On Sunday, Jay Glazer of FOX Sports reported that San Francisco 49ers CEO Jed York had decided to part ways with head coach Jim Harbaugh within 48 hours of the team's final game of the season. That game will be a matchup against the Arizona Cardinals at Levi's Stadium in Santa Clara on Sunday, December 28th. It will be Harbaugh's final game with the 49ers. However, it should not be.
A couple of weeks ago, Stewart M. Cockrell wrote an excellent piece entitled An Open Letter to Jed York. It was a plea to team CEO Jed York to keep Harbaugh as the 49ers head coach and stated many reasons why letting him go after one disappointing season would be a mistake. Cockrell's article quickly became one of the most viewed and shared articles in the history of this site. The majority of fans do not want Harbaugh to leave and I agree with those fans.
There are a lot of things wrong with this team and stating that the 2014 season has been a train wreck would be an understatement. I understand that NFL head coaches are the captains of their ships and must take responsibility for any of their team's faults. However, no one could have predicted this absolute mess of a season and placing complete blame on Harbaugh is not fair.
In an ideal world, Jed York and general manager Trent Baalke would let Harbaugh coach the final year of his contract in a "prove it" season and Harbaugh would be forced to make some offensive staff changes. Then, depending on how the 2015 season turns out, a decision would then be made on whether or not Harbaugh and the 49ers should part ways. After all, two failed seasons is more of a benchmark for comparison than a single anomaly of a season.
What will likely happen following Sunday's game is that York and Baalke will begin looking for trade partners to see what they can get for Harbaugh. Likely partners would include the Oakland Raiders or possibly even the New York Jets. Harbaugh interviewed for the head coaching job with the Jets in 2009. The job would eventually go to Rex Ryan. Of course, Harbaugh would have to approve such a trade and there is no reason for him to do so. Why would he help the 49ers, the team trading him, and weaken his new team in the process? This is all assuming that Harbaugh doesn't just bolt for the University of Michigan and their rumored 6-year, $48 million offer. If no trade partner can be found or if the team is too greedy in their demands, Harbaugh and some of his staff will be fired shortly after. Head coach needy teams will then fall over themselves trying to lure Harbaugh in and he will become the highest paid coach in the NFL.
The 49ers will likely make someone like current defensive line coach Jim Tomsula, a favorite among team management, Harbaugh's replacement. There is also the possibility that — if rumors are true — someone like New England Patriots offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels, who reportedly turned down an interview request by the 49ers in 2011 due to concerns over the organization's management structure, could be brought in to interview for the position. McDaniels' name is an intriguing, yet somewhat frightening prospect if you are a fan of the team. Anyone would be because there are no names out there that can be considered an upgrade over Harbaugh.
Regardless of the potential coaching candidates, letting go of Harbaugh would be a mistake. There was an excellent photo on Twitter that we shared on our Facebook page. It had the following quote on it:
"Dear Jed: We Were Faithful during the Bad Years. Now It's Your Turn. #keepharbaugh"
This is probably the best Harbaugh related meme that I have recently seen and is a good example of how fans are feel about the situation.
49ers fans are great at remembering the storied history of this franchise. Players that were the best at their positions like Joe Montana, Jerry Rice, and Ronnie Lott. They were the first team to win five championships. They innovated the way the game was played. However, it would seem that management is quick to forget some of the 49ers' more recent not-so-great history.
Here are a few reasons why Harbaugh should be retained for at least one more season. The first two are a reminder to 49ers ownership and management of the team's recent history.
Reason One: 2003 through 2010
This is the post-Mariucci era. Steve Mariucci was hired as the 49ers' head coach in 1997 following the resignation of George Seifert. He took his team to the playoffs during his first two seasons, but the team's salary cap issues would soon take their toll and the 49ers would miss the playoffs during the next two season. Following that, the 49ers would return to the playoffs in Mariucci's final two seasons and he was be fired after a Divisional Playoff loss to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers during the 2002 season.
What followed was eight long seasons of disfunction. During those eight seasons, the 49ers would not make any playoff appearances and would reach a .500 record only once.
Younger fans refer to this as the dark ages. Older fans remember the dark ages as the pre-Walsh era.
In 2011, Harbaugh came in and worked with nearly the identical roster that posted a 6-10 record the year before and coached them to the NFC Championship game in his first season as head coach.
Reason Two: Dennis Erickson, Mike Nolan, Mike Singletary
These were the coaches that succeeded Mariucci and preceded Harbaugh. These were some frustrating and dark years for the 49ers. There was a little hope with Nolan, who at one point was even a fan favorite. However, he would never get the 49ers to reach their true potential. Singletary, who was popular among the players, turned out to be a horrible head coach.
This just goes to show how extremely difficult it is to find a good NFL head coach. The 49ers tried on three different occasions to replace Mariucci and failed miserably. It is unlikely that another Harbaugh is just going to fall into their laps.
Reason Three: A season full of media-created distractions
Let's face the truth — the media played their part in the 49ers' 2014 demise. They created so many distractions for the 49ers that it was tough for the team to regain focus.
An excellent example is Deion Sanders stating that, according to "inside sources," the 49ers players wanted Harbaugh out. All this came out after the team's first regular season victory at Levi's Stadium. Numerous players were quick to jump to Harbaugh's defense, including Michael Crabtree, who is very close with Sanders. Crabtree tweeted, "I don't know what people are talking about with Mr Deion... But we good over here!"
Former 49ers quarterback Trent Dilfer added fuel to the fire saying, "I do think it's become almost toxic."
Harbaugh's response? "I haven't seen Trent or Deion around much."
Another example is a story that ran back in October by Pro Football Talk's Mike Florio giving the impression that Harbaugh was nearly traded to the Cleveland Browns. Everyone within the media loves to break a story and that's fine. However, this one was done in an irresponsible manner. Was there truth behind it? Absolutely. Was the story exaggerated in order to create a sense of shock and alarm? Absolutely.
Later, the 49ers would admit that the Browns did approach the team about a potential trade. Harbaugh was asked if this was something that he would like to pursue, he said no, and that was it. Perhaps the headline should have read, "Browns were interested in trading for Harbaugh."
The actual headline turned out to be "Browns nearly had Harbaugh for two third-round picks," making it seem like a deal nearly went through, but fell apart for some unknown reason. Florio created his stir and the rest of the media jumped all over it.
These are just two examples of the numerous incidents of unnecessary drama during the season. Tight end Vernon Davis even recently confirmed that the distractions have had an impact among the team. "All season long there were a lot of distractions. But we tried our best to fight through them," said Davis.
Reason Four: LB Chris Borland, LB Patrick Willis, LB NaVorro Bowman, NT Glenn Dorsey, NT Ian Williams, DB Jimmie Ward, C Daniel Kilgore, TE Vance McDonald, RB Kendall Hunter, TE Derek Carrier, CB Chris Cook, WR Kassim Osgood, TE Garrett Celek, WR Chuck Jacobs, CB Kenneth Acker, and G Fouimalo Fonoti
What do all of these players have in common? They are the 16 players that have been placed on injured reserve by the 49ers this season. Then there are the players like Chris Culliver, Tramaine Brock, Anthony Davis, and many more that have been banged up for good chunks of the season. It is tough enough to win when you are completely healthy, but the 49ers have had an absurd amount of bad luck on the injury front. Still, their patched-together defense somehow remains within the league's top 5 overall.
Toward the end of Saturday's loss to the San Diego Chargers, Matt Maiocco of CSN Bay Area noted that Justin Smith, Chris Culliver, and Antoine Bethea were the only 49ers defensive players on the field who were earmarked as starters in the offseason.
It would be a tall task to ask anyone to make a Super Bowl run with the kind of injury misfortune that the 49ers have had in 2014.
Reason Five: Harbaugh's resume
Jim Harbaugh has proven that he can succeed at any level. As the head coach of the San Diego Toreros, he spent three years guiding his team to a 29-6 overall record. In each of the 2005 and 2006 seasons, the Toreros were 11-1 and won the Pioneer Football League Championship.
At Stanford University, he went 29-21 and created an early rivalry with then USC head coach Pete Carroll. The Cardinal went 8-4 in 2009 finishing #21 in the rankings and playing in the Sun Bowl, Sanford's first bowl appearance since 2001. In 2010, the Cardinal finished 11-1 and earned a #4 BCS ranking and an invitation to the Orange Bowl where they would defeat Virginia Tech 40-12. It would be Stanford's first bowl victory since 1996.
In 2011, he became the 49ers' 18th head coach and then went on to lead the team to three straight NFC Championship games and a Super Bowl, which he nearly won. He has a regular season record of 43-19-1 and a postseason record of 5-3. He was named the 2011 AP NFL Coach of the Year. Harbaugh is also the first coach in NFL history to reach the conference championship in each of his first three seasons.
Reason Six: The fans have a voice
It's no secret that former 49ers owner Eddie DeBartolo let his passion for winning and disgust for losing sometimes cloud his judgement. On multiple occasions, he nearly fired legendary head coach Bill Walsh after disappointing losses. He could usually be talked down from making such a brash decision.
Today, the media is everywhere and fans have more access to the day-to-day happenings of an NFL team than ever before. DeBartolo didn't have to worry about fan outrage being expressed on social media. Fans have a voice and it is stronger than it has ever been.
York has to worry about the backlash that will ensue when Harbaugh is let go. Fans love Harbaugh. York, who has exhibited on multiple occasions that he values the opinion of the fans, could have his image take a serious hit. After a loss to the Seattle Seahawks on Thanksgiving night, York tweeted out an apology to fans, saying that the team's performance "wasn't acceptable." After cementing himself as a fan favorite, bringing in Harbaugh and working to build a brand new state-of-the-art home for the team at Levi's Stadium, he could quickly become one of the most hated 49ers figures in recent history once Harbaugh is fired.
Upon the news that Harbaugh would be let go following the 49ers' season finale, outraged fans took to our Facebook page and expressed their disgust toward York and the seemingly knee-jerk decision that he is making.
Of course, we are not part of the organization. We don't have the full story. Is Harbaugh that difficult to work with? Is he so difficult that you are willing to dismiss the resume stated above? Is his "unwavering support" for some of his staff creating an all-or-nothing situation for the team? Whatever the reason, the Harbaugh era in San Francisco is coming to a close and it could be very costly for the team's future.
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