Trent Baalke and Jim Harbaugh: The Search for a Quarterback

The San Francisco 49ers went after Jim Harbaugh to be their head coach because they were looking for someone with an offensive background. After having two defensive-minded head coaches and a failure at finding a franchise quarterback it was very much welcomed by fans.

Harbaugh has proven he has an innate ability to develop successful quarterbacks after having successes with Josh Johnson at University of San Diego and turning Andrew Luck into a first overall pick in the NFL draft, whenever he decides to leave Stanford. 

Jim Harbaugh also has a history of evaluating quarterbacks and being "spot-on" as to their future NFL success.  Matt Maiocco of CSN Bay Area reports that when Harbaugh was with the Raiders back in 2002 and 2003 he was evaluating the quarterbacks in the NFL draft and giving them pre-draft grades.  "Harbaugh placed a second-round grade on Tony Romo, who went undrafted. He had a higher grade on Jaguars fourth-round draft pick David Garrard, who has been a solid NFL starter the past four seasons. Harbaugh did not have a good grade on Joey Harrington, the third overall pick of the Lions in 2002" according to Maiocco.


The 49ers have a lot of room on their roster for quarterbacks with only one quarterback under contract for the 2011 season, whenever it comes. Currently David Carr is under contract through the 2011 season but it is unlikely that he will be viewed as anything other than a backup quarterback.

Nate Davis, a fan favorite, will also not be in the discussion after signing a future contract last week with the Seattle Seahawks. Davis is next in line of former 49ers to join the Seahawks where Scot McCloughan, former 49ers GM, has a front office position.

Trent Baalke and Jim Harbaugh will first look in the NFL draft for their starting quarterback and with the #7 selection they will have some choices. Whether they use that pick on a quarterback is up to Baalke, who now has full control of the 53-man roster. Baalke and Harbaugh will also likely look at free agency and the trade market for a starting quarterback but unlike previous years that period will likely be after the NFL draft, which might work out for the 49ers.

With no new CBA signed, teams cannot trade players or sign free agents until a new CBA is agreed upon. If the CBA is not signed before the NFL draft then free agency will start after the draft. The advantage for teams like the 49ers is they will be able to trade their draft picks for upcoming years without a team trying to capture this year’s draft pick. Say for example, the 49ers trade their first-rounder next year for a quarterback like Kevin Kolb. It is likely that Kolb will lead them to a better season than they had this year and therefore the Eagles would get a pick that was not as good as this year.

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49ers’ tight end Vernon Davis will be on the T.Ocho Show tonight on Versus. The show is scheduled to start at 7:30 p.m. (PST) and Davis will discuss the quarterback situation with former-49er Terrell Owens.

49ers Get Their Guy, Jim Harbaugh

Jed York and the San Francisco 49ers finally got their guy.

Jed York was attacked by the media through this entire process. A process that started earlier last week when York started the faux General Manager search which seemed to be a farce with a planned outcome of hiring Trent Baalke.

Although York said that the new general manager would be the one to hire the head coach, it was clear that Jim Harbaugh was the target from the beginning. During York’s general manager search York was looking for a general manager that had connections to Harbaugh so he could make sure to get him and that is why both Michael Lombardi and Trent Baalke were the finalists for the general manager job.

Now it doesn’t matter if the Trent Baalke hiring was a staged act with the leading actor being Jed York because he delivered the golden prize, Jim Harbaugh. After a five-day chase of Harbaugh where the 49ers were competing with two other NFL teams and two college teams it turned out that the 49ers were Harbaugh’s choice.

At one point, it seemed like the 49ers were out of it as the Miami Dolphins flew cross-country and reportedly were ready to offer upwards of $8 million a year for him to be their head coach. Whether that is true is another story as it would open them up for a fine from the league but they dropped out of the Harbaugh sweepstakes late Thursday night. After they dropped out of the chase it was between Stanford and the 49ers and most reports saying that he would go back to Stanford.

Then at 12:36 on Friday, Adam Schefter of ESPN reported that Jim Harbaugh had agreed to a five-year, $25 million deal with the San Francisco 49ers.

Jim Harbaugh gives the 49ers a coach from is well versed in the West Coast Offense for the first time since Steve Mariucci was the coach. Harbaugh has already said that he will be running the WCO to much jubilation of former 49ers and fans.

His first act as head coach will be to find a quarterback. As it stands now David Carr is the only quarterback that is under contract for 2011.

Harbaugh has a good record when it comes to developing quarterbacks. When he was at the University of San Diego he developed Josh Johnson, who is now with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, and when he was at Stanford he developed quite the player in Andrew Luck. Maybe you’ve heard of him.

