Jim Harbaugh spoke to the Press Democrat’s former 49ers beat reporter, Brian Murphy, this morning on KNBR’s the Murph and Mac show.
Here’s the transcript of the interview.
Q: How is Youngstown today?
HARBAUGH: It’s good. We’re having a good day. Game planning for the Eagles. Players are getting their lifts in over at Youngstown State University, and we’re plugging along.
Q: Do you guys get the Youngstown State football offices?
HARBAUGH: Well they have a bye week. They don’t play this week, so that’s something that worked out very well. We do have their facilities – both their game stadium and their indoor facility and their weight room. They’re being very accommodating. We really appreciate all the efforts by the folks at Youngstown State and here in Youngstown. It’s kind of nice, we’re getting treated like kings here.
Q: Does it feel like college or like training camp in a way?
HARBAUGH: It does in some ways. It feels like that. It feels like a bowl game. We’re in a hotel. We have all our video set up here. Meals are eaten here in the hotel. Guys go out to the Longhorn Steakhouse that’s across the street. There’s pizza getting delivered to the hotel. It’s not an animal house by any stretch of the imagination. Guys got together and watched Monday Night Football last night. There’s kind of that collegiate camaraderie going on.
Q: You’re 2-1 and in first place. Does that carry weight this early in the season.
HARBAUGH: Well, you’d like to get ahead and stay ahead. But this early in the season, no, we’re not looking at standings or anything like that. It’s a good spot to be in. We’re not where we want to be. We’re judging success by are we better today than we were yesterday? Are we better tomorrow than we were today? That’s the standard by which we measure success and that’s what we said going into the season and we’re sticking with that plan.
Q: When the Cincinnati game settled into your brain, what do you think were the most important things that happened? Was it just the win? Was it the defense making the big picks? Or was it the fourth quarter drive?
HARBAUGH: Certainly those things. There’s an old football axiom that you never played as well as you thought you did, and you never played as poorly as you thought you did when you watch the tape. In some ways that was true. Defensively it was a fantastic performance. It was a real defensive gem that our guys turned in in the way that they kept getting stops, stop after stop. Sudden change where we turn the ball over in the red zone offensively and the defense goes out and holds them to a field goal. That was huge. The interceptions were huge. Even the first drive of the game where the Bengals drove 75 yards and then had first and five at our five, and our defense forces another field goal there. And Ahmad Brooks made all three plays – a tackle for a loss, a pressure on the quarterback, and then a second tackle. He was a one-man wrecking crew on our defense. A lot of positives there. Offensively, yes, the big fourth quarter drive. Our team came out after halftime and made some good adjustments, stayed patient, and in the second half we were able to move the ball, pick up first downs, and that led to the game winning points. And then also David Akers, who’s seven for seven now on field goals, kicked a 53 yarder in the game which was his 300th career made field goal. A lot of bright spots.
Q: What are you learning about Vernon Davis, the man and the player?
HARBAUGH: Well we’re learning about all the players. We’ve been together now two months. We’re getting to know them. They’re getting to know me. Vernon Davis has got a big heart, that’s what I’ve learned. He is a strong, mighty man. He wants the team to do well. He wants to win. That’s what I’ve learned about Vernon. And he came out and performed very well. And a lot of times people see the catches and they say Vernon’s involved, Vernon had a good game because he caught the football. What I don’t think most people see is the blocks. The dominant blocker than Vernon is and can be. He is a huge part of our offense.
Q: That big throwback screen to Vernon Davis in the fourth quarter, had you been waiting all game to call that? Did you bait the Bengals on that?
HARBAUGH: Players and coaches, play callers on the offensive side of the ball, I thought they did a great job of being patient. That football game, from an offensive perspective, it was tough, it was rough, it was hard to get yards, it was painful at times. Like going to the dentist. Sometimes you get frustrated and you want to force something to make a big play when it’s not there. It takes a degree of patience to wait for it and then pick the right time to make it happen. I think our offense did that, and that play was certainly an example.
Q: Is Frank Gore good to go this Sunday?
HARBAUGH: Yeah, we’ll see. We’ll start practicing tomorrow and see exactly where Frank is. Frank is one of the toughest football players I’ve ever been around, so if I was to make an educated guess I would say he’s good to go.
Q: Did you intimate to the beat reporters that some offensive line jobs are open for competition this week?
HARBAUGH: No, I did not intimate that. It’s amazing how things get…I didn’t read any articles, but no I did not intimate that the offensive line is up for competition.
Q: So the same five guys are going to start for you…
HARBAUGH: I mean it always is. There’s always competition. I’ve said all along that we have seven guys on our offensive line that are starter-caliber and that we consider as starters. That will remain the case. How we choose to substitute guys and how to use them in terms of the scheme, whether we play a group of five or a different group of five, or six or seven at one time, that’s how we choose to do it and I wouldn’t read anything more into that or construe it any other way. That’s football. That’s knowing football. Sometimes I don’t think everyone quite gets that.
Q: Was Andy Lee supposed to run out the clock on that last play?
HARBAUGH: If he could run out the clock, yes. But under no circumstances was he to get hit or have any chances of losing the football in the end zone. Priority No. 1 – catch the football. Retreat back into the end zone. Run off as much time as he possibly could. Watch the defenders as they’re approaching. Get right at the back line, and then as soon as they got near him, step out of the back of the end zone. He executed it very well.
Q: It got a little hairy though, having to kick that last safety punt from the 20.
HARBAUGH: Yeah, they were bring double-edge pressure off the edges, and what we’re asking Andy to do is directionally punt the ball out of bounds, and sometimes that can be tough. You angle it to the left and you’ve got edge pressure coming from the left. You try to angle it to the right out of bounds and you’ve got edge pressure coming from the right. And what can sometimes happen is the ball can get kicked back into the center of the field because you don’t want the punt blocked, and then the returner has a chance for a return, which you saw Desean Jackson do against the New York Giants last year. Thought the most prudent thing was to take a safety, and then line up for a safety kick where there was no chance for a block, and now Andy can navigate that punt with less of a chance for a return.
Q: Did you know that you’re only the third 49ers head coach to win his first road game? Monte Clark, George Seifert, Jim Harbaugh. Does that mean anything to you?
HARBAUGH: It sure does. Winning means a lot. We’re happy to be 1-0. Looking for No. 2.
Q: Are you expecting Philadelphia to be a den of hostility on Sunday?
HARBAUGH: Yes. Wow. That paints a picture. Den of hostility. That’s why you do what you do.
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