Baalke: “Head coach at University of Michigan is a heck of a football job. I know that’s something that he always wanted to do.”

This is what what Trent Baalke said Wednesday morning at the NFL Combine.

Q: What are some of the things you consider when you evaluate wide receivers?

BAALKE: Can they catch the football, probably No.1. They come in all different sizes, as we know. All different speeds. You really try to match that guy up with your quarterback and what your quarterback’s skill sets are. Some teams put a premium on size. Some teams put a premium on speed. There is just a lot of different things you look at, but the ability to catch the ball and make plays probably would be the most significant.

Q: What type of receiver would you say matches best with your quarterback, Colin Kaepernick?

BAALKE: If I said that, I’d be telling you who we’re looking at. Last year we drafted Ellington, a shorter guy. We’ve got Boldin and Crabtree, both of those guys, Stevie Johnson. We’ve got a mix. I think it’s no mystery — we’re looking for guys that can run, get down the field.

Q: How big was it to get Tom Gamble back in the mix and did it surprise you the way that whole thing transpired?

BAALKE: I think everybody knows the way I feel about Tom Gamble, so it’s been a huge benefit to have Tommy back. He’s a heck of a scout, a heck of a football guy.

Q: When he left a couple years ago, I remember you stood up here a little frustrated with the timing of the way it happened. Did it surprise you that this did occur this way?

BAALKE: Good things happen at different times. At that time, Tommy needed to get back. He had a situation with his family that he needed to get back for that I felt was very important to give him that opportunity. It’s just a blessing to have him back.

Q: Jim Harbaugh said last week that it was not a mutual decision for him to leave the 49ers. How would you respond to that?

BAALKE: I have no response to that. Jim has moved on. We’ve moved on. He’s got a heck of a job. We’ve got a new head football coach. We’re trying to get ready for the draft, free agency and the offseason program.

Q: How concerned are you about losing a coach who took you to the NFC Championship three times and the Super Bowl once?

BAALKE: Jim did a heck of a job. He’s a heck of a coach. He’s gone his direction. We’ve gone ours. We feel very good about the direction we’re headed and I’m sure he does as well.

Q: Based on his suggestion, the front office hierarchy forced him out of the organization. Why would they do that?

BAALKE: Once again, he’s moved on, we’ve moved on and I think the important thing for us now is just to look forward, and that’s what we’re trying to do. We’ve got three important things coming up. I know that’s where my focus is.

Q: How do you view last year? Was it just a blip on the radar, or did it reveal some chinks in the armor and it’s going to take some work to get back to that level?

BAALKE: Any time you finish 8 and 8 and you’re not in the playoffs, there are things you have to address. We’re in the process of addressing those.

Q: There was a report that Adam Gase would be your head coach if not for a disagreement over who would be his defensive coordinator. Is there any truth to that?

BAALKE: I didn’t read the report, so I’m not real familiar with what you’re talking about. The job for the 49ers was offered to one person and one person only, and that’s Jim Tomsula.

Q: Is there any thing more that your team or NFL teams in general can do when they’re looking at the off-the-field issues of a player, when you’re trying to uncover anything that could come up and be a problem?

BAALKE: I think everybody is addressing that. I don’t want to speak for every team, but I know the process we go through. We try to be as thorough as possible — do as many background checks as we can, talk to as many people as we can, get on the internet and dig as much as we can with all the social media stuff and everything. But I think with the awareness that we were under this year, the attention that it got even more so than prior years, I think every team is examining the approach to it and digging for as much information as they can. But there are a lot of unknowns, and that’s not going to change. And there is a risk-reward to this business, and that’s not going to change.

Q: How do you feel about the future of the development of Colin Kaepernick? Where do you see him?

BAALKE: Colin is working his tail off right now. I think everybody saw the reports. He’s down in Arizona. He’s working hard with Kurt Warner and several other people. We’ve had a little bit of communication through this first part of the break. But I know he’s working awfully hard. He knows what he needs to work on. He’s a very dedicated player, and I’m sure he feels good about the progress he has made up to this point. The only reason you go down there and do the things he is doing is to get better — that’s the mindset. I think he feels comfortable right now with where he’s at. Hopefully that transfers to the field.

Q: What does he need to work on?

BAALKE: That would be a question to need to visit with him on, but I know that what he’s down there working on is all the technique things that go along with the position — footwork, delivery, changing throwing platforms, arm angles, being able to take a little pace off the ball when he needs to take some pace off of it — he’s working on all of that stuff.

Q: What is the challenge in developing and maintaining a working dynamic between a GM and a coach with regards to authority? It seems to work well in Seattle in Green Bay, but it seemed to kind of break down a little bit in San Francisco.

BAALKE: I don’t know if that’s a fair assessment, but as long as you brought it up, it’s no different than any other relationship. You’ve got to work at it daily. There are a lot of tough decisions that have to be made in the positions that we’re in. You have to stay on point and you have to communicate on a daily basis. That’s probably the easier way to keep that relationship the way it needs to be.

Q: But putting it on paper — he’s what I do, here’s what you do — that doesn’t seem to quite work, right? It’s more of a personal thing, right?

BAALKE: I think that’s what relationships are, whether it’s a personal or a professional deal, that’s what a relationship is. It’s day to day. It’s nothing you can put on paper. It’s interaction on a daily basis. I think that’s what we all strive to do. It’s not always easy as we know in this business. All you can do is continue to work on it.

Q: What went wrong for you guys on offense last year and what type of future do you think Greg Roman has in this league as a coach?

BAALKE: I think if you look back on last season — and I’m not one to look back. I’m trying to move forward and we as an organization are trying to move forward. I think Greg is a heck of a football coach. For whatever reason, last year, it just didn’t work. When you look at why, we had injuries. There were other things that were going on. There were a lot of different battles being played out in different ways. I take nothing away from the coaches. They worked their tail ends off. They were in there early. They stayed late. They did everything that was asked of them. So did the players. Sometimes it just doesn’t work.

Q: Then why move on from your coaching staff?

BAALKE: Well, there are a lot of…and once again, to sit here and rehash the whys — I think I’ve stated exactly why. Jim has moved on. He’s got a heck of a job. Head coach at University of Michigan is a heck of a football job. I know that’s something that he always wanted to do. And we’ve moved on as well.

Q: What are the Packers getting in Mike Solari?

BAALKE: A heck of a football coach. He’s an awfully good football coach. Great technician. Great relationship with the players. Works hard. Enthusiastic. I can’t say enough positive things about Coach Solari.

Q: How much do you think Frank Gore has left and is he still a guy you feel strongly about in your plans moving forward?

BAALKE: I’m asked that question all the time. I think I’ve been asked that question for five straight years. Frank is the energizer battery, he just keeps on ticking. The last two games of the season I think you saw what Frank still has left in the tank. Very good football player, and one of the most passionate if not the most passionate football player I’ve ever been around. Still think he’s got it in him? I know he still believes it. I talked to him the other day on the phone and we’re going to do what we can to get him back as a 49er.

Q: Aldon Smith has had some problems. Do you feel like you missed a red flag there that you may on the lookout for now?

BAALKE: Any time a player falls on tough times, you look back and you try to find out and identify did you miss something. And sometimes it isn’t that you missed something, it’s that the new environment that they’re in has created something. But often times it is something that you just didn’t know. That’s not going to change. There are going to be players coming this year that we just aren’t going to know well enough and they’re going to run into some off-season problems or-in season problems, personal problems. We can dig as much as we want, but this is an imperfect science and there are going to be mistakes that are made.

Q: When you quarterback goes to one of these offseason quarterback gurus, is there ever a concern they could get messed up?

BAALKE: I don’t know I would view Kurt Warner as a quarterback guru, and I don’t mean that negatively. To my knowledge, this is really the first one he has taken on. You have to great respect for not only his career but how he conducted himself, how hard he worked. Kurt knows a little something about the game and I think his willingness to share that and pass that on to a young guy like Colin I think is admirable.

This article has 231 Comments

  1. If you take a pile of rocks and you arrange them just right what do you get? A stone wall. Jim left for a great new job. Smile folks, you’re on candid camera.

    1. This story’s been floating around for some time. Check out Niners Nation, etc. Doesn’t seem like this blog is up to date with the latest news and what not.

