Why Jim Harbaugh is Perfect For the Oakland Raiders
After three stellar years in San Francisco ending in this nightmarish fourth year, Jim Harbaugh could be heading across the Bay Bridge and wear silver and black in 2015.
It’s a little over the top to think that a coach would be fired after one losing season, considering the fact that he brought the franchise back from the dead, led them to three straight NFC title games and one Super Bowl appearance. If you look at his last three years at the helm in San Francisco, the Niners were a play away from three straight Super Bowl appearances and a Super Bowl ring.
But after failing to continue that “Quest for Six” this year, the San Francisco 49ers of Santa Clara are ready to part ways with Jim Harbaugh with San Francisco on the verge of finishing 2014 with their first non-winning season since 2010.
Keep in mind, this is after two near Super Bowl appearances and one near Super Bowl win, after eight losing seasons.
“I know just from Jim’s standpoint, he’s done something there that’s been absolutely historic and amazing, it’s never been really accomplished in the history of football before, in terms of what he’s done for the city and for the fans there and for the players there,” John Harbaugh said of Jim leading the 49ers to three straight NFC championship games in his first three seasons.
As they say, one man’s trash is another man’s treasure. And the cross-bay Oakland Raiders are hoping he could be their treasure.
Besides, it’s not like the Niners really wanted Harbaugh to stay anyway.
The Raiders coaching search should come down to two main candidates: Harbuagh and current interim head coach Tony Sparano, who is just 3-9 since taking over for the embarrassment that was Dennis Allen after Week 4.
Harbaugh is the favorite amongst everyone outside of the locker room, however several players have already endorsed Sparano as their choice for the main job in 2015. Should Sparano lead Oakland to a win over Denver at Mile High on Sunday, it should definitely help his cause.
However, as The San Jose Mercury’s own Marcus Thompson states in his column: the Raiders need to aim higher.
Sparano isn’t a bad interim coach, or a second fall-back option should the Raiders find another big-time head coach as a main fall-back to Harbaugh should he go somewhere else, like Michigan. Sparano hasn’t done a bad job keeping the team together and helped a team with virtually no talent and a lot of age give Raider Nation hope for 2015, in the same way that Hue Jackson and Tom Cable did before him.
With a team that has more challenges than an Olympic games ahead of him, the Raiders need that big time head coach who can resurrect a team from the grave. That man is and should be Jim Harbaugh.
(Ironic considering that we’ve seen this movie before between Sparano and Harbaugh in Miami in 2010.)
Ron Jaworski: "I know one thing, Jim Harbaugh can flat out coach. I would love to play for a Jim Harbaugh" #49ers
— 95.7 The Game (@957thegame) December 23, 2014
He helped Alex Smith become a relevant quarterback in 2011 and led the Niners to a surprising 13-3 record in 2011, their best record since 1997 and their second-best franchise record since they went 14-2 in 1992. Overall, Harbaugh is 43-19 as the Niners head coach going into Week 17, his final week with the Niners as San Francisco has already announced that they plan to fire him no later than Tuesday.
Considering how much of his coaching life he’s worked and lived in the state of California, especially the Bay Area, it is possible that he’ll leave for his alma mater Michigan, or New York or even Chicago. Since becoming an assistant coach in 1994, Harbaugh has spent the last eight years in the Bay, spending two years as the Raiders quarterbacks coach, helping Rich Gannon become a league MVP (and now possible Hall of Fame candidate), four years at Stanford where he helped develop some kid named Andrew Luck into a solid quarterback and San Francisco were he helped Alex Smith get a multi-year deal with the Chiefs. Overall he’s spent 15 years of his coaching career in California.
Now picture this: Harbaugh working with Derek Carr.
Carr led a less-talented Raiders team to a 24-13 win over the heavily favored San Francisco 49ers, throwing for 254 yards and three touchdowns on the day. Carr is incredibly coachable and a better leader than Kaepernick and someone Harbaugh could help develop into an All-Pro in 2015 and beyond, the same way he did with Smith in San Francisco and Luck in Stanford.
There’s your selling point, along with allowing him to keep his place in the Bay Area of course (because moving really, really sucks.)
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But if the Raiders are to get Harbaugh, they better get ready to pony up. Sources have said that Michigan has offered him a six-year deal worth $48 million, or $8 million per season.
Considering the fact that Davis is willing to spend whatever it takes to get him, Harbaugh could become the highest-paid coach in NFL history, a move that his father, the late Al Davis wouldn’t do.
With a young franchise-caliber quarterback and the opportunity to stay home in the Bay Area, it’s possible that Oakland could “have it better” than anyone else much sooner than anyone would’ve thought.
The drought seems to be coming to an end in Oakland real soon. Finally.