Niner News Thread
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Sound FX: 49ers vs. Giants
http://www.49ers.com/media-gallery/...s-Giants/430fa8dd-e15a-4b7c-9e70-1d613a5efec1
http://www.49ers.com/media-gallery/...s-Giants/430fa8dd-e15a-4b7c-9e70-1d613a5efec1
http://www.nfl.com/news/story/09000...emistry-created-during-lockout?module=HP11_cp
In his robust Inside The NFL notebook below, NFL Network's Albert Breer touches on multiple topics including (click on the link to take you directly there):
» Four things he's looking forward to in Week 11
» Why one team fighting another can be a good thing
» What Julio*Jones is doing that's making his QB happy*
» Why the Patriots really decided to cut Albert*Haynesworth
» And more, beginning with how an offseason racquetball match led to the 49ers' success ...
Jim Harbaugh (left) and Trent Baalke have a competitive relationship that is reflected throughout the 49ers organization. (Kyle Terada/US Presswire)
The race for Coach of the Year only has one horse in it. And the story of Jim Harbaugh remains, of course, fascinating. What can we learn from the Niners' hiring of the ex-Stanford coach? Let's check it out …
Patience is important: Unlike what you see in some places, the Niners didn't slobber all over their No. 1 candidate last offseason. In fact, San Francisco management thought it was important for Harbaugh to investigate all his options -- most notably at Michigan and with the Dolphins -- because, as I understand it, they wanted the coach to be all-in and "didn't want second thoughts."
Structure is, too: The Niners promised to hire a general manager first, and didn't go back on that, handing the keys to holdover Trent Baalke. As it turns out, the roster that Baalke, as assistant GM, had helped ex-GM Scot McCloughan build was pretty sturdy. And so was the relationship that Baalke built with Harbaugh, something those involved in the process were smart enough to see coming.
Honesty goes both ways: The temptation, after an old coach washes out, is to clean house. The Niners didn't do that. The talent was better than most realized. You may remember owner Jed York saying in 2010, when the team was 0-5, that he thought his team could still win its division. That was reflective of an organizational belief in the roster. So were the decisions to elevate Baalke and keep much of the roster intact.
Brooks: Smith finds comfort zone
Alex*Smith has gone from first-round bust to an important part of the 8-1 Niners' success. Bucky Brooks explains the transformation. More ...
Free thought should be promoted: Put it like this -- Harbaugh and Baalke never bought the lockout-would-cripple-new-coaches theory. Then, they personally disproved it. That kind of defiant attitude is what you need to win big at a place like Stanford, as Harbaugh did, something that was an important part of the Niners' evaluation of his candidacy. And as it turns out, Harbaugh's college background became a Niners advantage, in that he and his staff had dealt with serious time constraints at that level.
It wasn't long before the Niners could add their own experiences to the above evidence that Harbaugh could succeed. In the spring, the coach and GM showed a competitiveness that would soon permeate the organization.
The first story comes from the gym, where Harbaugh "would will himself" to keep up with a very in-shape Baalke, matching his GM's pushup counts and bench press reps.
The second comes from the racquetball court, where Harbaugh, because of his age and beat-up NFL-weathered knees, shouldn't have been able to keep up with Baalke. When the two started playing, Harbaugh struggled. But eventually, he found a flaw in Baalke's game. And he relentlessly attacked it, finally beating the GM. "He couldn't walk for two days after that," is how one witness described the fallout for the coach. Yet, he won, and that's what mattered.
According to those in the organization, that is a microcosm of a coach-GM relationship in which each party is constantly pushing the other.
Therein lies the benefit the Niners got from the lockout. Coaches and personnel folks bonded, learned about one other, and built a model for what they were looking for collectively without being wrapped up in the players being in the team's facility. It gave them a chance to look at the players more dispassionately. As a result, there was a competitiveness and chemistry permeating the new regime when those players finally did arrive.
Add all this to the Niners' 8-1 record, and it's easy to see why they have confidence, internally, that Harbaugh was the missing piece to a football operation that already had more going right than most people could see.
In his robust Inside The NFL notebook below, NFL Network's Albert Breer touches on multiple topics including (click on the link to take you directly there):
» Four things he's looking forward to in Week 11
» Why one team fighting another can be a good thing
» What Julio*Jones is doing that's making his QB happy*
» Why the Patriots really decided to cut Albert*Haynesworth
» And more, beginning with how an offseason racquetball match led to the 49ers' success ...
Jim Harbaugh (left) and Trent Baalke have a competitive relationship that is reflected throughout the 49ers organization. (Kyle Terada/US Presswire)
The race for Coach of the Year only has one horse in it. And the story of Jim Harbaugh remains, of course, fascinating. What can we learn from the Niners' hiring of the ex-Stanford coach? Let's check it out …
Patience is important: Unlike what you see in some places, the Niners didn't slobber all over their No. 1 candidate last offseason. In fact, San Francisco management thought it was important for Harbaugh to investigate all his options -- most notably at Michigan and with the Dolphins -- because, as I understand it, they wanted the coach to be all-in and "didn't want second thoughts."
Structure is, too: The Niners promised to hire a general manager first, and didn't go back on that, handing the keys to holdover Trent Baalke. As it turns out, the roster that Baalke, as assistant GM, had helped ex-GM Scot McCloughan build was pretty sturdy. And so was the relationship that Baalke built with Harbaugh, something those involved in the process were smart enough to see coming.
Honesty goes both ways: The temptation, after an old coach washes out, is to clean house. The Niners didn't do that. The talent was better than most realized. You may remember owner Jed York saying in 2010, when the team was 0-5, that he thought his team could still win its division. That was reflective of an organizational belief in the roster. So were the decisions to elevate Baalke and keep much of the roster intact.
Brooks: Smith finds comfort zone
Alex*Smith has gone from first-round bust to an important part of the 8-1 Niners' success. Bucky Brooks explains the transformation. More ...
Free thought should be promoted: Put it like this -- Harbaugh and Baalke never bought the lockout-would-cripple-new-coaches theory. Then, they personally disproved it. That kind of defiant attitude is what you need to win big at a place like Stanford, as Harbaugh did, something that was an important part of the Niners' evaluation of his candidacy. And as it turns out, Harbaugh's college background became a Niners advantage, in that he and his staff had dealt with serious time constraints at that level.
It wasn't long before the Niners could add their own experiences to the above evidence that Harbaugh could succeed. In the spring, the coach and GM showed a competitiveness that would soon permeate the organization.
The first story comes from the gym, where Harbaugh "would will himself" to keep up with a very in-shape Baalke, matching his GM's pushup counts and bench press reps.
The second comes from the racquetball court, where Harbaugh, because of his age and beat-up NFL-weathered knees, shouldn't have been able to keep up with Baalke. When the two started playing, Harbaugh struggled. But eventually, he found a flaw in Baalke's game. And he relentlessly attacked it, finally beating the GM. "He couldn't walk for two days after that," is how one witness described the fallout for the coach. Yet, he won, and that's what mattered.
According to those in the organization, that is a microcosm of a coach-GM relationship in which each party is constantly pushing the other.
Therein lies the benefit the Niners got from the lockout. Coaches and personnel folks bonded, learned about one other, and built a model for what they were looking for collectively without being wrapped up in the players being in the team's facility. It gave them a chance to look at the players more dispassionately. As a result, there was a competitiveness and chemistry permeating the new regime when those players finally did arrive.
Add all this to the Niners' 8-1 record, and it's easy to see why they have confidence, internally, that Harbaugh was the missing piece to a football operation that already had more going right than most people could see.
