Top 10 most dysfunctional teams in the NFL
By Dani Bostick
3. San Francisco 49ers
The messy breakup between former head coach Jim Harbaugh and the 49ers front office would be enough for the 49ers to be the third-most dysfunctional team in the NFL. Even beyond the Harbaugh-49ers breakup, however, there is still a slew of reasons.
Let’s flashback to the 2015 offseason when the temperamental Harbaugh and the organization parted ways. On February 14, Harbaugh complained about his former employer via ESPN.com:
"“I was told I wouldn’t be the coach anymore. And then.. you can call it ‘mutual,’ I mean, I wasn’t going to put the 49ers in a position to have a coach they didn’t want anymore. But that’s the truth of it. I didn’t leave the 49ers. I felt like the 49er hierarchy left me.”"
According to many sources, including Peter King, the main reason behind the 49ers decision was that the organization simply did not like Harbaugh, who is said to be intense and difficult. According to Bleacher Report, the 49ers general manager said, via an unnamed NFL representative, “I just can’t deal with Jim anymore. This guy is a nut. Every day he’s bitching at me about something new. It’s this, it’s that. He’s wearing us all out. He’s grinding us down.”
Even now that Harbaugh is gone, the 49ers are still strugging to regain their footing. Uncertainty surrounding quarterback Colin Kaepernick has been a perpetual offseason story, while the firing of last season’s head coach Jim Tomsula does not provide for much stability going into the 2016 season.
A final problem with the 49ers? Levi’s Stadium, their new home, has significant turf problems. Check out the video of the Baltimore Raven’s Justin Tuck seemed to sink into the turf on a field goal attempt he ended up missing.
Next: 2. Washington Redskins