Jim Harbaugh talks with Lowell Cohn

I don't really like Cohn, but I respect him for asking blunt questions - regardless of good or bad. The main thing we are trying to see if what Harbaugh would say in response.

Frankly, reading Cohn and Tim K. articles is a breath of fresh air when, at times, Maiocco continues to write as an Alex Smith supporter and 49er optimist.

Originally posted by GEEK:
I don't really like Cohn, but I respect him for asking blunt questions - regardless of good or bad. The main thing we are trying to see if what Harbaugh would say in response.

Frankly, reading Cohn and Tim K. articles is a breath of fresh air when, at times, Maiocco continues to write as an Alex Smith supporter and 49er optimist.

If you don't like Maiocco there is always Barrows and Branch. TK and Cohn are just clueless, especially Cohn...Cohn sounds like a noob half the time.

I find myself critiquing aloud several of the various writers from time to time. I'm quite confident we all have.

The truth is (IMO), though few writers are close to complete, they really do each bring a different style and approach to the table for us to ingest.

I have my personal favorite(s): Bee-rows (Branch is really doing a good job, too) but I value Maiocco, Lynch, White, Kohn, Kawakami, et al.

Personally, I don't find Kohn all that "douchey." Perhaps I'm giving him too much credit. But, often when posing to a person a question so simple on a subject he/she has thought so much about (see: competitiveness), the questioned will relax their pre-constructed response in favor of a previously unknown kernel of insight. After all, that is the purpose of interviews such as the one Kohn just released.

Jim Harbaugh talks about Bill Walsh

Originally posted by PTulini:

Quote:
March 18, 2011

I interviewed Jim Harbaugh in his office the other day. Here is a partial transcript of our conversation which lasted 25 minutes. I left out a long section of Harbaugh talking about Bill Walsh. I will use that material in my Sunday column.

Cohn: What is your day like now? How do you spend your time?

Harbaugh: On the draft. Schematically on offense for the most part. Also scheduling – practice schedules for the minicamps, OTAs. I spend most of the day on the draft with a small part of the day putting the finishing touches on our playbook and then practice schedules, daily, weekly, minute by minute of how our practices will go. And then the other thing I’ve been taking an hour out of each day to watch the Bill Walsh tapes we’ve gathered. It’s a full day.

Cohn: How many hours?

Harbaugh: Right now 14 each day.

Cohn: Explain how you prepare for the draft.

Harbaugh: You’re looking at the college players position by position, better best, ranking them. Starting to think about how it will play out in the draft. You can’t really predict that.

Cohn: You say you plan schedules. That’s an act of faith given the labor impasse.

Harbaugh: You’ve got to have the plan. What happens if they say, ‘You have minicamp tomorrow?’ ‘Ah, shoot, we’re not prepared. Let’s load the guys up on the bus and go play paint ball instead.’ (Harbaugh laughs.) Wouldn’t work. Got to be prepared.

Cohn: When you took over, what were your initial tasks?

Harbaugh: Evaluating the team, hiring the staff. To hire the staff took two to three weeks. Then evaluating the team took that long and then longer. That went into evaluating for free agency.

Cohn: How good is the current squad?

Harbaugh: I think we have a very good nucleus that will be good for us in the future.

Cohn: I’m going to slow you down. It’s kind of a vague answer. Good for us in the future could mean C+

Harbaugh: Bodes well for us. A good nucleus. Very excited about the team we have and I think it’s a very good nucleus and yes we will build on it and I think that bodes very well for us.

Cohn: You’ve said nice things about Alex Smith. What do you like about him?

Harbaugh: I like him as a football player. I like him as a person. I like being around him.

Cohn: I’m going to slow you down again if you don’t mind. When you say I like him as a football player, I mean you were a quarterback and you’re smart about quarterbacks. So when you say as a football player you mean as a quarterback. What good attributes does he have?

Harbaugh: The ability to play the position, the DNA to play the position, physical skills to play the position, the mental capacity to play the position.

Cohn: It’s never demonstrated itself to the full. You could get those things out of him?

Harbaugh: That would be the intent, yes.

Cohn: You’re not lacking in confidence about being able to do things like that.

