own players, you want to make sure you are building 49ers as opposed to bringing in mercenaries year in and year out. Those are things that my uncle talks about.

Q: What role will you have in football operations when you hire the GM?

A: Sign checks.

Q: How do you react to heavy criticism from the fan base?

A: I am as frustrated as the fans are when we're not competing for the Super Bowl year in and year out. I know we have a team that is capable of getting to the playoffs and competing for the Super Bowl. We just need to make sure we have the right structure to put our players in a position to be in a successful position at the end of the year.

Q: What do you tell fans frustrated by the past eight years?

A: I think we have a lot of great players on our football team. ... You look at some of the things we started to build, and we were on the right track this year. We just needed the right coaching staff and the right general manager to make sure that we can see through on the vision that we set.

Q: How close is this team to turning it around?

A: It's frustrating when you lose by three points to the Saints, Falcons and Eagles. ... Some of that is not having the right structure and the right discipline, and I think those things are going to be corrected.

E-mail David White at dwhite@sfchronicle.com.

This article appeared on page B - 1 of the San Francisco Chronicle