Of course everyone will judge based on results, however, it couldn't get worse than the last 8 years. So while that doesn't mean much there are some positives to consider.
While I have questions about how effectively some key people will transition from the college to the pro environment, the one positive is that the college environment strongly emphasizes TEACHING...teaching fundamentals...preparation...fine tuning...a lot of things that have not been done here for years. Most of the starters the past 2 or 3 years have been playing on their physical ability, not on learned skills. That MUST change if this team is to improve. Hopefully that strong teaching mode will be a centerpiece of the Harbaugh era.
Without a quarterback, this team will have to win games in other areas of play. The running game MUST be consistently effective. It is foolish to think the passing game will be a mainstay in the short-term. To have any hope for success in the passing game, ALL of the receivers must step it up a couple of levels in order to make life a lot easier for the QB than it has been in the past, especially considering it looks more and more like there may be a rookie starting this next season.
The defense will have to win games instead of giving them away. It WILL have to be a Baltimore/Chicago style defense that WILL limit teams to less that 18 points/game because the offense is not going to score a lot with teams loading the box against the run.
Special teams will also have to be much better as well. Hopefully Brad Seely will come as advertised, however, he can only do so much with a team that has only average speed across the roster. Though I trust that Baalke recognizes the need to draft for speed, which will eventually help STs, however, rookies do not make good special team players. They just make too many mistakes. Seely will have his work cut out for him.
Overall, the new staff will at least put the team back in the conversation about "improved" teams. It was encouraging to hear Harbaugh repeatedly emphasize "coaching up." If the staff turns out to be composed of good position coaches, then they should do well...at least be noticeably improved. We are all tired of seeing guys that have been here 3 or 4 years, or longer, still lacking the same basic skills as when they first arrived.
Summarily, it is impossible to compare this group to any other group because we don't yet know what "this group" can do. Chemistry within the staff is a HUGE part of an effective team. Just because a guy did a nice job with Team A doesn't mean he will blend in with Team B. So all of this is just wishful thinking for the most part, however, at least the new staff seems to have better balance than anything in the past 8 years. Let's hope that can translate into 7 or 8 wins...about the best we can hope for at this point.
[ Edited by dj43 on Jan 21, 2011 at 8:44 AM ]