      1. Not sure what you are referring too, but this article by Lynch is his views on what has transpired; not new info. We all know what is happening currently.

    2. Yesterday I was wondering if Kevin Lynch was being sarcastic when he created his list of ten reasons for being happy that we have Chryst as OC. After reading his comments on York’s lack of a frank explanation for firing Jim Harbaugh, it’s clear to me that Kevin was leaning toward sarcasm yesterday.

      Using semantic diversions to avoid admitting that your owner stipulated that a new head coach would have to accept JimT as defensive coordinator is counter productive. At the very least, that information should have been covered in the second interview with the candidate instead of the next morning. When the candidate declined to accept that condition the next morning, the immediate hiring of JimT made the time line stand out like a sore thumb.

      The presumption that the organization has the power to make information fit their desired message is naive and arrogant. Being naive at that level is incompetent.

      JimT is in a very difficult situation. It’s like he has gotten his dream job and it turns out that the job is part of someone else’s nightmare.

      1. “The presumption that the organization has the power to make information fit their desired message is naive and arrogant. Being naive at that level is incompetent.”

        The presumption that any commenter on this blog can make cast iron judgments on what happened based on what we know is naive and arrogant.

        My belief is that you take your worst case scenario for how this has been handled, then take your best case scenario, find yourself a point somewhere in the middle and bingo you’ll end up closer to the truth. Boring i know, but 99% of the time, it works a treat.

        1. My mother called it Cream of Wheat, but it felt like mush to me. We can all be happy that Jim Harbaugh left the 49ers for his “dream job.”

      2. Back in the day, sfgate was one of the best websites on the net. Its tragically fallen into a bleacher report format.

        Part must be do to the hard economic realities of running a newspaper/news site… but part is also due to mindless, bandwidth eating web design.

        I like Kevin Lynch, I hope its his first and last click-through picture type article.

        1. Bingo! No truer words have been said about the so called new sfgate format. I urge you, and anyone else who goes over there to send them feedback of your dislike of their website, I know that I have. The only way that they will change sfgate is if folks send them info about how bad the website is now.

  2. Baalke is very clear in what he has to say, incisive in delivery, and with a no-BS attitude. Reporters who came to bait him will walk away disappointed, no doubt. And fans who came to complain looking for signs of doom will parse the interview for such signs and continue to complain.

    Having followed Harbaugh for 8 years, I came to realize that no coach plays the media to his advantage better than Harbaugh. Starting with his “we bow to no program” presser at Stanford in early fall of 2007, his first shot at Petey, he has successfully created an image of “I’m above of it all” while taking pot shots at rivals when needed. It was no accident that his podcast with the insufferable Kawakami was releases just a few days for Baalke and Tomsula met with the press this week. Harbaugh is a great coach but that shelf life isn’t too long.a

    Now that the Harbaugh era is over, there are a few questions that linger in my mind for which I’d have preferred to get answers. Primary among them are the terms of the contract extensions that were offered to Harbaugh in early 2012 and 2013 after the Super Bowl, and the ones he refused. If Marathe’s players’ contracts are anything to go by, they must have offered market-competitive compensation with incentives. Most other gaps in the story can be probably filled in with reasonably accuracy by using commons sense and knowledge of Harbaugh’s M.O. (rather than elaborate conspiracy theories).

    1. Mood,

      We’ll likely never hear the truth because that just doesn’t happen, so you have to look at the info available and form the most common sense conclusion you can. In this case the evidence – at least in my opinion – points to Jed not wanting Harbaugh to be the HC anymore. Baalke may have felt the same way, but the catalyst for the departure was Jed imo.

      I get that some on here and around Niner fandom are trying to find negatives about Harbaugh to focus on in an attempt to explain the separation, but no matter what you think of Harbaugh, his focus was on winning and he put his players above everything else. The weird PC’s, the rumors of him being difficult to deal with, wanting too much money etc. are just that, rumors. What isn’t debatable is the fact his players played hard for him and he won games. You don’t part with a HC like that unless he gives you no other option. In this case Harbaugh didn’t want to leave and he did not say anything remotely controversial to imply anything different. All the negative rumors came from other sources in an attempt to disparage him and prepare the fan base for his inevitable departure. While I don’t disagree that Harbaugh was likely tough to deal with, his ability as a HC should have taken precedence over the personal issues Jed and Trent had with him.

      This team is not that far removed from nearly a decade of bad football. It’s hard to build a winning formula and sustain it, and I think that is something many fans here and other places are overlooking right now in favor of hope. Nothing wrong with hoping for the best, but it is a far cry from knowing you have a shot at a SB with the guy you just fired.

      1. Gottta disagree with u there…I didn’t have to look very hard to find negatives lol..I watched em every week..

        Playclock issues
        Bad play calling
        Bad redzone
        Conservatism
        Too Reliant on defense
        Unnecessary timeouts taken
        Refusal to incorporate rookies
        Second half collapses
        Ranked bottom passing game
        Terrible/mediocre offense
        Losing three championships in a row…
        If he’s hard to work with and all of these things I just listed doesn’t get better……Adios!

        I didn’t make this up..we saw this each week eeking out victories and making games unnecessarily difficult than they had to be…..Im sorry..Im not gonna pretend he was some kind of saint..He was a good coach..not great..His coaching style and philosophy led him out the door…

        1. Very very well said.. A lot of people trying to mask all the problems this team had the last year.

            1. ht, I did, for one. I was overlooking/minimizing many of the points that Deezy listed because… well… the Harbaugh coached team seemed to be able to overcome them in the past and why should last season be any different? But it did turn out different. It became more and more apparent, as the season progressed, Harbaugh had lost the motivation stick for this team and seemed clueless on how to get it back. All the “mighty men” and “effort unknown to mankind” platitudes just weren’t cutting it any longer. As big a Harbaugh supporter I was for turning the wreck around, and as clumsy as the execution was, Balke and York did the right thing in relieving him of his duty.

        2. Now u can villianize Jed and Trent all u want…but they didn’t coach and have these same systemic issues each week…

          1. @Deezybee….You just had two excellent posts back to back….there were PLENTY of negatives that weren’t addressed this past season…one being that the HC kept on with the Laisse Faire attitude…there was no sense of urgency until it was too late. What was so secretive about not being able to score in the second half ?

        3. DeezeBee, you present a clear consist list of what you see as Jim Harbaugh’s weaknesses. We could discuss them point by point and probably agree about many of them. We might even add one or two new ones.

          Kevin Lynch’s article ask why Jed/Baalke can’t be as forthright as you are about their reasons for firing Harbaugh. Instead they insist on the childish pretense that Jim Harbaugh wasn’t fired and that he chose to leave them for his dream job at Michigan.

          It seems to me that Kevin has a good point. Underlying his point is another good point. Why didn’t Jed/Baalke “fire” Jim a year ago. They seemed to have started their exit strategy then, and certainly all of Jim’s weaknesses were just as clear then as they seem to be now.

          Jed/Baalke clearly didn’t intend the 2014 season to be one for Harbaugh to correct his faults.

          1. Htwaits-
            Trent and jed were trying to be nice and diplomatic about it..Gettin into specifics throws people under the bus…Whether mutual or whatever..it’s all semantics..Harbaugh was still bein fired..why worry about the phrasing of it?

            1. Deezbee, if you think York and Baalke are avoiding throwing Harbaugh under the bus, I’ve got some land on the side of an active volcano that I want to talk to you about.

              1. Htaits-
                They were trying to keep it short and simple..not to paint jim in a bad light and not go into specific details..”Philosophical differences”.

                “.Let stop slide because we were winning”

                “Winning with class” to me..I think it means with style…barely hanging onto victories..eeking them out..Is not a good approach each week..offense sputtering….

                Least that’s my interpretation of what he meant by winning with class..

                Wanting Superbowls is not a bad thing..We were good enough to win em..these past four years but kept coming up short..
                It does no good to bring up the whys

        4. Deezy, your %100 right! the thing is….with all the faults you just mentioned… .he took the same team more or less, that sing couldnt lead to a .500 record….to the NFCC 3 straight years!

