Originally posted by D_Niner:
Originally posted by fropwns:
Originally posted by D_Niner:
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 
Fro,
Even you didn't just wake up one day and become the skilled man that you are (looking at the spell check results). I'm sure there were failures and setbacks along your path (just like the rest of us).
What I'm getting at, is that the important thing is what our next coach does; not what he has already done. This is where we need to hope like hell Jed hires in a solid GM that knows what to look for in a winning NFL head coach and can find a future star.
But, as far as Jim... I'm sure none of us will know for sure if he can or cannot be the guy.
Still are setbacks.
And I agree with your sentiments, and those that others share with you, that this whole process is a crap shoot. I guess, my concerns, mirror those of the rest of the community. We're tired man, tired of losing. Yeah, football is a game; and in the grand scheme of things, in my life and yours, it doesn't mean a damn thing. But, it is our escape, just like others find their escape in other aspects of entertainment.
For almost a decade now, we have all been denied our escape. I have made a posting career (too bad I can't make money on it LOL) on trying to make light of our collective football misery.
Every couple of years, we have been offered a cathartic moment where we expunged a coach, staff, and players that we blamed for our misery. How are we rewarded? Our hopes are raised, only to be crushed, and done so repeatedly. Again, maybe our undying love for this team is nothing more than an escape from facing our own individual challenges, struggles, and disappointments in life.
In this, we are all truly flawed. For we expend a great deal of energy on something that will not determine the course of our lives.
But enough psycho-babble. I am Fropwns. I am supposed to speak for the community. And so I shall, I believe I speak for all of Niner-kind when I say, enough is enough. To paraphrase Mike Singletary, "We want winners." Anything else, anything that even smells like regression will be hunted out and exterminated by the masses in posts, phone calls, emails, bags on our heads, and anything and everything that screams out, "NO."
Yeah, I hear ya Fro. Jim does sound like the proverbial carrot that's being used to keep the Niner fans trudging along.
I for one will be upset if we hire Baalke then Harbaugh within the next few days. This move would directly contradict Jed's statement that he's going to take his time and hire the best GM. Then, allow this GM to hire the head coach who best fits his plans. IMO One week is not taking your time, Jed!
Now if this is the hire that's made in a week or 2 from now, then cool. I'll have a bit more confidence that Jed did his homework; but a quick, reactionary, move in the next couple of days smells too much like the typical not well thought out actions from the York family...
We all know putting rear-ends in the stands is the measurement at the end of the day. Aside from Holmgren wanting to coach here or Andy Reid deciding to desert the Eagles, I think the Jim Harbaugh hire will hit 4 birds with one stone:
1. Harbaugh has the pedigree and success
2. Jed will not be criticized for hiring him as he's a sought after commodity (when was the last time we hired a coach other teams would have liked to have, including college)?
3. Harbaugh appears to be able to develop QB's.
4. Harbaugh will put checks for season tickets in the mail.
Jed gets coaching value in regards to the rest of the NFL AND he gets fans excited and spending money.
I don't think there's any other candidate out there who can have this much influence. 49ers fans are not naive anymore. You can't bring in a Nolan, Erickson, or Singletary and expect us to be excited and think they will do well here because we are the 49ers. We also don't want a retread and get stuck in those 8-10 win-bounce-out-in-the-second-round-of-the-playoffs-at-best seasons like a Fisher. We also don't want that retread won-a-superbowl-with-great-talent-and-suck-without-it in Gruden or Billick.
Harbaugh is the hire that meets the most conditions and I have a feeling Jed will be willing to pay him some good money to get him.
Last but not least: high risk/high reward. If we don't take a risk, then we will be that limbo team always winning 7-10 games never getting anywhere.
I would rather go for the homerun and innovation than the steady coach who eventually loses the players after 4-5 years.
[ Edited by Joecool on Dec 30, 2010 at 09:33:46 ]