Harbaugh: No, I’m not.

Cohn: I think you’re an incredibly confident guy. Do you perceive yourself as a confident guy?

Harbaugh: I feel good about doing the job, yeah. And I feel confident in doing my job. I’m not going to sit here and say, ‘Humility prevents me from saying there’s nobody better.’ I’m sure maybe there is. It’s irrelevant to talk about.

Cohn: Who’s the best quarterback you ever say?

Harbaugh: (He takes a long time to answer). Best quarterback I’ve ever seen? What, played with, played against?

Cohn: I don’t care – saw on television, played against, are aware of and visually experienced.

Harbaugh: (laughing) I’m not going to say one. There’s many. It’s not important to me to rank the best quarterback I’ve ever seen.

Cohn: What did you like about Joe Montana?

Harbaugh: What was there not to like about Joe Montana? I liked everything about him.

Cohn: I know what Bill Walsh told me he liked. (Harbaugh looks interested.) It was how precise he was, how every throw was exactly where it had to be and right on the money. Bill would tell me that all the time.

Harbaugh: You’re correct in that evaluation.

Cohn: What did you like about Steve Young?

Harbaugh: You’re talking about two great Hall of Fame quarterbacks. I liked everything about him. Very precise.

Cohn: Were you?

Harbaugh: No, not in the same ballpark.

Cohn: You were a fiery guy. You are. I’ve seen you.

Harbaugh laughs.

Cohn: Is it an asset being fiery?

Harbaugh: I think it’s an asset to be competitive. I just love what I’m doing. I’m very passionate, very fiery, very competitive at the things that are important to me. Football is one of the most important things to me and always has been.

Cohn: Would you rather complete a screen pass for five yards or run your back up the middle for five yards?

Harbaugh: No preference. We’d like to have the ability to do both.

Cohn: Will you call the plays?

Harbaugh: (He hesitates.) Greg Roman, our offensive coordinator will call the plays. It’s not at all a sensitive topic. That’s my fault for getting that expression (on his face). It’s got some complexity to it. My easiest way to say it is Greg Roman will call the plays.

Cohn: Are the 49ers still a top brand?

Harbaugh: Football is so pure. That’s what I love about it. We won 37 percent of our games the last eight years so we’re not No. 1. That is what we’re fighting for. That’s where we want to be. That’s the expectation here because the bar has been set so high by — start with Bill Walsh, George Seifert, the Hall of Fame players. ‘Where else would you want it to be set?’ is my response to that. When you walk in the door you get fired up seeing the Lombardi trophies. It’s on our shoulders and we have the opportunity to go chase that same glory.

Cohn: What does it mean to you to be a 49er?

Harbaugh: The opportunity of a lifetime.

Note: After I left his office, Harbaugh came rushing after me. He said he wanted to add to his final answer. ‘It’s also the challenge of a lifetime,’ he said.

LINK HERE...

How intuitive to find this. I guess I don't even have to go to the home page. Why is it that people feel they have to link the entire article that appears on the home page to a message about the same topic. Why not just provide a link to the article on the home page.

Originally posted by nvninerfan1:

Originally posted by PTulini:

Quote:
March 18, 2011

I interviewed Jim Harbaugh in his office the other day. Here is a partial transcript of our conversation which lasted 25 minutes. I left out a long section of Harbaugh talking about Bill Walsh. I will use that material in my Sunday column.

Cohn: What is your day like now? How do you spend your time?

Harbaugh: On the draft. Schematically on offense for the most part. Also scheduling – practice schedules for the minicamps, OTAs. I spend most of the day on the draft with a small part of the day putting the finishing touches on our playbook and then practice schedules, daily, weekly, minute by minute of how our practices will go. And then the other thing I’ve been taking an hour out of each day to watch the Bill Walsh tapes we’ve gathered. It’s a full day.

Cohn: How many hours?

Harbaugh: Right now 14 each day.

Cohn: Explain how you prepare for the draft.

Harbaugh: You’re looking at the college players position by position, better best, ranking them. Starting to think about how it will play out in the draft. You can’t really predict that.

Cohn: You say you plan schedules. That’s an act of faith given the labor impasse.