          Had this been 1995, under Eddie D, D.Clark and C. Policy…..i would be in total agreement with ya.

          But this is 2015. this is the Yorks. enough said! Bumbling idiots with no clue what they are doing. in fact, the only non-disastrous thing the Dorks have done during this 15 YEAR NIGHTMARE……is hire Harbaugh!!!!!!!!

          If that dosent spell it out for you……nothing will!

          1. “he took the same team more or less, that sing couldnt lead to a .500 record….to the NFCC 3 straight years!”

            No he didn’t. They turned over 40% of the roster between 2010 and 2011 including about 1/3 of the starters.

            1. That’s true to an extent, but a few of the new starters were already on the team and not getting a chance to contribute. It took a new staff to give them that opportunity. Most of the starters on the team that went to the NFCCG were playing for a 6-10 team under Sing a year earlier. Coaching made a huge difference for this team.

              1. 5 of the 24 starters were not with the team the year before, and they picked up a lot of contribution from guys who were part of the the 40% of new players. Guys like Aldon Smith, Kendall Hunter, Chris Culliver, Blake Costanzo, etc.

                There was a lot of change between 2010 and 2011.

              2. Most teams have a turnover of new starters every year simply due to FA, so it really wasn’t that significant. The fact is Harbaugh’s staff won 13 games and went to the NFCCG with the majority of starters from a 6-10 team the year before. It’s what Harbaugh has done everywhere he’s been.

              3. I would say that turning over ~ 40% of the roster qualifies as significant.

                I’m not stating that Harbaugh didn’t do a good job. I’m pointing out that the team he coached was quite different from the team that Singletary coached.

              4. Turning over the roster is different from who is starting Jack. 19 players who were on the team in 2010 started in 2011. That is not out of the ordinary and it certainly doesn’t equate to a turnaround like the Niners experienced.

                The overall roster was different, but Harbaugh got a lot more out of Singletary’s players than Singletary did.

              5. The 2011 team got some big-time contributions from non-starters. Most of those guys weren’t around in 2010.

              6. No argument Jack. Aldon Smith was huge his rookie year coming off the bench on 3rd down. Doesn’t change the fact that a number of starters from a 6 win team performed a lot better for Harbaugh than they did for Singletary.

              7. >>I would say that turning over ~ 40% of the roster qualifies as significant.

                Especially when the prevailing view* is that one single player – Deion Sanders – is what made all the difference between a team that consistantly fell short and one that went all the way.

                *I’m not sure I agree with that prevailing view, but you can’t argue with the outcome.

              8. That’s a good point Rib.

                It didn’t hurt that Carlos Rogers had a career year in 2011. After having 8 interceptions in 6 seasons with Washington he hauled in 6 his first season here.

                Add in the effect Aldon Smith had off the bench with the pass rush and the physical play Dante Whitner brought and the defense was a different animal in 2011.

                Harbaugh did a better job of getting the most out of the talent, but the talent he had to work with was much improved over the year before in a lot of areas.

          2. As hammer mentioned above this roster is a lot different then the one sing coached. Navarro, aldon, Reid, boldin to name a few. Those players listed are game changers. Sing had spikes, Navarro is on a different planet talent wise then spikes. What elite pass rusher did sing have? Exactly I will wait for your answer.

            1. Sing/Manusky had Navarro on the bench behind Spikes… T. Brown and Ahmad Brooks were on the bench as well in the Sing era as Rocket was attempting to point out. Reid is good but Dashon “the Hawk” was turned into a pro-bowl player under the new coaching staff after Sings departure. Basically there are tons of players that were on the roster already and got better when the new coaching staff came in. You are right, there was no pass rusher and that took and already stout run defense to an elite level for a couple of years.

          3. Jshaw,
            The message still remains..whether if it was 20yrs ago or not..
            U can’t tolerate unwillingness to change or improve..Failure shouldn’t be accepted..For championship teams..or if championship is your goal

      2. Rocket

        It’s too bad that some fans think that it must either be 90% fault of the F.O. or 90% fault of Harbaugh and his coaches that the relationship did not work. It’s all about team members not getting along for the sake of common good. That’s a pity.

        > In this case Harbaugh didn’t want to leave and he did not say anything
        > remotely controversial to imply anything different.
        If Harbaugh wanted to stay, why didn’t he accept any of the earlier contract offers? If he had no interest in accepting an extension, why would he insist on wanting to coach out a lame-duck term?

        > What isn’t debatable is the fact his players played hard for him and he
        > won games.
        That’s exactly right. It has worked for him every place he has coached — for a few years. Also, many players couldn’t take any more of him when they graduated from Stanford, prominent among them were Doug Baldwin and Richard Sherman. After Harbaugh left Stanford, there were not that many people at Stanford who went on record as missing Harbaugh although pretty much everyone said how they appreciated Harbaugh turning the program around.

        One interesting comment was made by Bob Bowlsby (Stanford AD who hired Harbaugh and is now the Big 12 commissioner) to Matt Ryan. He said that he would not hire David Shaw to coach the Stanford team of 2007 and he would not hire Harbaugh to coach the Stanford team of 2013.

        The front office has done a horrible job at managing the situation. The leaks by Jed York and/or his cohorts poisoned the well. The hired coaches look far from an impressive bunch. Despite all that, I’d like to make two points:
        None of these failings of Jed and F.O. make Harbaugh a saint.
        Baalke has been (unfairly) taking a lot heat for Jed’s failings. He has a football philosophy and wants to be the main football guy. That’s not a fault. He brought in Harbaugh and supported him well into last season. Baalke is not adept or willing to manipulate the media folks unlike Harbaugh.

        1. “He brought in Harbaugh and supported him well into last season. Baalke is not adept or willing to manipulate the media folks unlike Harbaugh.” … Mood

          You clearly have sources not available to others.

          1. My sources are beat writers and their sources/leaks, and analysts and pundits on KNBR and other local media. I just put together their observations into a consistent storyline for myself.

            1. They are my sources too. When I reread the quote, I realized that I miss read it.

              “He brought in Harbaugh …”

              Undeniable.

              “… and supported him well into last season.”

              I have mixed feelings about this. One possibility is that Baalke is trying to keep his job and at the same time influence Jed in more positive directions. Finally, well into last season, he may have realized he couldn’t keep Harbaugh and his job too.

              That also may explain the morning they named JimT as head coach. Baalke’s first choice might have been to bring in an outside head coach and keep his defensive staff, but to do that might meant confronting Jed in a way he couldn’t win.

              “Baalke is not adept or willing to manipulate the media folks unlike Harbaugh.”

              Undeniable.

              Your post has given me a new interpretation of Baalke, even if I’ve misunderstood what your point was.

              1. might > might have

                Baalke certainly is attempting to influence someone with his suggestion that Harbaugh left because he wanted his dream job at Michigan. Inept?

        2. I agree Mood.

          Now that Mecca of All Things True Jim Harbaugh has been let go and had his side of the story told (where he really didn’t tell us anything we didn’t already know), 49er fans have decided he was indeed the Messiah and had no faults nor any part to play in his demise at the 49ers.

          I do find it interesting that the 49ers FO are getting 100% of the blame for not making it work. As if Jed (Harbaugh’s boss) and Baalke (Harbaugh’s superior in the 49ers hierarchy) were meant to bend over backwards for the guy. I wish my bosses did that for me. I like to think I’m pretty darn good at what I do too, but dang it my bosses still expect me to respect their authority. The gall!

          As good a coach as Harbaugh is, maybe people should be just a little angry at him for not being able to keep his ego in check to get along with his bosses.

          1. Scooter you may be right about Harbaugh but regardless of him being disrespectful to his bosses it all comes down to who would you rather have Harbaugh or Tomsula.

            1. I’d rather have a cohesive front office and coaching team.

              For whatever reason, Jed, Baalke and Harbaugh were not able to provide that. I think they should all be held responsible for that, not just Jed and Baalke.

              1. “I’d rather have a cohesive FO and coaching team”
                ~ Scooter

                Sorry, but that theory doesn’t fly with me. Would it have helped Ericsson, Nolan, and Singletary if they had a great relationship with York and Baalke?

