San Francisco 49ers Find a Recipe for Success in Jim Harbaugh

Sports Illustrated has never been known to shy away from voicing its opinions on all things sport-related.

One look at staff writer Alexander Wolff's scything open letter to University of Miami president Donna Shalala in a recent issue is evidence enough of that.

To SI's credit, their observations and criticisms are steeped in careful, calculated research. The method employed by its writers is a fastidious one—take, for example, the impressive analysis of each team in SI's College Football Preview edition.

So, when Phil Taylor (the guy who's currently battling it out with Joe Posnanski for Rick Reilly's former back-page editorial job) crafts an article praising new San Francisco 49ers coach Jim Harbaugh, you take notice.

Taylor's piece is the second full-length story SI has run on Harbaugh in less than a year. Usually, it's the superstar players who get multiple coverage; for a coach, it's almost unheard of.

True, in Harbaugh's case, his decision to leave Stanford after four years to take the head coaching job with the San Francisco 49ers likely affected the decision, but still. It speaks to the man's appeal that SI deems him important enough to cover—twice.

Last year, it was Michael Rosenberg who crafted a piece titled "Beat, Pray, Love" about the relationship between Jim and his brother, John, the head coach of the Baltimore Ravens.

Back then, Jim was the hot coaching commodity—the man who had gone from NFL quarterback, to Oakland Raiders assistant, to University of San Diego (I-AA) head coach, finally to Stanford, where, by that fourth year in charge (2010), helped lead the Cardinal to an 11-1 season and an impressive Orange Bowl rout of Virginia Tech.

It was a marked shift from his first season on The Farm, when he went 1-11. At that point, Harbaugh seemed like a guy who enjoyed biting off more than he could chew—no one had advised him to take the post at USD, but Harbaugh could care less about what other people think. When you're as fierce a competitor as he, you look at things a bit differently than most people.

No one thought he'd win two national titles with USD, but he did. No one thought he'd make the Cardinal a national power, but he did. Through sheer force of will, as he's done all his life, he made the Cardinal a force to be reckoned with.

Because, when it comes down to it, that's always been Harbaugh's M.O. He will do his damndest to excel at something—anything. His motor simply does not stop running.

That time he broke his arm during his sophomore year at Michigan, forcing him off the football field for the first time in his life. He channeled his rampant energy into academics, becoming an A student.

Perhaps the sign Harbaugh hung in his Stanford office said it best.

"

STANFORD FOOTBALL IS HUSTLE. CONSTANT HUSTLE. HUSTLING ALL THE TIME.

"

Taylor was writing about Harbaugh post-Stanford. It is clearly evident that the increase in salary has not quenched Harbaugh's insatiable thirst for competition. When nobody filled the tight end position for an offensive set during offseason practice, Harbaugh jumped in and "delivered a forearm shiver to his marker."

For a franchise eight years removed from postseason play, that kind of intensity is welcome indeed.

Energetic (almost to a fault) like his predecessor, Mike Singletary, Harbaugh also bears striking similarities to Bill Walsh, who also made the jump to the NFL coaching ranks from Stanford.

In bringing his West Coast offensive scheme with him from Stanford, which relies upon constant movement and requires mastery of a number of dizzying options, Harbaugh has instilled a burgeoning excitement in the Bay Area.

Walsh, who kick-started the Golden Age of the 1980s and '90s for San Francisco, when the team won five Super Bowls (four with Walsh, one with successor George Seifert), seems like he's been gone for an age. Since Seifert left the team in 1997, the Niners have cycled through coaches like they were going out of fashion.

Perhaps in Harbaugh, they've finally found someone who'll stick.

Harbaugh's meticulous approach to preparation, both in practice and during games, has already won over his new charges. It's a staple of his that everything be done at the highest-possible intensity during practice, a markedly different stratagem compared to most of his NFL colleagues.

While the preseason hasn't provided an instant transference of the excellent work on the practice field, as the Niners slumped to a comprehensive defeat in New Orleans, before coming back to beat the Raiders at home, only to be dismantled by the Texans 30-7 in the most recent fixture, the cogs are being set in motion for a rebirth of Niner football.

The jump from college to the pros is a historically challenging one (ask anyone from Butch Davis to Nick Saban to Pete Carroll's first stint with the Patriots—highly successful collegiate coaches who stumbled in the professional ranks.)

Harbaugh looks the part of a successful NFL head coach. Relentless drive, a life spent breathing football, a brilliant offensive mind. Yet, great traits don't always translate to success. NFL head coaching is a tricky business, and an incredibly precarious one. Some you'd expect to flourish, become mired in disappointment. Others you'd expect to struggle, thrive.

Harbaugh's as enigmatic as the Jets' Rex Ryan (albeit with less press conference cursing and tattooed bluster,) and as cerebral and accomplished an offensive mind as the Chargers' Norv Turner.

The writing seems set that he can do well. Yet, only time will tell if that will actually be the case.

For now, Harbaugh must make do with former No. 1 NFL draft pick Alex Smith under center. No one denies Smith's talent, and perhaps all it will take is a year or two under the guidance of Harbaugh to improve his consistency (OK, it's a reach, but stranger things have happened.)

Smith was impressed enough by Harbaugh to resign with the Niners on a one-year deal. All the years of criticism and booing were outweighed by the opportunity to work with a true quarterbacking genius.

And if Smith doesn't work out, Harbaugh's hand-picked QB of the future, Colin Kaepernick, drafted in April, is waiting in the wings, antsy to unleash that prodigious throwing arm and impressive physicality.

The Niners, picked to win the NFC West as recently as last fall, still possess a healthy collection of talent.

There is skill on offense, where Frank Gore and Vernon Davis hope Michael Crabtree joins them as established playmakers. Yet, that's been the problem with the Niners—on paper, they look like a playoff side. On the playing field, it's been a different story.

The defense, which will miss nose tackle Aubrayo Franklin, remains anchored by middle linebacker Patrick Willis, who is intimidating enough to send a ripple of fear down even the great Kenny Powers' back (check out their K-Swiss commercials if you haven't already.)

In all likelihood, 2011 will be a struggle. But then, Harbaugh's first season at Stanford in 2007 wasn't exactly glory-filled, either (although that upset of USC at the Coliseum was pretty cool.)

Harbaugh has shown is a superb capability to lift struggling teams, and cement them as perennial contenders. He did it at San Diego, repeated the feat at Stanford, and now will look to make it thrice with his first NFL head-coaching job.

If nothing else, this Niners season promises some fireworks. And that's just Harbaugh's all-out practices.

Just wait 'till gameday.