Jim Harbaugh Confirms 49ers are Liars, Parting Was Not Mutual
USA TODAY Sports-Ed Sczcepanski
Remember that “mutual parting of ways” the San Francisco 49ers said they agreed to with Jim Harbaugh that definitely didn’t seem in any way to be mutual? Yeah, well, it wasn’t mutual. Not even a little bit. In a podcast today with Tim Kawakami of the San Jose Mercury News, the former 49ers head coach confirmed what we already knew, he was fired.
“I didn’t leave the 49ers. The 49ers hierarchy left me,” the current University of Michigan coach said during the fascinating 30-minute interview. Harbaugh went on to say, “You can call it mutual… I mean, I wasn’t gonna put the 49ers in a position to have a coach they didn’t want anymore.”
Several reports leaked in the aftermath of Harbaugh’s removal as San Francisco’s head coach that following the team’s Week 15 loss to the Seattle Seahawks, he was informed by the front office he would be let go at the end of the season – another report he confirmed. Team owner Jed York already looked like a fool during all the Harbaugh drama and he comes out of this looking even worse as a proven liar.
Wrap your head around this. From 2003-2010, the 49ers failed to make a single playoff appearance. Harbaugh was then hired and in his first three seasons, he led the team to two Conference Championship game appearances and one narrow Super Bowl defeat. That’s the caliber of coach the 49ers forced out. The team hadn’t advanced as far as the Conference Championship game since 1997 prior to his arrival, so after his immediate success and revival of a once dominant franchise, Harbaugh became a massively popular figure amongst 49ers fans.
With no good reason to fire (yes Mr. York I said fire) the man who brought the team out of the NFL’s basement, 49ers fans have been left simultaneously confused and furious. Their owner blatantly lied repeatedly about firing an immensely successful head coach and what has transpired in the months since has turned the franchise into the laughing stock of the NFL.
As if losing a top-notch coach wasn’t bad enough, York proceeded to promote Jim Tomsula, a defensive line coach and a man without even any coordinating experience at the NFL level, to replace Harbaugh. The team then failed to convince any outside coaching candidates to hop on the sinking ship as coordinators.
Defensive coordinator Vic Fangio, surely baffled with being passed over for Tomsula, left for Chicago, and the 49ers replaced him with Eric Mangini –a man they fired a week prior as their tight ends coach. Yes, I did say tight ends coach. Offensive coordinator Greg Roman joined Rex Ryan in Buffalo and after countless interviews and attempts to interview replacements, the team was left with the only person remaining for the job, Harbaugh’s own quarterbacks coach with the 49ers, Geep Chryst.
Jed York preached time and time again that he wanted to “win with class.” So much for that, huh Jed? After Harbaugh proved the team lied about his departure from San Francisco, no one has any clue what’s going on in 49ers land. One thing we do know is the team has lost all the respect they worked hard for over the past four years. The 2015 Harbaugh-less version of the 49ers better win, and win at the same rate Harbaugh did, or York might have a fan revolt on his hands.
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