                Harbaugh was a winner, and his track record bears that out. I was under the impression that winning trumps all else in sports. Harbaugh had his flaws and no one is debating that, what is under scrutiny is how the FO (as well as Harbaugh) could not find a medium for the good of the team.

                A medium should have come into fruition right after the 2013 season. If Harbaugh saw the writing on the wall (due to the Cleveland trade rumor) back in May, it is safe to venture that he knew his days were numbered. No doubt the team sensed a different atmosphere lingering in the locker room as well.
                As I said a couple of days ago, this relationship was likely beyond repair and Harbaugh was probably going to leave even if the 49ers had won a SB.
                But it is obvious that the FO planted the seeds of discontent after the 2013 season.

              2. Scooter and B2W,

                Well said.

                Scooter, your comment above this response, in particular, sums the situation up succinctly and very well.

                There’s no reason that JH should get a pass. Sure, York will have to do a lot of good before people forget how he handled this mess, but I just don’t see York as such an evil person that JH didn’t contribute significantly to the problems between them.

                Somebody wrote that York should’ve been mature enough to realize that the differences between him and JH needed to be worked out for the good of the team. OK, fair enough, but why shouldn’t the same comment apply to JH?

                I’m sorry, as much as many of you want it to be, it’s not a JH is right and JY/TB are wrong kind of deal. If you want, JY/TB can be 67% wrong and JH can be 33% wrong (that’s JY/TB being twice as wrong as JH, you may not like this, but I think that’s the most it can be). That’s still a significant amount of wrongness on JH’s part.

                And it would be silly and naive to thing it could otherwise.

                Let’s “Move On”, but let’s make sure we “Move On” “With Class”.

              3. AES, you obviously need to have capable people in place, as well as a capable roster.

                But for long term success you also need a cohesive FO and coaching team.

              4. AES,

                I should probably let Scooter speak for himself, but…

                Scooter didn’t say that he’d rather have a substandard HC that get’s along with the FO, rather than a great HC that’s in constant strife with the FO.

                I inferred that Scooter was pointing out that all things being equal (or maybe almost equal), harmony in an organization is very valuable.

              5. …and Scooter did, in fact, speak for himself. If it wasn’t for that stupid client calling with another inane question… Wait, I better watch myself, I might get Harbaugh-ed…

            2. I’d rather have a team that contends for SB’s personally. I couldn’t care less how well people get along as long as they win.

              1. A group that can’t get along will inevitably have the issues the 49ers have had.And I don’t mean they have to be buddies. They just need to be able to work together.

                All parties need to check their egos at the door to make it work.

              2. From all reports before this season, Baalke and Harbaugh were working well together Scooter. Both men said so and the results on the field backed it up. That’s why I’ve singled out Jed as the biggest reason for the separation.

              3. Yeah, I don’t think Baalke was really the problem here, despite a lot of rumours during the past year or so that things were frosty between Baalke and Harbaugh. He strikes me as someone that is able to divorce himself from the emotional side of things and just get on with the job at hand. I agree Jed was most likely the impetus behind Harbaugh’s departure. I’m also more than willing to believe Baalke didn’t try that hard to convince Jed otherwise.

                All I’m saying is that while its easy to say Jed should have had the wherewithal to see the danger behind letting a successful HC go (and perhaps Baalke should have done more to stop it happening), and should have been able to take a step back and work things out, Harbaugh likely didn’t make things easy for that to happen. As an employee, and getting paid his salary at the whim of Jed and the 49ers owners, Harbaugh should be expected to toe the company line (within reason).

                Did he? We’ll likely never know because both Jed and Baalke aren’t speaking about it. But it isn’t hard to imagine someone with Harbaugh’s prickly personality and apparent my-way-or-the-highway attitude doing some things that would not sit well with the person paying his salary. I find it hard to believe he doesn’t deserve some share of the responsibility for not making this work.

              4. Scooter,

                I don’t want to repeat myself, but I said in an earlier post that there is no doubt Harbaugh is likely hard to deal with and maybe even very unlikable if you don’t get his personality. I get that there is two sides to every story.

                What I’m talking about is doing what you need to do to keep that HC because he is winning you football games. As I said, Jed could have hired somebody to deal with Harbaugh so he didn’t have to if he disliked him that much. There are always solutions other than blowing it up is what I’m saying. People play and Coach in this league to win games. I would hope owners own the team to win games. Jed had achieved that with Harbaugh and yet it was more important to him to have somebody he liked better and/or would be easier to deal with than sticking with the one who was winning games. In other words he let his personal feelings dictate his actions at the expense of the team he professes to want the best for.

                Did Baalke try to talk him out of it? Not likely you’re right, but I get the feeling Baalke was ok with working with Harbaugh and had a grudging respect for him because they were achieving success together.

              5. No need to repeat yourself rocket. I realise you have stated Harbaugh doesn’t make it easy on people. You still seem quite convinced it should be on his boss to pander to him though.

                All I am saying is it should also be on Harbaugh to make it work.

              6. We’ll leave it at that Scooter. I can see I will be taking on a much different role around here from now on.;)

              7. All good rocket.

                I can and do understand people being angry with how Jed’s handled this. I am too. I don’t think he has reasonable expectations and I don’t think he has done a good job of creating a stable and cohesive working environment.

                But I’m also disappointed that Harbaugh wasn’t able to, or more likely was unwilling to, bend a little to work with Jed.

                Its worth re-visiting this Seth Wickersham article on Harbaugh last year:

                http://espn.go.com/nfl/story/_/id/11625088/san-francisco-49ers-head-coach-jim-harbaugh-thrives-chaos-difficulty

                As good a coach as I think Harbaugh is, I don’t believe he is irreplaceable. He’s fantastic at instigating change and turning a program around. He’s shown that wherever he goes. But he also has a history of getting to a point where things start to stagnate, and rumours of discontent emerge.

                I’m not convinced the 49ers have done a good job of replacing him, but the talent is on this roster and a winning mentality has been instilled that a good coach could get a lot out of this team.

              8. You’re right, Rocket, you should consider a name change (FAKIA was never meant to stick). Rocket 23 (R23) or Bay Area Rocket (BAR) could work.

            3. Old Coach,

              I hear what you’re saying, but I’m not sure it’s that simple.

              If the choice is Tomsula or JH with everyone hating each other, yet somehow figuring out a way to work together, of course, I’d take JH, all the way.

              However, if the choice is Tomsula or Harbaugh with everyone hating each other and not having a clue how to work with each other, God help me, I’d rather have Tomsula, et al.

              1. … and given the FO reputation around the NFL, that’s the obert choice you’re going to get.

        3. Mood,

          There are personality conflicts in this business all the time. It’s an industry full of egos and many times they clash. What happened here with Harbaugh was no different other than the outcome. You think Belichick doesn’t wear on people in that organization? He’s pissed off a lot of players too, and yet there he is 14 years in winning Championships. If you are an owner and you truly want to win, you park your ego at the door and find a way to make it work with the HC who is leading your team successfully for the first time since you became the owner.

          Stanford would have given Harbaugh whatever he wanted if he had wanted to stay there. He made them relevant again and he left them in great shape. For the few players that didn’t like him, many more swore by him and played hard for him. He has turned teams from doormats into winners everywhere he has gone.

          I don’t know why Harbaugh didn’t accept any of the previous extension offers. Know what else I don’t know? If any extension offers were made and if they were, whether they were for less money than his record deserved. Knowing what we know about the Yorks, it’s certainly not out of the question that they lowballed somebody is it?

          Here’s what I do know because it was actually stated by the parties involved: Jed had a difference in philosophy with Harbaugh that started around 2012 and Jim Harbaugh didn’t want to leave. That’s what I know.

          Harbaugh is not a Saint and I’ve never implied that he was. He likely has a massive ego and probably belittled Jed a time or two because of the disparity in their knowledge of the game, but it’s the same case with most of the HC’s in this league. If you don’t have a big ego chances are you’re not very successful. That’s when the owner of the team needs to decide whether he wants to win or if he wants the HC to be his buddy. Jed chose the latter and we are likely going to see the downfall of this team because of it.

          1. Rocket

            First, I should make it clear that I am fan of your posts and read all of them carefully. You are not one of those I was referring to as elevated Harbaugh to sainthood :)

            Second, I have always been a big fan of Harbaugh and will watch Michigan games in future because of Harbaugh (but hope Michigan lose to every Pac 12 team they play!).