Harbaugh: You’ve got to have the plan. What happens if they say, ‘You have minicamp tomorrow?’ ‘Ah, shoot, we’re not prepared. Let’s load the guys up on the bus and go play paint ball instead.’ (Harbaugh laughs.) Wouldn’t work. Got to be prepared.

Cohn: When you took over, what were your initial tasks?

Harbaugh: Evaluating the team, hiring the staff. To hire the staff took two to three weeks. Then evaluating the team took that long and then longer. That went into evaluating for free agency.

Cohn: How good is the current squad?

Harbaugh: I think we have a very good nucleus that will be good for us in the future.

Cohn: I’m going to slow you down. It’s kind of a vague answer. Good for us in the future could mean C+

Harbaugh: Bodes well for us. A good nucleus. Very excited about the team we have and I think it’s a very good nucleus and yes we will build on it and I think that bodes very well for us.

Cohn: You’ve said nice things about Alex Smith. What do you like about him?

Harbaugh: I like him as a football player. I like him as a person. I like being around him.

Cohn: I’m going to slow you down again if you don’t mind. When you say I like him as a football player, I mean you were a quarterback and you’re smart about quarterbacks. So when you say as a football player you mean as a quarterback. What good attributes does he have?

Harbaugh: The ability to play the position, the DNA to play the position, physical skills to play the position, the mental capacity to play the position.

Cohn: It’s never demonstrated itself to the full. You could get those things out of him?

Harbaugh: That would be the intent, yes.

Cohn: You’re not lacking in confidence about being able to do things like that.

Harbaugh: No, I’m not.

Cohn: I think you’re an incredibly confident guy. Do you perceive yourself as a confident guy?

Harbaugh: I feel good about doing the job, yeah. And I feel confident in doing my job. I’m not going to sit here and say, ‘Humility prevents me from saying there’s nobody better.’ I’m sure maybe there is. It’s irrelevant to talk about.

Cohn: Who’s the best quarterback you ever say?

Harbaugh: (He takes a long time to answer). Best quarterback I’ve ever seen? What, played with, played against?

Cohn: I don’t care – saw on television, played against, are aware of and visually experienced.

Harbaugh: (laughing) I’m not going to say one. There’s many. It’s not important to me to rank the best quarterback I’ve ever seen.

Cohn: What did you like about Joe Montana?

Harbaugh: What was there not to like about Joe Montana? I liked everything about him.

Cohn: I know what Bill Walsh told me he liked. (Harbaugh looks interested.) It was how precise he was, how every throw was exactly where it had to be and right on the money. Bill would tell me that all the time.

Harbaugh: You’re correct in that evaluation.

Cohn: What did you like about Steve Young?

Harbaugh: You’re talking about two great Hall of Fame quarterbacks. I liked everything about him. Very precise.

Cohn: Were you?

Harbaugh: No, not in the same ballpark.

Cohn: You were a fiery guy. You are. I’ve seen you.

Harbaugh laughs.

Cohn: Is it an asset being fiery?

Harbaugh: I think it’s an asset to be competitive. I just love what I’m doing. I’m very passionate, very fiery, very competitive at the things that are important to me. Football is one of the most important things to me and always has been.

Cohn: Would you rather complete a screen pass for five yards or run your back up the middle for five yards?

Harbaugh: No preference. We’d like to have the ability to do both.

Cohn: Will you call the plays?

Harbaugh: (He hesitates.) Greg Roman, our offensive coordinator will call the plays. It’s not at all a sensitive topic. That’s my fault for getting that expression (on his face). It’s got some complexity to it. My easiest way to say it is Greg Roman will call the plays.

Cohn: Are the 49ers still a top brand?

Harbaugh: Football is so pure. That’s what I love about it. We won 37 percent of our games the last eight years so we’re not No. 1. That is what we’re fighting for. That’s where we want to be. That’s the expectation here because the bar has been set so high by — start with Bill Walsh, George Seifert, the Hall of Fame players. ‘Where else would you want it to be set?’ is my response to that. When you walk in the door you get fired up seeing the Lombardi trophies. It’s on our shoulders and we have the opportunity to go chase that same glory.

Cohn: What does it mean to you to be a 49er?

