Harbaugh's Rejects

Credit: Stan DeVaughn

By Joe Schackman

Just two-and-a-half minutes into Sunday night’s game against Lions, while most fans were still findin their seats, Alex Smith was leading his offense down the field. On first and 10 at Detroit’s 21-yard line, he stepped to the line with two plays ready. One was his primary play; the other, a backup to turn to based on the defensive alignment. After scanning the Lions’ front four, he stepped back and yelled, “Kill, Kill, Kill!” The signal for plan B. Smith then took the snap and lofted a gorgeous 21-yard touchdown pass to tight end Vernon Davis.

There’s no single statistic that quantifies the effectiveness of a head coach’s game planning ability, roster construction or motivational tactics. There’s no way to tell how much of the success or failure should fall on the shoulders of the guy in the headset. But even without that, it’s pretty easy to see just how drastically Jim Harbaugh has transformed the San Francisco 49ers.

Perhaps the most startling aspect of the Niners’ newfound dominance is that Harbaugh is leading the charge with other coaches’ players. Alex Smith, Vernon Davis, Michael Crabtree, Justin Smith, Patrick Willis, Frank Gore, Anthony Davis and Joe Staley are all remnants of the previous regimes. Regimes whose teams haven’t had a winning season since 2002.

Harbaugh did make some upgrades to the roster. He drafted outside linebacker Aldon Smith in the first round last year. He’s already one of the best young defenders in the league. He found Kendall Hunter in the third round, and convinced Donte Whitner to join the team as a free agent. He took chances on former first round busts Ted Ginn and Carlos Rodgers, both of whom have paid dividends.

But the fact remains that Harbaugh took on a core of other guys’ players, of serial underachievers, and turned them into a team that won 13 games, defeated the Saints in the playoffs and were a muffed punt return away from going to the Super Bowl.

The biggest beneficiary of Harbaugh’s coaching is quarterback Alex Smith. Picked ahead of Aaron Rodgers after a great career at Utah, he disappointed almost immediately. His play was never bad enough to warrant cutting him (and more importantly, eating a huge contract), but it was never good enough to instill any type of confidence in his abilities. He simply hung around, churning through head coaches and coordinators at an alarming rate.

Harbaugh changed all that. He made Smith’s comfort a priority, installing a conservative offense focused on just not making mistakes. Throw a dump pass on 3rd down, punt and live to fight another day. It wasn’t flashy, but it bolstered Smith’s confidence. And by the time San Francisco reached the divisional round, he was ready for his breakout performance.

Now, with an entire offseason under Harbaugh, the 49ers have defeated two of the NFC’s best. Newcomers Randy Moss, Mario Manningham and A.J. Jenkins are there to help speed Smith’s development, while that pre-Harbaugh core provides steadiness on either side of the ball. What was once a sorry group of what-ifs and coulda-beens could now be the top team in the league.

It’s impossible to know how much of a role Harbaugh played, or what kind of impact any coach has on their respective team. Would Bill Belichick and Tom Coughlin have multiple championships if their quarterbacks weren’t on the path to Canton? It’s football’s version of the chicken or the egg. But in lieu of the perfect stat, there’s at least one measurement that gives us a good idea of Harbaugh’s influence: 2-0.

Joe Schackman is an editor and co-founder of Began in '96.