EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. - Each of the five interceptions the San Francisco 49ers snatched against Eli Manning on Sunday at MetLife Stadium told a tale and built cohesion for a team and franchise seeking every ounce of unity it can.
Jim Harbaugh, 49ers are trying to stay focused
It’s been a tough year for the 49ers head coach, as his team’s dealt with a rash of injuries and a torrent of rumors about his own status with the team. In spite of it all, Harbaugh and his players are doing their best to tune it out and concentrate on winning games.
Christian Petersen/Getty Images
The fourth one, with the final 9:48 remaining in a win over the New York Giants, proved most riveting in yarn and in glue.
"The defense was around coach (Jim) Harbaugh on the sideline before that series and he told us to go get the ball - but he was looking dead at me," 49ers cornerback Chris Culliver said. "When it's crunch time, he looks into my eyes. We are just in sync. We talk every day. Every day we get a little more closer and special. We kind of have a thing going on. I appreciate him. He has supported me through everything. We trust him. He is the 49ers coach. And we are not worried about anything else."
Culliver got the ball. Culliver made that pick. And afterward he raced to the sideline and handed the ball to his coach, to Jim Harbaugh.
The 49ers defense earned its final interception two series later at their own 2-yard line that sealed their 16-10 victory over the New York Giants.
But what Culliver did punctuated where and who the 49ers are.
A team trying to make a difference this season and beyond for themselves and their coach. A team built just like their coach, one full of grit and fight.
Photo via Brad Penner, USA Today Sports Images
They are 6-4 now and with half of their six games remaining against NFC West division rivals Seattle (twice) and Arizona (once). They have won consecutive road games at New Orleans and at the Giants that have boosted their perspective and hope.
Little wonder that this makeover has occurred on the road: Harbaugh, since becoming the 49ers coach in 2011, is 21-9 in road games, the best of any NFL coach during that span.
For now, it quiets the rumored discontent and disconnect between this combustible coach and his players and 49ers management, particularly general manager Trent Baalke and owner Jed York.
It illustrates the resolve of Jim Harbaugh.
He has dealt with only one year remaining on his contract and frosty relationships with 49ers management, no doubt involving contract issues, personalities and egos. He has dealt with defensive end Aldon Smith's and defensive tackle Ray McDonald's high-profiled off-field issues, embraced and carved a place in the locker room for the bullied Jonathan Martin from Miami, managed the high-strung receiver Michael Crabtree and worked through the season-ending injury and loss of warrior linebacker Patrick Willis. He has incessantly pushed the mantra of being less concerned with making each player happy but coaxing the maximum from each toward team goals.
He continues to manage massive expectations after producing 13-3, 11-4-1 and 12-4 records in his initial three 49ers seasons, especially since his current team has already lost as many games as any of his previous ones. His three straight NFC championship games and one Super Bowl loss have only fueled more fire for a signature Super Bowl victory.
But what others often overlook about Harbaugh is that there is no amount of outside pressure that can match his internal fire.
He trusts his coaches to coach.
He sturdily leads but his players notice a slice of his humble nature, for example, by his often parking the farthest away at the team’s practice facility lot rather than right at the front door. He is not “Lord over them,” one of his 49ers players said, but “always points his fingers in praise,” while still demanding for them to be tougher, stronger, understanding it is never OK to just be OK as an NFL player or team.
Any coach closely tutored by Bo Schembechler at the University of Michigan and by Mike Ditka with the Chicago Bears is going to be a firm and stout coach.
In today’s NFL game that features slick passing offense, multiple groupings, exotic formations and constant motion foremost in practices and in games, Harbaugh is a stickler on the basics of blocking and tackling.
This fundamental teaching and rock-solid emphasis is part of the root of his success.
“Our team is playing with a lot of heart and fight,” he said after the Giants were flattened.
What he meant was his team is exhibiting the type of fortitude that characterizes him.
"He's a good man, he's honest with us, and that is all you can ask for," 49ers receiver Anquan Boldin said. "He is our coach."
Tight end Vernon Davis said: "I have a good relationship with him. And what Chris Culliver did was just a beautiful thing. It's great to see something like that. I try to stay out of things I can't control. I try to stay in my lane. I don't want to see him go anywhere. But this is a business. You can never be surprised. We can only take it slow. All of the chips will fall where they need to fall. All of the chips will fall a little here and there and maybe then a little everywhere."
People want to know if Jim Harbaugh has simply had enough with 49ers management and at season's end is out of the door. They want to know if Baalke and York feel exactly the same way. They want to know if he wants to coach in college again, at Michigan or elsewhere. They want to know if he is already the Oakland Raiders future coach in waiting. They want to know just how many NFL teams will pursue him. Or if he can win Super Bowl XLIX in February, repair bridges, sign an extension and remain long-term with the 49ers.
These questions percolate because there are tangible tensions between Harbaugh and the 49ers management.
But there is also this:
"One thing about him is he is exactly what you want in a head coach, someone gritty, tough and who understands the game," 49ers guard Alex Boone said. "He is so energetic all of the time. He is a natural leader. He is not like 'woe is me' if we lose. He is not like 'look at me' if we win. I've seen coaches like that. We all have.
“We see things. We hear things. This game is a business. I hope he stays here. It’s up to him. It’s up to management. It is up to what each one decides is best. My feeling is you can’t take him. He’s ours.”
For however long he coaches them, Jim Harbaugh is letting his players know that feeling is reciprocal. That for these moments, at least, he is all theirs.
★★★
See More:
