. . . to paraphrase Mr. Mojo Risin’ himself, Jim Morrison.
As far as the story that won’t go away goes, and all this hyperventilating about the Harbaugh trade to the Browns, the one thing to come out of it is the notion that Jim Harbaugh and Trent Baalke are not pals. As in, they can’t be in the same room together, and they now communicate strictly by email. Now I’m not a huge proponent of Kumbaya, peace, love, granola, and all that shit in the workplace, but really, we’re poised at the edge of the 2014 draft, and the head coach and General Manager aren’t talking? Not a good scenario.
The Niners very recently travelled this road when sloppy Scotty McLoughan was canned a month before the 2010 draft, and Baalke took over as the interim GM. Of course that draft netted Anthony Davis, Mike Iupati, Navorro Bowman, Nate Bynam, Anthony Dixon, KW, and Phillip Adams. The only really bad guys from that draft, for us anyway, were Taylor Mays and Nate Bynam, although they are still in the league. So, maybe a little turmoil is good. But I’m not too happy to hear about all this shit right before the draft.
Throw in the apparent problems between Harbaugh and Greg Roman regarding play calling, and the recent uproar around the Harbaugh trade, there seems to be power struggles at every turn. All centering on Jim Harbaugh. And to me, this is the crux of the biscuit. Harbaugh wants more control. From the draft perspective, and from the play calling side as well. All the while he’s been stonewalled in his attempts to negotiate a contract extension with the 49er front office. Which leads me to believe he wants top money. Lets’s say the $9-10 million range? In other words, he wants Super Bowl money, even though he hasn’t delivered a Super Bowl.
Harbaugh’s point appears to be, well, I need to make the personnel decisions to GET us to the promised land. That’s fairly easy to infer from all these machinations going on. Also the play calling aspect. As I wrote a few threads ago, this team is in transition as to how the offense is built, the players they have, and the plays they are calling. There was a link to a story that addressed this very thing. About how the team is building itself to evolve into a more wide open offense as the old guard power running guys leave or retire. Of course the main thread of THAT story didn’t have the notion that the HC and GM can’t look at each in the eye, and that Greg Roman is becoming a puppet in his job.
So, this situation has become a lot more than offseason speculation and the nothing-to-talk-about news cycle. Although this certainly feeds into that in a big way. If this power struggle really is as bad as the noise suggests, Harbaugh is certainly the guy holding the aces. When he came here the 49ers, from top to Singletary’s flashing bottom, were seen as a national joke. A team with perennial high draft picks who managed to find new and intersting ways to lose. Head coaches who couldn’t design an offense other than Gore right, Gore left, Gore up the middle, punt. A front office of mid-level managers all wandering around the building with no direction or purpose.
Harbaugh comes in, and with little time with the team due to the lockout, takes them to the NFC Championship game in year 1, the Super Bowl in year 2, and the NFCCG in year 3. So, which piece is essential? It certainly isn’t Baalke. Or Roman. Strange days, indeed. Young Sir Jed has his hands full all of a sudden.
Forty Niners Forever 
NoFear I do think that if the HC and GM have serious problems- and ours certainly appear to- in their relations then yes it will affect who gets on the field and who plays. The players become pawns in their power struggle, proxies in their ego contest: Possible examples- “I’m not playing Ginn, Moss, AJJ, because I wanted brand ABC and you got this guy instead. So F you Mr GM, eat it”. Is that Baalke’s “fault”? No but it can easily be seen to be a negative result of two Alpha types struggling fer dominance/control. To the detriment of the product on the field. Seriously impacting our performance and unfortunately limiting our overall prospects when it counts most- in big games.
Fact is we (I) don’t know what it is that Jimi wants but whatever it is (control of what?) IMO Jed needs to give JH as much as he possibly and reasonably can. Jimi Hendrix is the irreplaceable piece in this equation. And No he shouldn’t take on all the GM duties all by his little lonesome. Walsh did it but it wasn’t sustainable or wasn’t good enough fer Unca Eddie. Singletron was handed “the trigger” on final say on who is on roster- Jed’s hand picked coach- but Jimi won’t get this courtesy? If this is what he wants.
Why not? Because of Baalke’s need to control this area? If indeed this is what the fight- and they ARE indeed fighting over some such issue- is about. Sweeping it under the rug is not going to work for another year. Because it is a major weakness, these two guys turf war, and weaknesses get exposed in big games as we have seen. My thesis is that we’re not winning any big games until this is ironed out. I’m for NoWeaknesses NF especially major issues like this
Harbaugh certainly seems to be ruffling feathers all over the place. Including Marathe’s for whatever reason. He’s done a very good job of keeping the team out from under outlandish contracts, and keeping the guys worthy of staying. Losing Goldson (which I was totally behind) worked in spades with the drafting of Reid. Losing Saop I wasn’t thwat keen on, but the line play was generally fine and didn’t suffer a drop off despite the rookies Dial and Tank not doing much.
