49ers Still In Running to Sign Jim Harbaugh After Dolphins Stick With Sparano

by Orly Rios Jr.

Despite not having played an NFL game in over 11 years, Jim Harbaugh has been the NFL media darling the last 48 hours as news reports came in that the Miami Dolphins were willing to lure away Head Coach Jim Harbaugh from Stanford for as much as $8 million per year, which would make him among the highest paid coaches in the league, despite not having an NFL Coaching resume.

On Wednesday, the 49ers top brass, which included President Jed York, met with Jim Harbaugh for over five hours at an undisclosed location and seemed the front runner to land Harbaugh, until the Miami Dolphins swooped in on Thursday.

But news broke late Thursday evening the Miami Dolphins are no longer interested in Jim Harbaugh and have decided to retain Tony Sparano as their Head Coach at least for the next season.

With Quarterback Andrew Luck deciding earlier in the day to stay at Stanford for his junior season, rumors have begun to swirl that Harbaugh may be heading back to Stanford with Luck returning.

Now reports are being circulated that the San Francisco 49ers are back in the running and have upped their contract offer from $4.5 million per year to as much as $6 million.

Jed York, the current 49ers President stated following the 49ers loss to the Rams back on December 26 that "Money is no object;" however, it appeared that once Miami was willing to go as high as $8 million, the 49ers were all but out of the Jim Harbaugh sweepstakes.

With Miami out, the 49ers are back in.