            Third, I think Jed was extremely immature in not being able to handle the Harbaugh and his ego, e,g., how Kraft would handle Bellichick.

            But, all said and done, I don’t think Harbaugh’s approach is sustainable over the long term.

            > Stanford would have given Harbaugh whatever he wanted
            > if he had wanted to stay there.
            Not sure of that at all. When Niners showed strong interest, Stanford boosters made a run for him but from what I heard the compensation package for his contract extension could not come near what Niners offer. For example, Shaw makes just over $2M per year (from reading between the lines of Stanford’s tax returns on their website).

            > He has turned teams from doormats into winners
            > everywhere he has gone.
            No disagreement here. He’s proven winner.

            > There are personality conflicts in this business all the time.
            > It’s an industry full of egos and many times they clash.
            True. Generally in my industry such a conflict would result in one or more of the team leaving and starting their own thing, right from the days when Moore and the rest left Fairchild Semi to start Intel.

            I do not know all the stuff Harbaugh did to belittle management and ownership. I think we are in agreement that all sides should have found a way to make it work.

            We will see in the future how Harbaugh manages to be successful in one place for a long time without changing his M.O. We’ll also find out if the new coaching staff will be an unmitigated disaster as many fans are predicting here. Only time will tell.

            1. Well said Mood and right back at you. I think for me it’s a situation where I am so down on what has happened it’s tough to find any positives right now. I think it’s time for me to take a Sabbatical from talking about them and come back around draft time when there is something positive (hopefully) to focus on.

      3. I would encourage anyone who just commented on my post to read through it again and tell me where I said Harbaugh was perfect or infallible.

        I said quite clearly that he won games and his ability as a HC should take precedence over anything else. I also said he was likely tough to deal with and made no mention of him having no faults.

        The point is simple: when you find a HC who can win like Harbaugh did in this league, you find a way to make it work. For all the rumors that have been attributed to Harbaugh, he has never said anything negative about this team nor members of the front office even via the rumor circuit that the front office used to attack him.

        For all those things Deezy listed, most of which are the same thing in terms of problems with offensive execution, the man won games, took the team to an unprecedented 3 straight NFCCG’s and a SB, and went 8-8 in a season in which injuries and constant rumors conspired to destroy any chance this team had.

        I’m not going to give Jed and Trent a pass on this sorry. I realize many don’t like to read anything negative about the team and would prefer to concentrate on anything positive they can find, but Harbaugh was fired because of a personality conflict and I don’t find that an acceptable reason to flush the teams chances to win.

        1. Who do you blame for not making it work, rocket? Jed and Baalke, Harbaugh, or both sides?

          I realise you stated Harbaugh had his faults, but is seems pretty clear in your comments you blame Jed and Baalke for this, not Harbaugh. Please correct me if I am wrong.

          1. What difference does it make now? Of course, as long as the two of them hold to their PR corporate diversionary line, it will invite negative comment.

          2. I’m not blaming anybody for the personality conflict Scooter. I’m saying this is normal in this league and you have to find a way to make it work. Harbaugh was willing to stay, in fact wanted to stay according to the player quoted in Lynch’s article and Jed wanted him out. Harbaugh was willing to keep it going and Jed was not. Between Jed not being able to figure that out and then hiring his buddy, I’m not all that high on Jed’s ability to make good decisions.

            1. Rocket,

              Just because JH says he wanted to stay, that doesn’t mean that he acted in a way that matched that claim.

              Let’s say an employee punches his boss in the face, and, as a result, he was fired. Would you take the employee in question seriously if he told you, “…but I wanted to stay…”

              Sure, the guy may have meant it, but his actions didn’t match the words.

              I know this is an extreme example, but it just can’t be that York is so petty and weak that it’s his fault to the degree that you’re portraying.

              You say you’re not going to give York and Baalke a pass on this. OK, but who’s asked you to give them a pass?

              It seems that you are giving a pass to JH, and, quite honestly, I’m mystified as to why.

              1. ex,

                I’m not giving a pass to Harbaugh. I’ve said he is likely tough to deal with and he’s not innocent.

                What I’m saying is, you can probably find the exact same situation all over the league and likely the more successful HC’s are the ones that are the hardest to deal with due to that success.

                I’m saying if Jed York truly wanted to win Championships and put that at the top of the list, then he needed to find a way to work with Harbaugh. I don’t blame Harbaugh in this scenario because Harbaugh isn’t the one doing the hiring and firing. To quote him: he worked at the pleasure of the 49ers. Ultimately York is the one who decided to bring the relationship to a close so he is the one who should be the focus of why it happened.

                If Harbaugh had slugged York, I’d get it, and it would make perfect sense to fire him. What doesn’t make sense is firing the guy who took your franchise from a dumpster fire to a SB contender because you don’t like his ego or he’s too hard to deal with. What you do is remove yourself from the equation and let somebody else deal with him. You accept the fact that NFL HC’s are eccentric and egotistical because you have to be to be successful in a business that forces you to work 18 hours a day for at least 10 months of the year.

                In other words, you act like an owner and divest yourself from the day to day activities of the football team. You hire people that know what they are doing and stay out of the way. Jed decided as soon as 2012 that he didn’t like the way Jim Harbaugh was Coaching the team even as they were competing in a SB. That tells me he thinks he knows more than he does. It never works out when Owners think they know more than the HC they hired and it likely won’t this time.

              2. Rocket,

                I understand and agree almost entirely with your complaints against York.

                Having said that, I still don’t agree that York is completely to blame. I realize you might respond that you didn’t say that, and you didn’t, not directly, anyway.

                What you did say is that you think that York should’ve found a way to work things out. I infer that you believe York could’ve, and should’ve, done this unilaterally. I’m not sure if this is a realistic expectation, given that you’re talking about interactions between two people.

                The truth is, we only have a vague understanding of what made JY fire JH. Your narrative assumes (or maybe glosses over) a lot of unknown details. BTW, I agree with your basic version of the timeline and events on it. Where you lose me is your coloring in of the picture (which may be entirely accurate, but, IMO, we just don’t know).

                It may be JH pushed JY to the point where there it was untenable to keep him. Maybe not, maybe JY anticipated things getting to that point and acted rashly, who knows?

                But the degree of your cetainty on this seems very un-Rocket-like, and, quite frankly, it’s unsettling.

              3. Rocket,

                One other quick point. There is a lot of stock being put into what JH has said. Talk is cheap.

              4. ex,

                I appreciate the response and admittedly I am filling in a lot of the blanks, but I’m doing so based on what we have heard and what has transpired. I don’t know if I’m right, just trying to formulate a logical explanation to an un-logical sequence of events which is likely impossible.

                Bottom line is, I’m frustrated at the prospect of watching this team slide back into the abyss they were in before Harbaugh arrived. I don’t have confidence in the HC, DC, OC trifecta they have put together and in fact expect it to have a detrimental affect on this teams fortunes next year. I’ll always hold out hope of being wrong in my thinking, but as a realist, I can’t force myself to believe otherwise until it’s proven.

              5. Fair enough, Rocket.

                I’m probably making too much out of the differences in our view on this mess.

                I’m definitely not sure about the coaching staff, but I’m hoping for the best. It could work out…

              6. exgolfer,

                Have you been to the moon? I’ve heard that it’s made of blue cheese. What do you think?

              7. htw,

                While I haven’t been to the moon, I hear it’s nice. You should visit.

                But, no, the moon isn’t made of blue cheese, as you suggest. It’s made of a thick rock layer, over a semi molten iron outer core, over a solid iron inner core, and the whole thing is covered with a dusting of crushed rock from asteroid / meteor impacts.

                But don’t feel bad about believing that the moon is made of blue cheese, it’s the kind of thing that can happen when you base an opinion on incomplete facts.

        2. >>when you find a HC who can win like Harbaugh did in this league, you find a way to make it work.

          There’s also the possiblity, based on last season’s result, that Harbaugh’s winning ways in this league had come to an end. Some of those games revealed a team, especially on offense and discipline, that was embarrasingly inept.