The point being, all these guys have done very well. They’ve also come up short at times. I’ve been saying for a little while that the team is at a crossroads identity-wise, and it appears that the identity crisis may be at the crux of the power play. Which direction do they build the team? If Harbaugh and Baalke can’t come up with a cogent plan that they can both live with, this shit will tear itself apart in a very short time.
Someone (Jed) needs to get them in a room and hash this shit out. With Marage as well. The thing is, very few guys can successfully do what Harbaugh appears to want to do. And that’s to run everything. He wants to be GM, HC, and OC. Walsh nearly killed himself trying to do it, and Eddie did him a favor by taking the GM duties out of his hands. Holmgren failed miserably in his attempt. Big Tuna was successful, but he alienated everyone around him as well. Jim needs to chiilax and take a look at the bigger picture.
I don’t know that I’m totally convinced that Harbaugh wants to be the GM. He might just not want to work with Baalke and have philosophical differences with Baalke and the Paraage. If that’s the case, and you cant get Harbaugh and the front office back on the same page, you fire the front office and let Harbaugh pick his front office guys. The more I think about it, the more I don’t think Harbaugh wants to be the GM.
Of course Harbaugh has no desire to become the GM. You think he wants to attend Khalil Mack’s pro day next week in Buffalo? Who wants to visit Buffalo in early March? Hell. No one wants to visit Buffalo any time of the year.
This all boils down to one thing: Jim Harbaugh is an ego-maniacal self-important pompous prick. And that’s not going to change. Now or long after his coaching days are gone.
Yes, Dennis, he is a prick. However, life is about change and growth, while having fun. Harbaugh will learn how to have fun and grow in the profession. I know you don’t see it, but he will. The tragedy might be him learning else- where while winning Super Bowls while we’re stuck with retread head coaches that Jed so insightfully picks – guys like Jim Tomsula (joke). I don’t agree with everything Harbaugh does, but he’s one hell of a coach, nobody can deny that. You don’t let him walk. You rearrange your front office and let him grow in the profession. Then one day, without a doubt in my mind, he’ll realize life’s too short to be a prick.
Damn. You guys were up late . . .
Some later than others. Don’t know where all this goes but still expect to see a Harbaugh contract extension unless he really is trying to be the highest paid coach in which case I figure he coaches this year and does a deal with another team next off season. If the team wins a SB things could change.
If it does go really badly this off season and the team has to make a choice my thinking is Harbaugh is gone. Popular opinion or not that is how I see it.
So you think this is strictly about money, Spitty? Or is it that he wants more input? What does that even mean? If Jimbo wants to be the guy to pull the trigger, then he’s pretty much the GM. Yeah, there’s more to it, but personnel is the biggest part of the job. Give that to Harbaugh and you’ve cut Baalke off at the knees.
I don’t buy that at all. Unless Young Sir Jed is low-balling up the ying yang, Harbaugh has held up his end of the deal pretty well, so he should be able to (reasonably) get what he wants. Nearly all of the $7 million coaches have rings. I think Fisher is one who doesn’t? I can’t rightly remember.
Give him $7.5 for 3 and see what he says.
I don’t think this is about money or a power struggle. I think this is about two guys with big egos who don’t get along. I don’t think Harbaugh wants to be the GM. I think the sticking point in the Harbaugh negotiations boil down to sustainability. How do two guys (or maybe three) who don’t like each other, work together and compete for Super Bowls? Money can be a band aid. More power can temporarily solve things. But ideally you have, like Jed York once said, two guys (GM and HC) who work well together, in “lock step” together. If that doesn’t happen with the current cast of characters (eventually it must for sustainability) it will eventually appear to the outside world as a power struggle. But I don’t think that’s the case. I don’t think Harbaugh would give an ultimatum, saying “It’s him or me.” I just think Harbaugh would say, “I don’t like the front office’s approach,” and let Jed then sort out the particulars, trying to create sustainability – however Jed chooses. I think Jed will eventually put all three in a room together to try and sort things out so that the organization can heal itself. Jed has a ton of resources. Whether or not the relationship with head coach and front office can be repaired remains in serious doubt. If it can’t be, you lose Baalke and bring in a guy Harbaugh works well with, and I believe, if that happened, eventually Harbaugh would admit he was too difficult to work with and having Baalke leave was a mistake. But Jim, not Trent, is where the 49ers’ bread is buttered. I think Jed knows this or talks wouldn’t have broken off (at whatever level they got to) with the Browns.
My question is can you trade a GM? You can trade a HC only by releasing him with agreeing to sign else where. Can you do the same with a GM? That, I don’t know.
New thread is up, BTW. Tired of scrolling to the bottom of this.