Harbaugh: The opportunity of a lifetime.

Note: After I left his office, Harbaugh came rushing after me. He said he wanted to add to his final answer. ‘It’s also the challenge of a lifetime,’ he said.

LINK HERE...

How intuitive to find this. I guess I don't even have to go to the home page. Why is it that people feel they have to link the entire article that appears on the home page to a message about the same topic. Why not just provide a link to the article on the home page.

Perhaps they were trying to be helpful. Why did you feel the need to quote it all when it was just at the top of the page?

Kind of creepy in a good way, that Jim wants to emulate Walsh's success and approach to football and coaching.

Shame Harbawesome had to waste his time talking to this f**ktard.

Originally posted by PTulini:
Jim Harbaugh talks about Bill Walsh

Originally posted by austrich:
I find myself critiquing aloud several of the various writers from time to time. I'm quite confident we all have.

The truth is (IMO), though few writers are close to complete, they really do each bring a different style and approach to the table for us to ingest.

I have my personal favorite(s): Bee-rows (Branch is really doing a good job, too) but I value Maiocco, Lynch, White, Kohn, Kawakami, et al.

Personally, I don't find Kohn all that "douchey." Perhaps I'm giving him too much credit. But, often when posing to a person a question so simple on a subject he/she has thought so much about (see: competitiveness), the questioned will relax their pre-constructed response in favor of a previously unknown kernel of insight. After all, that is the purpose of interviews such as the one Kohn just released.

True enough, we're fortunate to have such a range of content providers here in the Bay Area. You know...new material to read every day. Frankly, I'm happy to have them all.

And I'll have to admit I'm really quite surprised (since most of you seem to think that all of the local writers are useless) that the various news outlets haven't seen fit to recruit new beat writers and columnists from the 'zone, given all the astute commentary and analysis shown on any given thread here...like this one.

Dudes, you don't have a clue how good you have it for writers in this market.

He already has the OTAs and minicamp practices planned out, by the minute!!!!

We haven't seen this kind of preparation and structure in a long, long time. Anyone think Singletary or Nolan was that prepared or even that organized? No way! I especially love the fact that he's already nailed down his offense. Too bad he doesn't yet have a QB to share it with.

I'm loving this hire more and more everytime I read or see something about him. He seems like the real deal.

Originally posted by Yetiman:

Originally posted by austrich:
I find myself critiquing aloud several of the various writers from time to time. I'm quite confident we all have.

The truth is (IMO), though few writers are close to complete, they really do each bring a different style and approach to the table for us to ingest.

I have my personal favorite(s): Bee-rows (Branch is really doing a good job, too) but I value Maiocco, Lynch, White, Kohn, Kawakami, et al.

Personally, I don't find Kohn all that "douchey." Perhaps I'm giving him too much credit. But, often when posing to a person a question so simple on a subject he/she has thought so much about (see: competitiveness), the questioned will relax their pre-constructed response in favor of a previously unknown kernel of insight. After all, that is the purpose of interviews such as the one Kohn just released.

True enough, we're fortunate to have such a range of content providers here in the Bay Area. You know...new material to read every day. Frankly, I'm happy to have them all.

And I'll have to admit I'm really quite surprised (since most of you seem to think that all of the local writers are useless) that the various news outlets haven't seen fit to recruit new beat writers and columnists from the 'zone, given all the astute commentary and analysis shown on any given thread here...like this one.

Dudes, you don't have a clue how good you have it for writers in this market.

Really. I mean, if you complain about Niner Talk (often quite justifiably), and you find sports writers with 30 years of experience not up to par, then you, Sirs Poet Laureate, should really begin sharing the writing wealth.

This thread was here before the link was on the home page.

/bickering

Originally posted by TenderLoinTimmy:
This thread was here before the link was on the home page.

/bickering

Yeah, some people seem to have dropped the ball around here lately.

The "sh1t together" factor with Harbaugh alone is why he was a must have for this team. He leaves no questions regarding a plan. Obviously at this point its all talk, but with the lockout killing any work being able to be done, a coach that has a clear cut, REALISTIC vision is what this team needs to be able to still make progress in a effed up shortened practice period once this lockout bullsh1t ends.