The 49ers appear close to coming out of what was a very dark tunnel, thanks to John Lynch and Kyle Shanahan having, at least based on their first draft, some clue as to what they were doing. It's early yet, but 49ers fans can feel at least half decent about how the team is being built and run.
With things going well -- it is all relative and, man, things were going poorly for San Francisco for a while there -- owner Jed York is feeling sort of magnanimous, or least wistful, and is interested in the possibility of sitting down with former coach Jim Harbaugh and trying to clear the air.
The two sides parted on less than friendly terms, with Harbaugh leaving for his alma mater Michigan as a replacement for Brady Hoke. Harbaugh has since said he deserves "a medal" for lasting as long as he did with the 49ers. The team fired two coaches in that span, with Jim Tomsula and Chip Kelly each lasting just a single year.
The 49ers have been in a tailspin since, but York said on Peter King's podcast at TheMMQB.com that (via Niners Nation) he doesn't necessarily "regret" letting Harbaugh leave.
"I don't know if 'regret' is the right word. We had a lot of success together. We tried several times to get an extension done with Jim and, for whatever reason, those didn't culminate. And, ultimately, as successful as he was here, I think Jim is very happy. He's doing an unbelievable job at Michigan," York said. "We obviously didn't have success after Jim left [but] I don't know that we'd be sitting here with John Lynch and Kyle Shanahan if something happened. And I don't know if it would have worked out long-term if we did get something done.
"I regret how we performed the last two years. I regret the relationship frayed between me and a coach that did a lot of great things for this franchise."
York added that he spoke with John Harbaugh of the Ravens (who, yes, is Jim's brother) and the other Har-bro suggested that York and Jim get together for dinner sometime. Jed likes the idea.
"I actually talked to his brother John briefly at the owners' meetings and he said 'You know, you guys need to get together some time and have dinner,' and I said, 'I'd love to do that.' I'd love to get together," York said. "And I think enough time has kind of passed where you can let whatever issues were there be buried and just truly be thankful for three great years when nobody expected us, certainly in 2011, to beat the Saints the way we did, to get close and, you know, be two muffed punts away from going to a Super Bowl in '11. Just all the things that happened.
"I'd love to sit down with Jim. Not in front of cameras, not in front of anybody else but just share an evening with him and truly say thank you and wish him the best of luck. Not obviously when he plays Notre Dame, but for the rest of the season, wish him the best of luck."
Couple of requests from the general population here. One, can this meeting please take place at a steakhouse and feature a very serious Jim Harbaugh drinking milk out of a large chalice? (And not any of that "candy ass" skim milk or 1 percent stuff either. Whole milk, one of life's natural steroids.)
And two, PLEASE FILM THIS. It's not impossible to imagine a situation where Jed rolls in, expecting a friendly dinner and Harbaugh just stonewalls him the entire time. Like, spends 60 minutes not speaking once. Or maybe just uttering random Judge Judy catchphrases in response to things that York says.
Maybe Harbaugh would be willing to make up and let bygones be bygones. There's like a 10 percent chance that might happen. More likely is the man who, again, detests even 1 percent milk with the hatred of a million burning suns, will remain vengeful to the guy who previously terminated his employment.
