Even before last night’s ugly home loss against the Seahawks, the future of 49ers head coach Jim Harbaugh was very much up in the air, with many observers around the league believing someone else will be coaching the club in 2015. Following yesterday’s loss, Harbaugh’s seat seems to be even hotter. Niners CEO Jed York tweeted after the game that his team’s performance “wasn’t acceptable,” and apologized to fans for the showing, prompting speculation that Harbaugh might not even last until season’s end. While I don’t think a move involving Harbaugh is imminent, there’s certainly a sense of unease in San Francisco, where the Niners’ 7-5 record makes it an uphill battle to a playoff spot.
Here’s more on Harbaugh and the 49ers:
- While the notion of firing Harbaugh with several games left in the season “seems beyond ludicrous on the surface,” there’s a strong sense in league circles that the front office is looking forward to Harbaugh’s exit, writes Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk. As such, it’s not out of the realm of possibility that the club parts ways with Harbaugh and promotes Jim Tomsula to head coach to try to make a last-ditch run to the postseason. Still, with just four games left on the 2014 schedule, it seems more likely that the team will play out the year with Harbaugh and then try to see if they can trade him in the offseason to a team in need of a new coach.
- As something of an aside, Florio notes in the aforementioned piece that multiple league insiders believe Tomsula has the inside track to succeed Harbaugh as the Niners’ next head coach.
- The daughter of Niners general manager Trent Baalke tweeted after last night’s game that offensive coordinator Greg Roman “can take a hike,” though she has since deleted the tweet. Matt Maiocco of CSNBayArea.com (Twitter link) acknowledges that replacing Roman is one major move the team could make, but says there’s no indication Harbaugh is looking to make a change.
- Asked after last night’s loss if it was time to reevaluate the offense and make major changes, Harbaugh replied, “We always do that. We’ll do that again. We’ll evaluate it. I don’t know what you refer to with major changes” (link via Cam Inman of the San Jose Mercury News).
- For what it’s worth, Harbaugh had no reaction to York’s tweet, writes Maiocco at CSNBayArea.com.
- Prior to last night’s game, Florio wrote in a separate PFT piece that the 49ers’ silence on Harbaugh’s future has been deafening. With little support from the San Francisco front office, the question is now where Harbaugh will wind up — per Florio, many expect him to stay in the Bay Area, or at least on the West Coast, and the Raiders are viewed as the most likely landing spot.
Zach Links contributed to this post.