Hear me out on this: But why Jim Harbaugh?

Why not I mean the guy was 9-13 at Stanford before Luck got there. He can obviously win w/o a top of the line QB

Originally posted by SanDiego49er:

Originally posted by Shaj:
I like Harbaugh, but the fervor regarding him makes me very, very nervous. It's the same fervor that was everywhere when Sing got hired. There was irrational exuberance then, and there is irrational exuberance now regarding Harbaugh's experience and track record. If he had a different QB at the helm, do you think we'd even be talking about him? I don't think so...

1) It's not the same ferver as Sing. He was an idiot motivational speaker. I knew that and never bought it. Do you think Dingletary has even 1 clue about offense? Does he have even 1/2 of a clue about QB development. Comparing apples to oranges there. Not the same at all.

2) You assuem it's Luck. You can also say it's Harbaugh. He took nobody QB's here at University of San Diego and made them the absolute best at their level. Coincedence? I don't think so. Coaching and scheme matter too and an understanding of the QB position and QB development.

Was it Joe Montana or Bill Walsh? Is it the Chicken or the Egg? Or both? Walsh was the "genius" who implement the West Coast Offense. Believe it or not that had something to do with Montana's success too.

The truth is it's both. But I'll take my chances on a QB developer, innovative offensive mind and past Pro QB with understanding of those areas any day over a single brain cell LB thumper who doesn't even understand offense. There is no compairson between these 2. None.

LOL, its been a while, but I totally agree with my man SD here

Originally posted by fryet:
I think it helps to look at 2 of the other top HC candidates out there.

Gruden: Took a team that Dungy assembled and rode them to the Super Bowl. Fired as HC of Tampa Bay after 7 seasons.
Holmgren: The team he built went to the Super Bowl once. He left on his own, but the team had a 4-12 season his final year.

Part of the problem of grabbing an experienced coach is that there is usually a reason why they are available, and it is rarely a good one. You are probably less likely to get an awful coach, but it is also unlikely that you will get a great one. The nice thing about Harbaugh, is you do have a chance at greatness. Sure, he could flame and burn, but he has done everything right so far in preparing a resume to be a Head Coach in the NFL.

An 8 year playoff drought(which is even worst considering the terrible division) demands you take the safer bet. IMHO.

Originally posted by global_nomad:
Why not I mean the guy was 9-13 at Stanford before Luck got there. He can obviously win w/o a top of the line QB

9-15 with talent from a 1-11 '06 team (2 years) a couple noteable upsets
19-6 with his players (last 2 years)

What a quick and drastic turn around, wouldnt you say?

Here's what I like about Harbaugh

1) He turned around TWO football programs who have no college football tradition (Univ of San Diego and Stanford). Its not like he's coming from USC, Bama, Oklahoma, etc (traditional powerhouses)

2) He developed TWO great QBs at each program. They both played great at each school. Everyone is aware of Luck, but look at what Harbaugh did with Josh Johnson (who's backing up Freeman at TB). 43 TDs and 1 INT in his Senior season. That is no fluke if Harbaugh can do it TWICE.

3) He runs the WCO, a pro-style offense...not Urban Meyer's spread option, or Texas Tech's/Mizzou's spread, or Gus Malzahns offense at Auburn, or Nevada's Pistol offense. He ran a legitimate NFL offense in college and succeeded.

4) Former NFL QB. Not only is he football intelligent but he can relate to the players at the NFL level.

5) He's young and not a retread.

A lot of people still clamor for Mariucci and he didn't do anything at Cal. Jimmy Johnson, Bill Walsh, Tom Coughlin made the leap from College to the Pros and they won. So its not like there's no precedent.

I'm sure Jed has more reasons to hire Harbaugh, but those are purely business reasons.

I don't live on the WC anymore so I'm not biased

[ Edited by DesiDez on Dec 29, 2010 at 15:07:12 ]

Because:

-he is an offensive minded coach
-he can develop young QB's
-his power running style fits with what the niners have built
-he uses big, powerful but agile offensive linemen especially pulling guards
-the strength by draft choice and financial investment is in the offensive line
-the offensive line is largely talent untapped
-we will be bringing in a young QB most likely
-he has Bay Area roots and will be popular among the locals.

Originally posted by fropwns:
I am a football fan, but I do not live in Pac-10 country (SEC West baby, you heard of it? ). So, I have an outsider's appreciation for what Jim Harbaugh has done at Stanford--academic institution that is playing in a premier bowl game? Ok, I am impressed.

But is it enough for him to coach the Niners?

And I understand that he met and spoke with Bill Walsh, which around these parts is like talking to Jesus, the Burning Bush, the Prophet, the Buddha, Silent Bob, The "Hoff", "Hef", Yoda, and Chuck Norris.

But is it enough for him to coach the Niners?

And yeah, I remember him as Captain Comeback. I actually liked him when he played for the Colts (drafted by the Bears in 87), I never thought he was great, but good enough to win. A guy that was not hard to like.

It seems like to me that we are trying to catch lightning in a bottle twice. Didn't we already try that with Mike Nolan? His father was a 49er head coach, and some, myself included, bought into his son's love for the helmet. That worked out well for us didn't it? Granted, Harbaugh has head coaching experience, but Nolan had NFL experience. I'll let some of you debate that point away.

