After Aubrayo Franklin's departure, Jim Harbaugh denies staff is 'cleaning house'
Harbaugh took exception to a reporter's suggestion his staff wanted to "clean house" in their first season.
"No, heck no. I don't think that's even accurate or fair to say," Harbaugh replied. "We've said it right from the beginning, we've got experienced guys here, we've got good guys, we've got guys that have been there before.
"I came here excited to coach those guys. That's the way we're building the team is around those guys. I don't think that's a real accurate way you posed that question. Surely you can't say we've cleaned house in any way."
Other starters from the 2010 season to land elsewhere are cornerback Nate Clements (Cincinnati Bengals) and linebackers Manny Lawson (Bengals) and Takeo Spikes (San Diego Chargers). Safety Dashon Goldson remains unsigned. Offensive lineman David Baas, last year's starting center, has signed with the New York Giants.
Since arriving in 2007 as an unheralded free agent out of Baltimore, Franklin blossomed into a full-time starter and dominant nose tackle, nicely complementing middle linebacker Patrick Willis' emergence. Harbaugh said the 49ers' plan is to shift Isaac Sopoaga from defensive end to nose tackle and rotate him with Ricky Jean Francois.
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[ Edited by VDSF on Aug 3, 2011 at 10:23:25 ]