Did Jim Harbaugh Take A Shot At The Niners Coaching Staff Here?

jim harbaugh
Getty Image

Jim Harbaugh has to be feeling pretty good right now. He’s presiding over an ahead-of-schedule turn around at the University of Michigan, and the team he left behind in San Francisco is in shambles, looking as if he had been holding the crumbling house together before getting fired. So, it’s no wonder that, in discussing his illegal formation from Saturday’s game, he took the opportunity at the coaching staff that replaced him in San Francisco.

[protected-iframe id=”aeaffcc7568700e3dcb8e3d7d43007b0-60970621-82693135″ info=”https://c.brightcove.com/services/viewer/federated_f9?isVid=1&isUI=1″ width=”650″ height=”360″]

Here’s a transcription of Harbaugh’s comments:

“We train our quarterbacks to throw to people that aren’t covered, even if it’s a running play. I was watching an NFL game where they didn’t cover a receiver and the quarterback handed it off, and got maligned by scribes and pundits and so-called experts for not throwing it to him.”

The NFL game to which Harbaugh is referring was the Week 8 game between the 49ers and Rams, according to the Press Democrat, during which Colin Kaepernick turned and handed the ball off even though he had Torrey Smith completely uncovered on the outside. Harbaugh implied that Kaep was unfairly blamed for what he sees as a coaching mistake.

For reference:

Jim Harbaugh’s departure from the head coaching position of the San Francisco 49ers had nothing to do with his quality as a coach. Harbaugh had done more than enough in San Francisco and at Stanford previously to establish his bona fides as a winner, but it wasn’t enough to keep his job when one off year set off a power struggle between him and GM Trent Baalke, one which Harbaugh would eventually lose. So, if he looks at his 7-2 team and at the 3-6 team he left behind, and decides to smirk and stir the pot a little, maybe he deserves the chance.

(Via Press Democrat)

×