One of football's toughest topics now, is a man who has found his way now leading the Michigan Wolverines on Saturday's. After an 8-8 season for the San Francisco 49ers, 2014 was definitely not one for the ages. For a team who reached three straight NFC Championships, and a Super Bowl appearance in 2012 which they almost won, this 2014 team did not exemplify any of those previous teams. Jim Harbaugh had resurrected the 49ers from eight years of turmoil from the end of Mariucci's tenure, to Mike Nolan, and then Mike Singletary. The 49ers front office had no stability, the talent pool was lacking, and the coaches weren't getting the job done. In 2011, Jim Harbaugh left Palo Alto, where he revived the Stanford Cardinal football program and agreed to coach the 49ers. Harbaugh had no pressure on him, and found a way to reach out to the bunch that Mike Nolan and Mike Singletary couldn't coach. Harbaugh is among the all-time greats, and not one coach in NFL history has reached the NFC Championship game three straight years in a coach's first three years. Not even Bill Walsh or George Seifert could do that for the 49ers. In San Francisco, Jim Harbaugh was rolling with the times. 2014 didn't just crumble for Jim Harbaugh, the organization and team had a rough year as well. In the offseason before the regular season began, the 49ers dealt with a lot of scrutiny off the field. Aldon Smith had an incident at the airport in which he was suspended 10 games by the NFL, Ray McDonald was dealing with domestic violence issues, Colin Kaepernick was facing an investigation into sexual assault in Miami where he was training in the offseason, and Chris Culliver was facing possible charges of threatening a boy with brass knuckles. For injuries, Marcus Lattimore was still recovering from his horrific knee injury at South Carolina, Tank Carradine was coming back from a season off from an ACL injury, Michael Crabtree, Mike Iupati, Justin Smith and Navorro Bowman were recovering from injuries in the 2013 season, they were without three draft picks Brandon Thomas, Keith Reaser, and Kenneth Acker for 2014 season, during the 2014 season, Patrick Willis, Daniel Kilgore, Marcus Martin, Tramaine Brock, Vernon Davis, Anthony Davis, Glenn Dorsey, Vance McDonald, and Alex Boone suffered injuries in which ended their season or they missed a large chunk of time. Everything went against the San Francisco 49ers in 2014, and I don't think things could have got any worse... until the offseason. After the 2014 NFL season, the 49ers and Jim Harbaugh mutually agreed to part ways. Now this is where it leaves us: why did they let Jim walk after what he has brought to this team? An 8-8 season is not entirely Harbaugh's fault, but he is the coach and is responsible for coaching. Coaching includes schemes to operate the team with. Although Jim had good relationships with the players and found success with this team, how much of it was Jim's teaching is a mystery today. Jim came in and inherited the roster he did, and a lot of say into how he wanted his team. Owner Jed York granted that sense of control with the 2011 draft when he allowed Harbaugh to go with Colin Kaepernick as opposed to what GM Trent Baalke and York wanted in Andy Dalton. Harbaugh got his QB and went ahead to work the next four years. While it has never been fully reported or suggested by the media or any story, I truly believe there was rift between Trent Baalke and Jim Harbaugh which Jed York allowed. Jim has always seemed to be about having control of what he wants to do, and likes what he does. By granting what Harbaugh wanted in Kaepernick, that allowed a sense of co-managing between Harbaugh and Baalke. As GM, that would be like a loss of entitlement and makes you question what your role truly is. As Harbaugh ran his team with Greg Roman as the offensive coordinator, the offense has not ranked well in the NFL. In the red zone and on third down, the 49ers ranked among the lowest in the NFL, and the lowest amongst contenders. For a team so domineering as the 49ers were portrayed and those 3 NFC Championships, the offense coming up short seems to be the issue. Harbaugh had an offensive line built for the run, and they lacked in pass protection. The wide receivers on the 49ers lacked explosiveness and playmakers, and all possessed the same receiving skills. The 49ers lacked speed and play consistency in the coaching. 49ers possess one of the best, if not the best defenses in the NFL, and continued to show that stride even with the suspensions and injuries to key players. If Jim Harbaugh showed anything as a coach, he served as a motivator and someone who lacks innovation. As you look through the history of the 49ers, they have been focused on a coaching tree. This all started with Bill Walsh when Jed York's uncle, Eddie DeBartolo was owning the team. While Walsh didn't have immediate success with the 49ers, he was an innovator and built himself a coaching staff that he could teach and they could go own to coach. Walsh eventually won 3 Super Bowls and fielded some of the best teams in NFL history. Walsh was more than just a coach: he was a pioneer of the West Coast offense. What I feel Jim Harbaugh lacks as a coach is the ability to innovate and pass on to others. Harbaugh is comfortable with what he does and is not up for change. This season was a prime example of that. Greg Roman's play calling was inconsistent and made no sense at times. The 49ers scored little touchdowns this season with Roman's offense and had been a continuing since 2012 with the settling of field goals and good defense. The 49ers struggles were accredited many times to Greg Roman, which maybe should have led to a demotion or being fired. The issue with that too is, Jim Harbaugh and Greg Roman seem to be loyal to each other, maybe a little too loyal. That could be one of the main issues with the front office and Harbaugh. The front office was probably fed up with the direction of the offense, and felt Greg Roman needed to be let go, so Jim came to Roman's defense. What seemed odd is after Jim mutually parted with the 49ers left, Greg Roman all of a sudden was gone too. Was Roman the issue? We will never know, but that could be a good defense in why 49ers and Harbaugh were not on the same page. This still leads fans to scratching their heads and posting angered opinions as to how can you let coach who has got you to a Super bowl and three NFC championship games in their first four seasons. How about asking Marty Schottenheimer or Bo Pelini. Both respectively won a lot of games and had success with their teams. It boils down too, sometimes the smallest achievements aren't enough and they weren't innovating. Stagnant success is what they and Jim Harbaugh possess. Harbaugh has a short tenure anywhere he coaches, and likes to bounce place-to-place. Nothing wrong with that style, but Harbaugh's philosophy is definitely not what they were going to roll with, especially the talent they possess on that roster, and a billion dollar stadium. It is hard to have faith in Jed York and Trent Baalke right now and they are the villains among the 49er faithful, but they shouldn't be receiving that fire. While the turmoil is high right now, 49ers will be rewarded with their next established coach and live up to what Jed York expects. This is a learning experience is for 49ers fans, and Jed York, but it is not the end of the world San Francisco 49ers fans.
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