          1. They struggled at times rib, but they also lost a number of close games that could have gone the other way and put them in the 10-11 win mark in a season that was full of injuries and off field nonsense.

            1. Conversely rocket, they eked out wins – 5 by 6 points or less – had they gone the other way, would have given us a 3 win team. Would there be as much wringing of hands over Harbaugh’s walking papers had that been the scenario?

    2. Mood- From what I remember the disconnect on a new contract was not about money but other things. Thats what Harbaugh was saying early on. Long before the leaks or the drama of this season. It was probably because Harbaugh wanted some control over the roster and Baalke wanted it all. Might have started the stalemate attitude between the coach and the front office. Where both sides dug in their heels. And Harbaugh wasn’t going to let them tell him who he could have as his assistant coach.

      1. Harbaugh said multiple times he didn’t want more power over the roster. Are you saying he was lying?

        1. I don’t remember Harbaugh ever saying that he wanted more control of the roster. Scooter, you seem to be trying to win argument points. That’s a major sport in some locations.

  3. Anyways…back to Draft stuff…anyone think that I E-O, at 5’10, is too small to be a Baakle pick?
    .
    He’ll most likely drop because of the knee.
    .
    Baalke loves injury cases, right?
    .
    Value pick???
    .
    .
    .
    ~ALOHA~

  4. Sam Bradford seems to be available for trade. Given Sam’s two years of ACL experience, how can Baalke resist.

    1. LOL, there goes Jeffy’s prized pupil even before the season started.
      Say it ain’t so, Sam….

  5. “Can they catch the football, probably No.1.” “I think it’s no mystery — we’re looking for guys that can run, get down the field.”

    As Baalke said, its not a mystery what they are after, but when thinking of WRs they may target it is worth thinking of those two statements. Rule out guys that aren’t much of a threat to get down field, and rule out guys with suspect hands. DeVante Parker sure is looking good right now.

          1. Rather than how high, better to think in terms of how much compensation is he willing to give up.

            I think he’d be willing to give a 4th quite happily, at maximum a 3rd. He may even use a 3rd in 2016 with the expectation they will get a bunch of comp picks and can likely trade back with other picks to replace it.

            Then it just comes down to whoever is willing to bite for that sort of compensation.

            1. Yes, you’re quite right. After I posted, I was thinking I should have added a question about what compensation would he be willing to give up. But since we don’t have “edit” capability, no opportunity to modify a post. The draft trade chart suggests that 15th and 79th (3rd round) would equal an 11th. I don’t think he’d be willing to give up enough to get a 10th or better pick.

              1. I wouldn’t put too much faith in the draft trade chart. I’ve not looked into it, but basically I’d be looking at which teams have multiple needs and would be keen for an extra draft pick while still being able to get a player they’d like at #15.

  6. I don’t follow college football very much, so I don’t know the players. The Niners need a playmaker at WR, someone the other team has to game plan against. Are there any of those players in the draft that the Niners can get in the first or second round?
    Is there anyone in the later rounds who could return kicks and who might add either speed or quickness at WR?

    1. First round candidates would be Kevin White and Devante Parker. 2nd round candidates would be Breshad Perriman, Devin Smith, Jalen Strong, Sammie Coates, Nelson Agholor (also a KR). 3rd round: Philip Dorsett, Rashad Green, Ty Montgomery (also a KR)

      Check out a few of them on Draftbreakdown.com.

      1. 49er42 and rocket,

        Save your energy. Baalke is not going to draft a WR in the 1st round. He is shell shocked by his previous failures at skilled positions. He’s been in “save ass” mode for the last year and will take the least risky route. Watch for him to draft a defensive back in the 1st round.

  7. Baalke, a HECK of an interview. That dweeb needs a new word to describe people, it gets old and obviously so superficial. I will be glad to see him gone, he has the personality of a turnip.

    1. Yeah, he really needs to work on his stand-up routine. His personality simply won’t cut it as a GM.

  8. Good to see an NFL ref was fired for oooohhh idk cheating and gathering footballs for money. Glad I don’t sound like a conspiracy theorist. Oops!! I have been accused of that. Hmmm glad the NFL is a fair and honest league. Naaa they would never fix games for more money. An ratings. Pfft!

    1. You seem to get your facts mixed up Ninermd. The person fired by the NFL for selling deflated footballs was a NFL official. That means he was a suit, not a referee or head lines man or anyone else working on the field during a game.

      1. The guy may not have been a “suit”.

        “The NFL has reportedly fired an employee who sold footballs that were used in the AFC Championship Game …”

  9. Cantor Gaming’s early props for the 2015 season win totals:

    New England: 11
    Seattle: 11
    Green Bay: 10.5
    Denver: 10
    Dallas: 9.5
    Indianapolis: 9.5

    San Francisco: 8.5
    Arizona: 8
    St. Louis: 7.5

    1. I’m amazed that the 49ers have a higher number than the Cards and the Rams even if it’s ridiculously early to be setting over/under on the 2015 season. I have played serious poker, but I have never gambled. It seems to me that taking the under on the 49ers and the over on the Cards would tempt some folks.

    2. That one hurts.
      .
      Even if they use that type of stuff as motivation…it still hurts.
      .
      If I’m betting today, from the way the offseason has progressed thus far…I’d go UNDER.
      .
      .
      .
      ~ALOHA~

      1. His agent isn’t effective at guiding Colin in regard to contracts or his tweeter activity. I hope someone else is giving him financial advise.

    1. I was hoping he would outgrow this stuff.

      Last season Colin said he used negative tweets and comments as motivation. I think that’s the wrong approach.

      He needs to ask himself if Rogers, Breese, Brady, Manning engage in distracting tweet wars, headphone rebellions and on field jawing sessions with linebackers (Sio Moore).

      1. On the other hand, all this might be a brilliant ploy to keep up his public image as a “kid” with huge potential and plenty of time to develop pocket skills… even though he’s only three years younger then Alex Smith.

    2. Beats By Dre needs to come out with a product that helps ignore the haters online to go with the headphones….

      I’m the man, I’m the man….unless you give me a hard time on Twitter. Then I’ll freak.

  10. I think it was MWNiner who suggested we might take a look at T.Brown again. He is a free agent, is 30 years old and according to what I’m reading on PFT was among the worst starting corners in the league last year. So maybe that means we could get him real cheap and see if he still has it. I guess we’d first need to figure out why he played poorly last year and if a move back to the 49ers would get him back to 2013 form.

    1. A commenter over at Niners Nation says that DGB and Kaep are both working out at EXOS. Can anyone confirm that? If true, then Kaep should be able to provide some good info on his abilities and just as importantly his work ethic.

      Since DGB did not play last year, the combine will be very big for him. Has he kept himself in stellar physical and mental shape.

      1. From Baalke’s presser regarding off the field issues for draft prospects:

        “But I think with the awareness that we were under this year, the attention that it got even more so than prior years, I think every team is examining the approach to it and digging for as much information as they can.”

        I’m not liking the chances of Baalke taking the risk on DGB.

        1. Probably not Scooter but I’m feeling a little middle(ahem) aged crazy today:pre combine fan mock( assuredly will change)-Trade down in first with Pitt add 2nd rounder and then …wait for it,,,(1)DGB we roll the dice on the problem child set his locker next to Boldin’s and whoop his a** into a man and a dominant WR;(2)Duke Johnson RB;(2b)Breshed Perriman our working man’s Kevin White-in a year or two DGB and Perriman kill ;(3) Ronald Darby CB really think he is not getting the attention he deserves-a good thing for us;(4)Zach Hodges OLB sage young Ivy Leaguer ;(4b) Quandre Diggs CB small but a baller;(5)Shaquille Riddick sleeper DE;(6)Zach Zenner RB/FB/KR another guy who is a baller;(7) Conner Halliday QB-drops because of broken leg -would be a great P/U here;(7) Cody Manhart OT.

  11. Per Matt Barrows (@mattbarrows):

    “The #49ers WR coaches are among the few SF assistants in Indy, which presumably indicates where the team’s offseason priority lies.”

      1. Yeah, I think two as well.

        We’ll know more after FA, but assuming they head into the draft with Boldin, Ellington, Patton and either Johnson or another vet WR (plus maybe a STs ace), two WRs would make sense. Basically direct replacements for Crabtree and Lloyd.

