GameDay: York Knew All The Risks Letting Go Of Harbaugh
KPIX 5 Sports Anchor Dennis O'Donnell offers his commentary on the end of the Harbaugh era.
SAN FRANCISCO (CBS SF) - Jed York is the latest Bay Area sports team owner to feel the wrath of his team's fan base. It happened to Al Davis, Chris Cohan, Joe Lacob and Jed's father, John.
I know it's not very popular to side with the owner. But you know what? More power to him.
There are two certainties about Jim Harbaugh.
He's a great football coach and he wears out his welcome.
He won at the University of San Diego and at Stanford. He turned perennial losers into winners. Was he well-liked at either school? No. But winning trumps everything and both universities bit their tongues and reaped the benefits of a new-found revenue source.
Then came the 49ers. True to his form, Harbaugh turned the 49ers from losers into winners with three straight NFC Championship games and a Super Bowl in between. But this time around the owner wasn't going to put up with the BS that comes along with a great football coach, consequences be damned.
Jed York knew what he was doing. He understood full well that he ripped down the face of the franchise and the man ultimately responsible for one of the most dramatic turnarounds in NFL history. Hell, you could make a case that Levi's Stadium was the house that Harbaugh built. But York knew what kind of pit he was stepping in to.
But this is Jed York's football team, not Jim Harbaugh's. In Harbaugh's own words, "We work at the pleasure of the organization." There was nothing pleasurable about the relationship between Harbaugh and York.
In retrospect, the Michigan move makes more sense than ever. Harbaugh will run the athletic department like he ran Stanford's. He answers to no man. No owner, no general manager, and Harbaugh makes about $7.5 million more that interim AD Jim Hackett. Guess who gets the bigger office on that one?
Here's what former Michigan quarterback Bob Griese said about the hiring of Harbaugh at his alma mater. "We know that he can coach between the white lines," Griese said. "But if he can learn from those two stops at Stanford and San Francisco, where it ended — he kind of burned some bridges."
What did Harbaugh learn? He's more popular than ever. He makes eight frickin' million dollars a year. He played York like a fiddle, turning the "mutual decision" narrative against his former boss while parlaying his way into the highest paying job in college sports. Harbaugh learned what he learned at the University of San Diego, Stanford, and the 49ers. He picked up a Masters in "My Way or the Highway."
Many believe York should have put up with Harbaugh's personality because Harbaugh is a winner. Don't you think York knew that? Don't you think York understood the risk of such an unpopular move? A KPIX poll showed almost 70% of voters in favor of Harbaugh remaining as head coach. This is the most unpopular Bay Area coaching move since..uh..Mark Jackson?
So now, York is on the hook. It's all on him. He fired a coach that, record wise, deserved a raise not a pink slip.
Business relationships don't have to be Shangri-La. But the owner shouldn't have to walk on egg shells in his own hallway.
In the words of Jim Harbaugh, "next man up!"
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