Jed York preached patience Tuesday as his search for the 49ers next coach and general manager enters a fourth week, with a presumed conclusion coming after the Super Bowl once they officially can hire Kyle Shanahan as coach.

Echoing a Jan. 2 press conference in which the team’s CEO invoked the word “culture” 16 times, York stayed on message while appearing in San Jose for the launch of the Institute for the Study of Sport, Society and Social Change, which the 49ers are helping fund.

“The message is we’re going to re-establish a championship culture,” York said. “We’re not going to do that by filling a job quickly. We need to be patient. We need to be willing to wait.

“And when we get the right people, we’ll start putting everything into place.”

Shanahan will be involved when York and other team officials return to Atlanta later this week to not only follow-up with their coaching finalist but also nail down their potential general manager. On Saturday’s calendar, a league source confirmed, are follow-up interviews with George Paton and Terry McDonough, executives with the Minnesota Vikings and Arizona Cardinals, respectively.

Neither Paton nor McDonough has previously been a general manager, nor have they worked with Shanahan, who’s poised to become a first-time head coach after the Super Bowl, his would-be finale as the Atlanta Falcons offensive coordinator.

Paton is scheduled to meet Wednesday or Thursday with the Indianapolis Colts for their newly vacated GM role, The Sporting News reported.

The 49ers and Shanahan could meet as early as Friday night, and he will leave Sunday with the Falcons for Super Bowl preparations in Houston.

Another potential GM candidate, according to Fox Sports, is Mark Dominik, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers former general manager who was their pro scouting director when Shanahan got his NFL coaching start as an offensive assistant.

It’s unknown whether Shanahan wants or will receive personnel control if he becomes coach. Once the new regime is in place, arguably the biggest dilemma is to address their quarterback quandary, including whether to cut ties with quarterback Colin Kaepernick, who’s scheduled to make $14.5 million in 2017 if he doesn’t opt out himself for free agency in March.

York noted that it’s not his decision if Kaepernick returns next season.

The delay in hiring Shanahan and his accompanying general manager has some former 49ers worried, especially in light of the Colts’ pursuit of Paton to team with coach Chuck Pagano, who’s job isn’t exactly stable.

“The delay is a little nerve-racking,” former 49ers tight end Brent Jones told KNBR 680-AM Monday. “My biggest concern is, the more time that clicks away, the more time we have to lose our front-runners. We’ve lost more front-runners in the last few weeks than anybody. So I’m starting to see visions of, ‘Gosh, do we have a coach left to hire?’ I am getting a little nervous.”

“I am worried that he’s going to turn us down, because a lot of people have,” former wide receiver Dwight Clark added on KNBR.

Staff writer Elliott Almond contributed to this report