Jim Harbaugh is busy competing for championships at the University of Michigan, just like he competed for championships with the San Francisco 49ers.
During his time in the Bay Area, Harbaugh developed a rapport with Mercury News Columnist Tim Kawakami. Harbaugh appeared on The TK Podcast Thursday and had a couple of noteworthy things to say about the 49ers.
Harbaugh began this portion of the podcast by thanking Kyle Shanahan for dropping his name as one of the great 49ers coaches in history during Shanahan’s introductory press conference. He also said he doesn’t think he was in town long enough to be compared to Bill Walsh and George Siefert.
Harbaugh posted a 44-19-1 record in his first four seasons with the 49ers, the fourth-best start to a coaching career in NFL history. Since, Jed York has both hired and fired Jim Tomsula and Chip Kelly.
“I think we did set a record for coaching there the longest under the present ownership,” Harbaugh said. “I take pride in that. Maybe there should be an endurance medal, a courage medal, for that.”
Harbaugh said he hasn’t had any conversations with Jed York since leaving the 49ers after the 2014 season. Kawakami asked the coach if he thinks York was bothered by his strong personality.
“I’m not in the mood to pile on,” Harbaugh said.
You can add Harbaugh on the list of people who support the move of hiring John Lynch as GM. And it’s the way the former broadcaster went about the interviewing process that caught Harbaugh’s attention.
“I would love to work for John Lynch,” Harbaugh said. “When they were going through the process of the hiring, he didn’t want his name mentioned. I don’t know if a lot of people noticed that but I think that’s a profound thing. That speaks volumes for who he is as a person.”
We could go on and on from this interview, but you might as well listen to it for yourself. It’s very entertaining.