The 49ers have the #7 pick in the upcoming NFL draft and will possibly have the option to draft Missouri’s Blaine Gabbert, Washington’s Jack Locker, Auburn’s Cam Newton, or Arkansas’ Ryan Mallet.

49ers Executives Meeting with Jim Harbaugh

By now you have heard that Trent Baalke has been hired as the new General Manager of the San Francisco 49ers. President Jed York has made his first act as the new GM to find a new head coach.

Hmmm…I wonder who that could possibly be.

I guess Hue Jackson, the Oakland Raiders offensive coordinator, and Perry Fewell, the New York Giants defensive coordinator, are possibilities since the 49ers requested permission to interview both gentlemen. In fact, the San Francisco 49ers interviewed Jackson today for a few hours and reportedly went very well.

But there’s got to be someone else.

I did hear a report that the 49ers were supposed to meet with a college coach from Stanford but that never works out. College coaches usually are not successful in the NFL and especially guys from Stanford.

All kidding aside, unless you live under a rock then you know that Jed York and newly named General Manager Trent Baalke have been meeting with Jim Harbaugh for a few hours today at an unnamed location. Based on the length that this “meeting” has been going on it appears it is more than just an interview.

Although both the Denver Broncos and Miami Dolphins are interested in Harbaugh’s services it has been said that he would prefer to stay local. Harbaugh and his wife just recently had a baby and she is said to want to stay in the bay area.

If Harbaugh does accept the job with the 49ers he will likely get a lot of power and have control of the 52-man roster much like his predecessors. His first act will to find a quarterback for next season, whenever that happens. As of today the 49ers only have one quarterback signed for next year, David Carr.

As the Harbaugh Turns

Since Jed York started the interviewing process for the new General Manager the speculation has been that it was Trent Baalke’s job to lose. Many of the NFL biggest reporters like ESPN’s Adam Schefter and NFL Network’s Jason La Canfora has suggested that Baalke would be named the GM within days of the York’s announcement that he was looking for a new GM. Even NFL Network’s Michael Lombardi said, after interviewing for the job with Jed York, that Baalke would be named the new GM within 48 hours and that report was a week ago.

Trent Baalke was interviewed on Saturday by Jed York for the General Manager position and reportedly was expected to sign the contract then. That did not happen but all indications are that it is still his job to lose.

Well, he may have lost it.

Earlier today the speculation was that Jed York was not only looking for a GM that was the right fit for the job but a GM that could deliver Stanford head coach Jim Harbaugh. ProFootballTalk reported today that Harbaugh is not interested in the 49ers job with Trent Baalke as the GM and according to a source Harbaugh would rather work with Michael Lombardi.

Then Matt Maiocco of Comcast SportsNet Bay Area reported that Jed York interviewed a candidate in person, which was possibly Lombardi.

David White of the San Francisco Chronicle is reporting that the decision is likely to come Wednesday after York interviews one more candidate. He also reported that York interviewed a few candidates today on the phone.

It seems that whichever executive/GM can get Harbaugh then they will have the job. Although York said it would be the GM who chose the head coach, it seems that he very much wants Harbaugh and will hire whatever GM that Harbaugh wants.

Was releasing Nate Davis the right move?

Mike Singletary made it be known, a few times, that he was not impressed with Nate Davis' work ethic and even questioned whether he would make the team.

"That's a question mark.  It will be a topic of conversation..."

The question was whether the public comments were a motivational tool or Singletary had truly gone sour on Davis. Singletary has been known to use press conferences as motivation for players (see Davis, Vernon).

In related news, the 49ers released Davis and signed former Ohio State QB, Troy Smith.

Singletary has been less than thrilled with his backup QBs and when asked about his comfort level he said:

"When you say comfortable, I'll put it this way," he said. "I feel good about Alex Smith. I feel very good about where he's at. I think we have to do a great job of protecting our starting quarterback. When it comes to David Carr, I think David Carr is a guy that I could grow to feel comfortable with. I think he's a guy that has a good command of the offense. I think he understands, I just think that he's still thinking a lot and he's still having to get the rhythm and all the other things, but I think David Carr, I could grow to feel comfortable with him."

That's not exactly praising words for Nate Davis or David Carr.  After those comments it was no doubt that Singletary sent Trent Baalke shopping for a new QB.

The question was would it be Carr or Davis that would be cut.  Personally, I would have thought they would cut Carr.  He has a higher salary and you already know what you have with him.

That move speaks more to Singletary's lack of confidence in current starter, Alex Smith, then his frustration and lack of confidence in his backups.

The whole "why did we cut Nate Davis" sentiment could be all for not.  It's possible he is nothing more than a gunslinger who will never make it in the NFL but why stop the "Nate Davis project" early.  When he was drafted the 49ers brass stated he was a three-year project but then he was cut after the first year and a half.