    1. “…I’m going to ignore anything that
      Baalke or York say until further notice…”

      u-hhhh … what took you so long ?

      1. I mean anything MWN. Talking about the combine, the season, etc. The good and the bad. I just don’t care to abuse my intelligence with what they spew anymore.

      1. I don’t know Scooter. I haven’t read the transcript and don’t plan to. I just want to focus on my team and nothing from its front office.

        1. Agree. Let’s focus on combine, free agency and draft.

          I’ve been looking at a number of mock drafts. It seems that most of them have Parker and White being picked somewhere in the 11th to 13th slots. Of course it’s pre-combine and who knows what will really happen, but it suggests Baalke will need to be prepared to move up a few positions to get either one of those guys.

          DGB would be an alternative. What about a trade down and then a selection of Sammie Coates? He’s big and is expected to run around a 4.4 at the combine.

          I’m just getting the impression that if we don’t get a 1st tier WR (in this 2015 draft class) in the 1st round, we’ll be left out again and have to settle for a second-tier WR.

          1. As Baalke said regarding what he looks for in a WR – “can they catch the football, probably No.1.”

            Coates had the highest drop rate of draft eligible WRs last year. I think it was something staggering like 19%. I don’t think he fits the bill.

            1. Ouch. I realized he had a tendency to drop catches, but you’re right his drop rate was 19%. Rotoword on Coates:

              “[Mayock] said Coates is one of the draft’s top deep-threat receivers. Coates (6-foot-2, 213-pounds) has reportedly run a 4.25 forty. Coates has “[Terrell Owens’] body, [Odell Beckham Jr.’s] burst and [Darrius Heyward-Bey’s] hands,” NFL.com’s Daniel Jeremiah wrote recently. Colleague Lance Zierlein wrote that Coates has “some of the worst hands” he’s seen on tape. The Auburn prospect has the physical tools that NFL teams will fall in love with, which could lead to him being over-drafted in April.”

              It sounds like if we draft him he’ll be tethered to the juggs machine.

              1. Both Coates and Perriman would probably sit for at least a year if we drafted them. Coates for his drops and Perriman for his double catching.

              2. Its not just his hands that let him down cubus. If you watch him, you’ll see a guy that often looks like he makes a lot of adjustments on the deep pass, and looks hurried/ out of control trying to catch it. I think he struggles to pick up the trajectory of the pass, and I really don’t think that is something you can be taught – you either have it or you don’t. He’s also got very rudimentary route running skills.

                Coates is one guy I truly hope the team avoids in this draft.

              3. I don’t believe the core part of his issues are readily fixable. I don’t think it is a focus issue he has. I think he genuinely struggles to track the ball, and I think he genuinely struggles with his body control while running at a high speed. I believe that is why you often see him slow down considerably when the ball is in the air, and why he often struggles to make a catch while running hard (and when he does make the catch, why it often looks far more difficult than it should have been).

                But those are just my thoughts and my beliefs. Plenty of scouts and more knowledgeable people than I think his issues are fixable.

              4. I don’t believe the core part of his issues are readily fixable.

                What if he sat for a year?

              5. Not really.

                I think these are natural and fundamental athletic skills, and if you don’t have them they are very hard to learn. Much like either you are fast or you are not. You can train to improve your speed, but if you aren’t naturally a fast person all the training in the world won’t make you fast.

  12. hmmmmm….

    Kaepernick tweeted that today he did “1000 abs…. arm workout….. 10 min straight on the jump rope…. 2 hour study session in February….. that’s what we call a recovery day!”

    One fan saw that tweet and wrote back at Kaepernick, “ab workout won’t help find open receiver #study.”

    @Kaepernick7 – are you illiterate or just ignorant? Read the tweet again better yet give me your breakdown of every defensive coverage

  13. Not thrilled about Kaep’s back and forth on Twitter. I’m old school and don’t like my sport stars resorting to pettiness and would rather see them ignore this crap and take the high road.

    But social media rules the day in the 21st century and it is what it is.
    But I still don’t like it.

  14. Q: What are some of the things you consider when you evaluate wide receivers?

    Baalke: Look at my track record. Enough said. Next question.

  15. Tomsula will be on at 12:30 eastern time. I sure hope there has been an improvement in his media delivery.

  16. Within the last few days the commenter “gsixty” had a post wherein he claims to be friends or acquaintances with Paraag, and he says that what he got from him was that JH’s departure was driven by JY. In my experience this commenter has not been boastfull or self-aggrandizing, so I’m willing to take him at his word on that. Maybe, just maybe Trent isn’t the Wicked Warlock of The West after all.
    Jed really did step in it with this, and he’ll wear the stink for a long time. Fandom in general is apoplectic. Bay Area media types are a pack of snarling hyenas, and this room has become the Salem Witch Hunts; with approximately the same factual reliability.
    On to football: Anybody else concerned that Cooper (duh) AND White AND Parker will be gone before 49ers pick?

    1. Great post tuna! I for one believe that balke will attempt to move up ahead of the Browns and will take Parker or white. Just my belief because we have a lot depth especially with a lot of our red shirts from last year available as well. We are picking 15 so it should be a lesser of a blow on draft picks to move up.

    2. @Brotha Tuna….’have missed you and your insight…Yes, I have concern about Cooper, White, and Parker being not only gone, but Loooooong gon by pick #15. Fortunately, I see this year with a large amount of really good WR’s. Without moving up, I don’t see us taking any of the ‘Big three’, but perhaps a O or D lineman with quality enough to play this year. I’m looking at possibly 4 good players in this year’s draft. I DO believe that we’re going to see some surprise picks and hopefully some trades and FA’s. I actually like our draft position….

      1. I saw where SF sent their WR assts to the Combine. I’d bet Trent doesn’t need help evaluating the top 3-5 prospects. I think they may be looking at prospects after Rd#1 in case they miss on someone earlier; good planning.

        1. Think you may be on to something there BT. Or it could be a new collaborative approach.

          I don’t remember hearing of any assistants attending while Harbaugh was here.

        2. Yep, glad to have you back Brotha! Did you see this?-http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/music/posts/la-et-ms-black-sabbath-geezer-butler-bar-fight-20150129-story.html

            1. Thank God they got it early. I love him like a brother, and I don’t want to lose another with the passing of RJD….

          1. Razor-
            I saw your original post on that and tried to reply, but I’d been sent to the corner and have been muzzled until now. That’s one out-of-the-way bar!
            Dude lives in Beverly Hills and goes drinkin’ at Death Valley Junction? He must have some Hellacious bar tabs around LA & Vegas, LOL!

              1. Razor
                Naw, never been there. I went to DV one year in March to shoot some photos of the Spring Bloom of wild flowers, which only lasts 2-3 days and drank around the campfire.
                I’d guess it’s ranchers and bikers (not necessarily outlaws), and maybe a few people who don’t want to be found. There is nothing out there but sand and air.

        3. Good point Brotha. I think they will end up drafting two WRs, and I’m guessing Baalke will want as much insight as he can get on these prospects right throughout the draft.

    3. Cooper and Parker will be gone. White just might be there. I am in the minority, but I think a first round pick of a WR is a waste of pick. Its not that the receivers are not good enough, its our QB who has the issues. We had lots of open receivers all season long and CK fails to see them. I understand the speed aspect and we certainly need speed at the WR but if the QB fails to pull the trigger then what good is it.

      The Niners picked Crabtree at 10 and he has not produced as a number 10 pick. The Niners also picked AJ Jenkins in the firstround all know how that turned out.

      1. All in, OK? But don’t be afraid to step in. Get up and look, step in. Jump in. Let’s go. All in….

  17. Anyone think there will be any trades? Like last year when we got Stevie J. I heard a rumor about marcell dareus. But we would have to give up a lot and he is a FA after the year. I would love to trade Borland….With PWILL, BOW and wilhoite he will just waste away on the bench. GB needs an ILB and put matthews back on the edge. What about Borland for GB 1st?

      1. He was a third round pick because he was seen as too small and slow. His play last year disproved those concerns, at least to some degree. You don’t think he could fetch a second rounder? I’m not saying they should trade him, necessarily, but I do think the 49ers could find a team willing to give up a second round pick.

