USA TODAY Sports' Lindsay Jones offers insight into what to expect from the Jets 49ers Bears Falcons and Raiders. USA TODAY Sports
San Francisco 49ers head coach Jim Harbaugh stands on the sideline during action against the Washington Redskins in the second quarter at Levi's Stadium.(Photo Cary Edmondson USA TODAY Sports)
San Francisco 49ers owner Jed York and general manager Trent Baalke answered questions for more than 45 minutes on Monday but the Niners' bosses provided little solid reason for why Jim Harbaugh is no longer the team's head coach.
The 49ers and Harbaugh announced Sunday evening they had mutually parted ways after the conclusion of Harbaugh's fourth year with the team.
Clearly it wasn't an issue of winning. The Niners' win on Sunday against the Arizona Cardinals was Harbaugh's 49th regular season win as head coach and he also had a 5 3 postseason record.
But if it wasn't winning what was it
Neither York nor Baalke had many specific answers to provide in the press conference that often grew quite contentious. Neither would comment about personality conflicts between themselves and Harbaugh and Baalke even said that stories about discord between himself and the coach were inaccurate.
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So what was it
York said he and Harbaugh had philosophical discussions over the past few weeks and ultimately decided it would be best if they no longer were a team. The Niners let Harbaugh go Sunday without getting any compensation they could have tried to trade him York acknowledged with one year remaining on his contract.
We just couldn't come to a place where we thought moving together was the best for either party. This wasn't us saying 'Jim you're fired.' This wasn't Jim saying 'I don't want to be there I'm leaving.' It was a discussion that took place over a decent amount of time to figure out what's best for everybody involved York said. It was a conclusion we came to. It wasn't an easy conclusion for anybody. But that's what where we ended up.
But why Jed
Well it was at least clear that the Niners did not win enough games this season they finished 8 8 this season and out of the playoffs but after the marathon media session it was unclear if reaching the postseason or even the Super Bowl could have salvaged the relationship between Harbaugh and the front office.
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More clear was that York was unhappy with the manner in which both 49ers players had behaved off the field and how the organization handled off field transgressions in recent years. Things that were somehow accepted while the team was winning from 2011 2013 blew up in 2014 when the team was struggling.
York was careful to not place blame for Aldon Smith's 2013 drunken driving arrest and decision to allow the outside linebacker to play later on Harbaugh. York also accepted responsibility for the decision to allow former defensive end Ray McDonald to remain on the active roster for more than two months while he was under investigation for domestic violence. Harbaugh was the one who assumed the criticism for that move. McDonald was released earlier this month hours after he was named as a suspect in a sexual assault investigation.
Several times York mentioned the Niners lacking class in recent years.
Our mission is very simple The San Francisco 49ers win with class. We haven't won and I don't think we've conducted ourselves with the level of class that I expect of our organization York said. We've had off the field issues. That's going to happen in sports. The level that it's happened here is not acceptable.
Let this be a warning then for the next head coach of the San Francisco 49ers. Because the message from ownership was clear Winning isn't enough.
Follow Lindsay H. Jones on Twitter bylindsayhjones.
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