The San Francisco 49ers and head coach Jim Harbaugh have come up in headlines recently about drama in the locker room and reports from ESPN have all that strife starting back when Harbaugh chased free agent quarterback Peyton Manning and wasn't up front with Alex Smith about it, which eventually led to Colin Kaepernick starting and Smith getting traded and all this comes as Michigan and the Cleveland Browns have also been mentioned in connection with Harbaugh.
Earlier this season there were reports from various media outlets that Harbaugh had lost the locker room and that the players and others in the organization were growing weary with his leadership style. According to ESPN.com, the beginning of some of these issues came back in 2012 when Harbaugh went after free agent quarterback Peyton Manning. The team had Alex Smith as the starting quarterback and Adam Schefter reported that he was not up front with Smith about the interest in Manning, which turned some players in the locker room.
Smith was well liked by teammates and many felt afterwards that they couldn't "trust" Harbaugh after that and that has led to where the team is now. Harbaugh responded to some of those comments by calling them "crap" and previously GM Trent Baalke and owner Jed York have acknowledged that there are issues, but nothing that would make them want to change things up. The Niners have won some tough games this season and they remain right in the mix in the NFC West.
On top of all of that, there were reports earlier in the year that the Cleveland Browns tried to trade draft picks for Harbaugh, but that never went down. According to Pro Football Talk, the Browns were talking about trading two third round picks for Harbaugh, but the 49ers likely wanted more than that. The report said that Harbaugh was not interested in leaving the Bay Area, so naturally that means he could be an option for the Raiders job opening as well.
Either way, it sure seems that the 49ers are Harbaugh are headed to a separation and that would come after three straight trips to the NFC Championship Game. The team has made one Super Bowl with Harbaugh, losing to his brother and the Baltimore Ravens. The 49ers are now 3-2 on the season and while they have been up and down so far performance wise, the team has won two in a row and have been playing great defense. The Niners have the Rams and Broncos on the road in the next two games and those will be tough heading into the bye week.
If the Niners make the playoffs again and end up firing Harbaugh, it would be pretty crazy, but stranger things have happened in this league. Harbaugh came in and changed the culture at Stanford and he took a terrible Niners franchise that had lost its way and directed them to three straight title games. If he is fired or let go or wants to leave, Harbaugh will have plenty of options in the NFL and college, as the Michigan job has been rumored in connection with him if Brady Hoke is fired.