        1. Ex
          Ummm, maybe a second for the right system fit (3-4). But GMs/Teams have kinda a pride/jealousy thing; most wouldn’t want to give up a 2nd for someone drafted in the 3rd. A little like WRs checking out each other’s stats and contracts….

      2. He was a third round pick because he was seen as too small and slow. His play last year disproved those concerns, at least to some degree. You don’t think he could fetch a second rounder? I’m not saying they should trade him, necessarily, but I do think the 49ers could find a team willing to give up a second round pick.

      1. The intensive training paid off, and I love the approach he’s taking in formulating the offense. The only critique I would make is with his wardrobe….

        1. So razor, now that Jimmy T has answered the questions on whether he was gunning for JH’s job, are you satisfied?

  18. Saw the JT Presser. I thought he looked relaxed and did a good job for what it was. Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to hear a single question, so I’ll have to wait for the transcript in order to put context to his answers.

    1. Raw plutonium that is not in it’s purest form, yet still changes games. If the 49ers don’t get him, I hope to all that is holy the Seahawks don’t….

      1. His talent may be plutonium grade but so too are his red flags. I think Beckham is a strong candidate to slide during the draft and could still be available in the third round.

        1. No way in hell he slides to the 3rd Round. I don’t see Stinky Pete passing on him either at 31….

        2. No way in hell he slides to the 3rd Round. I don’t see Stinky Pete passing on him either at 31….

            1. The current situation with Josh Gordon has hurt his stock. I think it won’t matter even if he is a choir boy at his interviews.

              1. I don’t think Gordon will have any effect on DGB. Gordon has been afforded numerous opportunities to prove what is important to him. DGB will be drafted well before the third round, you can take that to the bank….

              2. Disagree. There’s been too many comparisons between the two already so Beckham has been affected by it.

              3. Affected by the media maybe but not by the professionals. By your logic, Randy Moss would have slid into the third round. It’s not going to happen….

              4. Different situation Razor. I don’t recall Moss being compared to another WR with impeccable talent but refused to stay out of his own way and thus faced a possible end to his career.

            1. I beg to differ. There top priority is wide out followed by ol, followed by dt, followed by te, followed by rb if Lynch calls it quits and even then I wouldn’t be surprised to see Stinky Pete bring in AP….

        3. How is being young and smoking pot a huge red flag? His only conviction is for trespassing. The key is, has he learned from his mistakes? Is he ready to move forward and learn what it takes to be a professional player in the National Football League. If your convinced you can check those yes boxes, then you take him and design plays for him that accentuate his skills, while at the same time you develop him into a receiver with your all pro wr coach….

          1. From NFL.com:

            Strengths Imposing physical specimen with outstanding height, weight and speed numbers. Smooth, effortless strides to chomp up cushion and blow by overconfident corners. Runs routes with forward lean and can activate second gear when he chooses. Rare catch radius with ability to pluck would-be interceptions and turn them into catches. Has soft, sure hands. Can see a throw late and still haul it in. Able to drive cornerbacks down the field and then break route off for wide-open look underneath. Shows flashes of special ability when ball is in the air. Plus body control. Can twist and contort in any direction in order to get his hands on a throw.

            Weaknesses Play strength is a major concern. Struggles to free himself from press coverage and can be taken completely out of his routes. Runs sloppy, rounded routes. Fails to set up his breaks and frequently leads cornerbacks to his destination. Slow to adjust routes and find open space against zone. Fails to create the separation that is potentially available for him at top of routes. Rarely looks to body up cornerbacks and keep them out of the throw. Suspect work ethic. Awareness of footwork near sideline an issue. Considered a problem child at Missouri. Suspended twice by Missouri and arrested twice for marijuana-related incidents. Kicked off team at Missouri in April 2014 after details of his alleged role in an alleged burglary were released by Columbia, Mo., police. He allegedly shoved a female student down some stairs during the alleged incident, but no charges were filed. Missed entire 2014 season.

            Sources Tell Us “I think the consistent problems for Josh Gordon are going to leak over and hurt his draft stock. He couldn’t keep himself out of trouble, had no structure growing up and didn’t take coaching at Missouri. He’s tall and fast and has good hands, but he can’t be trusted. Why would you take a guy like that before the third day?” — NFC director of personnel

            NFL Comparison Justin Hunter

            Bottom Line Long-strider with vertical ability to change a game and the catch radius and body control to make the difficult look easy. However, Green-Beckham struggles against physical cornerbacks, and is raw as a route runner with poor instincts when it comes to getting open. It’s easy to bet on the traits when a receiver has high football character and is a willing worker, but teams could pass on the traits early in the draft due to his perceived lack of work ethic and overall character.

            It’s the fact that he can’t stay out of trouble, was dismissed from the Missouri Tiger program, and is perceived to have a lacking work ethic that are the major red flags.

          2. @Razor….I am in agreement with you on Green-Beckham….just too many possibilities for greatness there. Would like to see himblended with Boldin on the outside and Patton in the slot…I think he could be had at 15…crossed fingers

        4. Warren Sapp slid due to Weed busts, but held up fine in the Pros on that front. Josh has not handled it at all over in Cleveland.
          GMs have to make a projection on the risk/reward. My current hunch is that Winston may be a higher “issues” risk than DGB. He is a higher risk at #15 than at #37, but DGB probably won’t last to #37.

          1. I don’t see a GM taking that big of a risk no matter the talent. Like Mathieu he will slip.

    2. I loved what Mayock said about him – after watching every reception in 2013 he saw a guy that has no idea what he’s doing but still impacts on games. Pretty much right.

        1. I don’t like quitting on the bench press for that reason. Maybe he should have stayed another year….

  19. I was thinking about Scooter’s assessment of Coates posted earlier; bad hands and seeming inability to track the ball in flight. Could the tracking problem be an eyesight issue? Takes longer to see the ball well to predict it’s trajectory?
    I noticed that with myself playing beer league softball years ago. In night games in the outfield I wasn’t getting any jump on the batted ball. Got tested, got glasses and my hitting and fielding improved. Age (what I called it way back then) had creeped up on me.
    Coates isn’t old, but maybe he should be tested.
    idk

    1. Yeah, I remember beer softball. We had a keg at 2nd base. If you hit a double you had to chug a beer when you reached second base. If the hit was potentially more than a double, you had to chug a beer before you could advance beyond 2nd base. Scores start to exponentially increase in about the 6th inning. Of course if your bat hit the keg it was an automatic double.

      1. Have to disagree with that. He certainly has some, but most of his drops are due to other factors. I’ve outlined what I think they are.

  20. Amazing how many key personnel decisions will be based on medical reports and personality assessments.

    Free Agents
    – Is 27 year old Crabtree recovering from his Achilles injury or has he permanently lost speed and quickness?
    – Is 27 year old Mike Iupati permanently slow down because of injuries, making it harder to pull or run power… or will re return to old form? (27 is a baby in O-linemen age)
    – Will Kendal Hunter recover, and if so will he get some other injury after only a few games?

    Possible Cap Casualties
    – Is Brooks so dissatisfied and belligerent that the 49ers will be forced to eat dead cap money and cut him?
    – Was Vernon dinged, distracted or on a mental strike?

    The Draft
    – Is Todd Gurley an injury risk?
    – Will DeVante Parker be saddled with chronic foot issues?
    – Will Dorial Green-Beckham turn into a locker room nightmare?

    I can’t remember a draft/PA season with so many decisions will be made based on character reports, medical exams.

    1. Funny.
      .
      When you read through all of those questions it sounds like a National Enquirer commercial?
      .
      –Has the Pentagon been commandeered by homosexual aliens?
      –Was Michael Jackson sleeping with his monkey?
      –Is squirrel urine the next super-fuel?
      .
      Enquiring minds want to know.
      .
      ‘I wanna know!’
      .
      .
      .
      ~ALOHA~

        1. The way I see it…cage-free means if you buy the chicken, you get the cage for free.
          .
          .
          .
          ~ALOHA~

  21. Baalke shouldn’t even comment. He looked like a jackass with all the press leaks last year and the unprofessional way Harbaugh was fired.

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