[Mick]

I was listening to Brent Jones speak on KNBR in Harbaugh's third year as coach.  Jones specifically addressed locker room challenges that Harbaugh had as a somewhat crazed coach.  Now remember, to that point, Harbaugh had enjoyed incredible success including a Super Bowl and two other conference championship games, three consecutive conference championships in his first three years as a head coach -- that had never been done before.  Today, even after his 8-8 season, Harbaugh's career coaching percentage is better than all post-1930 FB coaches not named John Madden, Vince Lombardi or George Allen.  So Harbaugh's star was ridiculously high.

I don't recall Jones' exact comments, but it was an eye opener that clearly surprised the host as well.  Jones stated that Harbaugh was really hard on players, definitely not a player's coach.  He said that Harbaugh's EUTM/"Who's got it better than us?" schtick was a schtick that wouldn't play well with NFL players in general after the first year.  He said Harbaugh was a good coach, but in answer to the host's last question "Would you have wanted to play for him?" Jones replied "Maybe."

Yikes.  It was a stunning series of comments on a coach who achieved on a level superior to that of all other coaches in his first three years.

[Mick]

I was listening to Brent Jones speak on KNBR in Harbaugh's third year as coach.  Jones specifically addressed locker room challenges that Harbaugh had as a somewhat crazed coach.  Now remember, to that point, Harbaugh had enjoyed incredible success including a Super Bowl and two other conference championship games, three consecutive conference championships in his first three years as a head coach -- that had never been done before.  Today, even after his 8-8 season, Harbaugh's career coaching percentage is better than all post-1930 FB coaches not named John Madden, Vince Lombardi or George Allen.  So Harbaugh's star was ridiculously high.

I don't recall Jones' exact comments, but it was an eye opener that clearly surprised the host as well.  Jones stated that Harbaugh was really hard on players, definitely not a player's coach.  He said that Harbaugh's EUTM/"Who's got it better than us?" schtick was a schtick that wouldn't play well with NFL players in general after the first year.  He said Harbaugh was a good coach, but in answer to the host's last question "Would you have wanted to play for him?" Jones replied "Maybe."

Yikes.  It was a stunning series of comments on a coach who achieved on a level superior to that of all other coaches in his first three years.