NFL Honors 2012: Why San Francisco 49ers Jim Harbaugh Deserves Coach of the Year

When the 2011 NFL season began, there was a lot of uncertainty among a few teams, especially those with new head coaches.

Franchises like the San Francisco 49ers, Denver Broncos, Cleveland Browns and Carolina Panthers, among others, had a new coach at the helm. In addition, the Cincinnati Bengals were in dire straits and beginning anew with a rookie quarterback in Andy Dalton.

Plus, the Philadelphia Eagles were considered a Super Bowl contender with all their offseason acquisitions. All this being said, the NFL lockout didn't have too much of an effect, and it turned out to be one exciting season.

But, it was a turning point in the Bay Area with Jim Harbaugh taking over.

It's definitely easy to argue Marvin Lewis in Cincinnati, because the Bengals did make the playoffs despite having such a young team. Not to mention how difficult the division turned out with Pittsburgh and Baltimore.

Ron Rivera in Carolina has a decent argument, especially with the production by rookie quarterback Cam Newton. However, the Panthers did only finish 6-10 but do have increased expectations in 2012.

As for Harbaugh, he was taking over a franchise that had zero winning seasons from 2003-2010.

The best year prior to Harbaugh during that stretch was 8-8, but that only happened once (2009). Collectively, Harbaugh was beginning his NFL head coaching career with a team whose record was 46-82 between the previous eight seasons.

The 49ers had a quarterback in Alex Smith who's been under a different offensive coordinator virtually every year since 2005 (his rookie year) and Harbaugh was his third head coach.

In a seven-year career, that's too many changes to adapt to especially in a league driven by consistency.

Well, needless to say, San Francisco was taken over by Harbaugh and the 49ers went 13-3, won the NFC West, were the NFC's No. 2 seed in the playoffs and were an overtime period away from Super Bowl XLVI.

Considering not only Smith still needing to develop this season and an offense with a mediocre receiving corps, Harbaugh knew that relying on defense and running the ball was the 49ers' best option.

In short, he maximized their strengths while improving the weaknesses, and Smith is now an up-an-coming quarterback. Backed by a menacing and stellar defense, all San Francisco needs is one standout receiver to break games wide open.

However, none of this would be possible without Jim Harbaugh because his eclectic coaching style emits a positive and respectful hunger for success in the locker room. Although he played quarterback in the NFL, he knows that a complete team is needed to win, not just overstocking on offense or defense like some coaches.

He understands the complexion of the game but can break it down to simplicity for his developing players. With so much pro football and coaching experience/success under his belt, it's no surprise that Harbaugh made the 49ers pull a 180-degree turn for the better in one season.

John Rozum on Twitter.