Again--and it really is sad that I have to clarify myself on this, but around these parts, you speak a bad word about a fan favorite and they tie you up by your (censored) and make you listen to recordings of Samuari Mike's greatest hits collection--I have no dislike for the guy.

But, are we not doing the same thing by placing all of our collective hopes into the image of Jim Harbaugh? But, instead of a family connection, it is a Bill Walsh one? Hell, is it a niner one:

1. In 1995, he was comeback player of the year with Garrison Hearst

2. His big ten passing efficiency record was broken by Elvis Grbac

The following I lifted from wikipedia (as with the above tidbits); no, I don't trust wiki, but for this type of stuff, and on short notice, this is the best I have:


San Diego Toreros:
2004 San Diego 7–4 4–1 2nd
2005 San Diego 11–1 4–0 1st
2006 San Diego 11–1 7–0 1st
San Diego: 29–6

Stanford Cardinal (Pacific-10 Conference) (2007–present)
2007 Stanford 4–8 3–6 T–7th
2008 Stanford 5–7 4–5 T–6th
2009 Stanford 8–5 6–3 T–2nd L Sun
2010 Stanford 11–1 8–1 2nd Orange †

Stanford: 28–21 21–15

Total: 57–27

Is this enough of a resume to lay the hopes of the next five years or longer on?

Again, I have no agenda here, I like the guy, hope to hell if we get him that he wins, and this will probably get merged, but I am curious about why Harbaugh has captured the hearts and minds of many 49ers fans.

I can see the Gruden and Holmgren stuff--granted, you can make the Walsh connection to them, but both of them have won in the NFL. But, are we pinning for Harbaugh because we think he is the next Bill Walsh, and if so, isn't that a rather dumb thing to do?



EDIT: Here is not HEAR

EDIT 2: I can't f*cking spell today: lightning

It was all sounding good until you busted out the stats to support your thesis that he's unqualified and the stats revealed a pretty impressive won-loss record as a head coach, granted in college. I'd probably be more comfortable with a veteran GM and Gruden myself.

Originally posted by blunt_probe:

Originally posted by Thorhawk:

Originally posted by obx49:
I am kind of uncomfortable with Harbaugh as well. I would want to take a wait and see approach until we have exhausted all avenues, and at the end of the day, make a decision based on how would the eventual head coach's philosophy fit with our current roster. That being said, my favorite is Jeff Fisher.

jeff fisher blows. 6 playoff appearances in 16 years.

I don't see the love with Fisher either. His teams always phase out when it matters most. He might be good with utilizing the talent he has, but nothing about him screams Super Bowl either.

Fisher was classified as an Administrative coach. That's the last thing we need here. Sing was an Admin coach, the only difference was Fisher had capable OC and DCs, and we didn't so SING looked like a total dumb ass.

And before people get into this, "How the fck you know that?" They talked about this back in Oct on NFL Total Access. Believe it or not, Cower was(spelling) said to be the same.

I would rather take the risk with Harbaugh than get a retread previously failed NFL coach because I don't just want an 8-8 record, I want to go to the SB.

Originally posted by global_nomad:
Why not I mean the guy was 9-13 at Stanford before Luck got there. He can obviously win w/o a top of the line QB

Yes, because Harbaugh had no hand in developing Luck into the player he is today.

Originally posted by ObePwnD:

Originally posted by blunt_probe:

Originally posted by Thorhawk:

Originally posted by obx49:
I am kind of uncomfortable with Harbaugh as well. I would want to take a wait and see approach until we have exhausted all avenues, and at the end of the day, make a decision based on how would the eventual head coach's philosophy fit with our current roster. That being said, my favorite is Jeff Fisher.

jeff fisher blows. 6 playoff appearances in 16 years.

I don't see the love with Fisher either. His teams always phase out when it matters most. He might be good with utilizing the talent he has, but nothing about him screams Super Bowl either.

Fisher was classified as an Administrative coach. That's the last thing we need here. Sing was an Admin coach, the only difference was Fisher had capable OC and DCs, and we didn't so SING looked like a total dumb ass.

And before people get into this, "How the fck you know that?" They talked about this back in Oct on NFL Total Access. Believe it or not, Cower was(spelling) said to be the same.

He might have been an Administrative coach, but his experience given the many years as a DC under many successful coaches and his 15 years or so of coaching, it puts him well past just being an Administrative coach.

Originally posted by Shaj:
I like Harbaugh, but the fervor regarding him makes me very, very nervous. It's the same fervor that was everywhere when Sing got hired. There was irrational exuberance then, and there is irrational exuberance now regarding Harbaugh's experience and track record. If he had a different QB at the helm, do you think we'd even be talking about him? I don't think so...

I think Sing couldn't have timed it better. He was following Nolan who completely alienated players by making fun of them and blamed 100% of everything the players. The players lost motivation and at that time, it seemed as though motivation and getting the players to buy in was a key ingredient, which Sing had.

Alas, it was the ONLY ingredient Sing had.

He made Nerds into Beasts

/thread