The San Francisco 49ers hired head coach Jim Harbaugh three years ago, who took over a team that had not been to an NFC Championship game since 1996. Under Harbaugh, the 49ers have at least been to the NFC title game all three seasons, including a Super Bowl appearance in 2013.
However, that might not be enough to keep the two sides together for very long, according to Jason La Canfora of CBS. Harbaugh and general manager Trent Baalke are "barely speaking," according to La Canfora, and there are reportedly many clashes between Harbaugh and others within the organization, including team president Paraag Marathe.
La Canfora also says that should Harbaugh be jettisoned either by trade or an unthinkable release, the 49ers would likely promote defensive line coach Jim Tomsula. The notion of San Francisco and Harbaugh having problems arose with the news of the 49ers and Cleveland Browns having talks about a trade which would have centered around sending Harbaugh to the banks of Lake Erie.
How did things unravel to this point? Here's a timeline of the drama:
Friday, 4:28 p.m.: Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk reported that the Browns had been in trade discussions for Harbaugh, hoping to fill their head coaching vacancy with the former quarterback. The deal was killed by Harbaugh, who did not want to leave for Cleveland.
Supposedly, the trade would have involved the Browns sending multiple picks to San Francisco.
Friday: 5:21 p.m.: Jon Stinchcomb of Dawgs By Nature compiled a bevy of tweets that Joe Lull of 92.3 The Fan in Cleveland fired off as the news was breaking from Florio about Harbaugh and the Browns.
Lull had previously reported that all the candidates for the Browns' head coaching job had not been brought to light. At the time, he wasn't willing to disclose who the man was, per Chris Pokorny of Dawgs By Nature.
Friday night/Saturday morning: Ian Rapoport of NFL.com refutes the claim that San Francisco discussed trading Harbaugh to the Browns.
Friday, 6:12 p.m.: 49ers owner Jed York tells his side of the story.
Saturday, 11:39 a.m.: Browns head coach Mike Pettine talks about his feelings at the NFL Combine on the report that his new team hired him as a consolation prize, per Mary Kay Cabot of the Cleveland Plain Dealer.
"I got a phone call saying that report was about to come out and I shot the messenger a little bit,'' Pettine said at the NFL Scouting Combine. "I asked, ‘How does that affect my tenure as the head coach? Has that changed?' The obvious answer was 'no' and I think my next sentence, I either used the word flying followed by something, or referenced a part of a rat’s body.''
Saturday, 11:20 p.m.: Vic Tafur of the San Francisco Chronicle caught up with Harbaugh in Indianapolis and got the following quote from the 49ers leader:
"The report? Reee-diculous. Reee-diculous. No. Ridiculous."
In the same story, a rival general manager had a different thought:
"Where there is smoke, there is fire," one general manager said Friday night. "This could be the first visible sign of a crack that could bring the whole thing they've built down to the ground."
Monday, 4:03 a.m.: Browns owner Jimmy Haslam confirms that Cleveland had discussions with the 49ers, per USA Today Sports.
"There was an opportunity there, and it didn't materialize," Haslam said.
In the meantime, David Fucillo of Niners Nation is hoping the story can subside to allow Harbaugh and the 49ers to live in harmony again:
All we can hope for at this point is that the 49ers and Jim Harbaugh get an extension worked out. Until we hear of an extension, we'll be stuck with the PFT's of the world throwing as much out there as they can to prove they were right initially. If the team goes into the 2014 season with an extension still waiting, I can understand why fans would become concerned.
It's one reason winning the Super Bowl any of these last three years would have been even better. It would remove that "can he win the big one?" from contract negotiations. But, the 49ers haven't won, and so we're stuck with this side of contract negotiations. Such is life. I don't think the situation is nearly at the level national media would like us to think it is.
Fucillo also believes there is a man getting away clean from this story who has some dirt on his hands:
One person not mentioned in any reports (except that of socalisteph) is Harbaugh's agent, David Dunn. I've heard from Texas friends that Dunn was behind the Harbaugh-Texas rumors. I thought that was the case, but had never heard it specifically. The belief is that one reason national NFL media reported on it and college guys were not was because Dunn has their ear. Very few people seem to be asking the question about Dunn's involvement in any of this. I do wonder if he's such a significant source for some media members that they wouldn't dare throw anything on him with this.
As the offseason continues, it will be intriguing to see how the drama in San Francisco unfolds. Harbaugh has two years left on his five-year contract, but will he receive an extension? Should he go through the 2014-15 season without an extension, the NFL world will be watching next offseason because without a new deal, he would be coming in as a lame duck.
