Trent Baalke held a press conference Friday at the NFL Scouting Combine. Here is a transcript. Q: Frank Gore will count $6 or $7 million against the salary cap this season. Is that reasonable? BAALKE: The simple is there is no reason it can’t be. We’re in a good shape from a cap standpoint. There really is no decision to be made. We can move forward exactly as is if…
Jim Harbaugh held a press conference Thursday at the NFL Scouting Combine. Here is a transcript. Q: How has coaching in college helped you evaluate draft prospects? HARBAUGH: It helped. I feel like it still does. There are players in this class who I didn’t coach, but I recruited them. And some I did coach. So you continue to know guys that went to other schools. You remember recruiting them,…
This is my Tuesday column on Mark Jackson: WARNING: This is a Warriors column. 49ers fans, feel free to skip this. OAKLAND – Out of nowhere, Mark Jackson started to act like a desperate head coach on Monday night. Before the Warriors played the Philadelphia 76ers, Mark Jackson informed the media that his starting center, Andrew Bogut, would miss his third game in a row with a shoulder injury. A…
This is my Thursday column. Dear player or coach for the San Francisco 49ers, This is your final report card for the 2013 season. Show this to your mother and make sure she signs her name at the bottom. COLIN KAEPERNICK: C+. I assumed you would improve, but you got worse. Somehow you became a less accurate passer, only occasionally hitting a receiver in stride. How did you get less accurate…
Colin Kaepernick gave the best interview of his pro career Wednesday morning on KNBR. Here is a transcript. Q: You look relaxed. KAEPERNICK: Once the season ends I can relax a little bit, talk a little bit more to the media. Q: Why are you shorter during the season and looser during the offseason? KAEPERNICK: To me, during the season the media is trying to find things to pick about,…
Here is my Friday column. The 49ers’ biggest need this offseason is not a player. Not a wide receiver. Not a cornerback. Not a safety. Talent isn’t the Niners’ problem – they might have the most talented team in the league. Sure, they could use a speed wide receiver, but they need something else. If they had what they needed, they would be Super Bowl champions already. They would have…
CSN Bay Area is reporting the 49ers considered promoting Eric Mangini to quarterbacks coach and Geep Chryst to offensive coordinator had another team hired Greg Roman to be its head coach. If this report is true, what do you think of it? I think promoting Mangini to QB coach — considering he has no experience coaching quarterbacks and considering how much coaching and development Colin Kaepernick still needs — would…
This is my column for Wednesday. The 49ers need a new quarterback. This is not to say the 49ers should give up on Colin Kaepernick — with the right coaching he may still have a future. But they shouldn’t go all in with him, either. The 49ers should hedge their bets, draft a quarterback who could back up Kaepernick as a rookie and could eventually take over as the starter…
SANTA CLARA — Here is a transcript of Jim Harbaugh’s final press conference this season, courtesy of the 49ers’ P.R. department. Can you give us an update on LB NaVorro Bowman? Is the timetable impacted because of the two ligament tears in his knee? “He’s got an ACL tear. We’ll see how MCL heals in the next two to three weeks. But, that’s not known if that has to…
SEATTLE – Here are my grades for the 49ers’ 23-17 loss to the Seahawks in the NFC Championship game. KAEPERNICK: D. He was the 49ers’ best offensive player, no question. He carried the 49ers’ offense all game. He made at least a half-dozen great improvisational plays. If it weren’t for those plays, what offense would the 49ers have had? The 58-yard run was Kaepernick improvising, and a couple of his…
This is my Sunday column on what makes Jim Harbaugh a good head coach. SEATTLE — Serious question — what makes Jim Harbaugh a good head coach? Clearly, he is a good coach. His record reflects that. More than three wins for every loss as a head coach in the NFL. But Harbaugh doesn’t call his own plays like Bill Walsh or Sean Payton, and Harbaugh isn’t a defensive specialist…
SANTA CLARA — Here is a transcript of Jim Harbaugh’s Thursday press conference courtesy of the 49ers’ P.R. department. Will LB Ahmad Brooks be able to practice today? What’s his status? “Feeling better today. Had a little bug.” Was he able to go in the walk through? “Yes.” I know it was a penalty on Sunday, but seeing a 260-pound guy go over the line like he…
This is my Wednesday column on the Seahawks’ passing game. Don’t blame Russell Wilson. People say the Seahawks’ passing game is spiraling counter-clockwise down the toilet because Wilson is in a slump. No. It might be more accurate to say that Darrell Bevell, the Seahawks’ offensive coordinator, is in a slump. “His passing game appears chaotic and out of sorts,” said a former NFL offensive coordinator. “Some weeks, Bevell is…
SANTA CLARA — Jim Harbaugh spoke in the 49ers’ media tent Wednesday afternoon. Here is a transcript courtesy of the 49ers P.R. department. In talking to people about this game there are some people and I guess a lot of fans that believe there is some lingering animosity between you and Seahawks head coach Pete Carroll. Is that false? What are your impressions about Pete as a person? “Animosity,…
CHARLOTTE – Here are the grades for the 49ers’ 23-10 divisional playoff win over the Panthers. KAEPERNICK: A-. He played terribly before the 49ers defense made their second goal line stand but, then again, most of the Niners played terribly before the second stand. After that, Kaepernick and the rest of the Niners were just about unstoppable. Kaepernick accounted for two touchdowns – a pass to Vernon Davis while rolling…
Here is a transcript of Jim Harbaugh’s Friday press conference courtesy of the 49ers. As you prepared for this game, how much was the focus just on getting their bodies right and more mental than physical? “It was both, both those things.” Just the fact that I know you kind of worked the schedule a little bit different for earlier practice times, you haven’t done that in the…
This is my Thursday column on the difference between the 49ers and Panthers. SANTA CLARA – The 49ers face a version of themselves this Sunday. If the 49ers are a “Bob,” the Panthers are a “Roberto.” For the most part, the 49ers and Panthers are the same team: Excellent, hard-hitting defenses. Quarterbacks who run and throw. Offenses built around running the ball. And coaches who are the sons of coaches…
SANTA CLARA — Jim Harbaugh spoke in the media tent Wednesday afternoon. Here is a transcript courtesy of the 49ers’ P.R. department. How do you feel about just the state of the team coming after the game and going forward health-wise? “I feel good. I think we’ll be close to full strength.” Where do things stand with CB Carlos Rogers? “Some things, we’re still healing and treatment. It’s…
GREEN BAY – After the 49ers beat the Packers, Jim Harbaugh strode to the visiting team’s podium, locked eyes with me and said to me, “You didn’t think we were going to pull that out, did you?” Of course I did, I said. And I really did. Who didn’t? “It’s not our first time,” Harbaugh said. “We’ve got a lot of tough guys here and they generated a lot of…
Here is my Thursday column on Jim Harbaugh. SANTA CLARA – It used to be so easy to get Jim Harbaugh to say too much. He used to love creating side narratives before big games. He was the side-narrative king, the Charles Dickens of football coaches. Maybe he didn’t like the 49ers’ chances of winning that particular game and he tried to even the odds by making the game about…
