Over the weekend, the juiciest gossip from the NFL rumor mill bubbled up again when Fox Sports’ Jay Glazer reported that there was “no way” San Francisco 49ers head coach Jim Harbaugh would return as head coach in 2015 — even if the team won the Super Bowl. Glazer claimed Harbaugh’s act had “worn thin” with the organization. The report came just one week after NFL Network’s Deion Sanders reported that 49ers players “want him out”:
“They’re not on the same page. I really want to know if they’re really playing for the head coach. I got a question with that. Are you really down with your head coach, San Francisco 49ers? Because the way it looks and what I’m hearing, you’re really not down for your head coach. And that’s a problem.
“They really got some problems that we hear rumblings. We all know people inside locker rooms.”
Owner Jed York has vehemently denied all claims that a rift exists between the front office, players and Harbaugh:
Jim is my coach. We are trying to win a SB, not a personality or popularity contest. Any more questions?
— Jed York (@JedYork) October 5, 2014
Today, Mike Freeman (of Bleacher Report) appeared on The Tony Kornheiser Show, and was asked to weigh in on the situation:
Here’s what I can tell you about the locker room, from talking to players in the locker room: they can’t stand Harbaugh. But it’s not like they’re on the verge of a mutiny. It’s bad, but I’ve been around worse. They don’t like him. They think he treats them like children. He doesn’t let them play card games, he doesn’t let them do stuff that happens in locker rooms every day all across the sport. So, they don’t like him, but they’re fine with him. They just grumble about him, they can’t stand him, but they play for him.
He’s a terrific coach, Tony. He’s just, as you said, he’s just really hard to be around. He burns out not just himself but the people around him. And this has happened going back to Stanford. This is kind of what he does. He’s a short-term guy.
The owner of the team and other people can say everything’s fine, but it’s not fine. I mean, the front office and Harbaugh hate each other more than the players hate Harbaugh. And, despite all that, they’re still winning because he’s a really terrific coach. So, maybe he goes to Michigan. I mean, the word you’re hearing now is that he might want to go to Oakland…so, there’s a lot of things that have to play out here.
What is certain is that it’s a very tenuous situation because there’s so much dislike…I’ve seen players hate head coaches. That happens all the time. I’ve rarely seen both, where the front office hates the coach, the coach hates the front office, the players hate the coach. It’s a crazy situation that you rarely see in football, but somehow, mainly because Harbaugh can coach so well, they keep winning…If he leaves this year, which I think is going to happen — I don’t think he’ll be back next year, no one does — he’ll be able to go anywhere he wants. He’s that good.
Freeman’s comments appear to back up what’s already been said by Glazer, Sander and Mercury News’ Tim Kawakami (whose Twitter timeline is a fun read these days). As always, stay tuned…
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