Dust off your khakis. Jim Harbaugh is coming back to Santa Clara.
The 49ers will host a 10-year reunion for their 2012 team that won the NFC before losing the Baltimore Ravens in Super Bowl 47. For the first time since his unceremonious departure from the Niners, the franchise will welcome him back to Levi’s Stadium.
Tim Kawakami of The Athletic texted Harbaugh and Shanahan about the reunion and both said they are looking forward to it.
Harbaugh went 52-24 in his four seasons with the team and led the 49ers to three straight NFC title games before the team said it made a “mutual decision” with him to part ways after an 8-8 season in 2014. In a 2015 interview with Kawakami for the Bay Area News Group, Harbaugh disputed the notion that the decision was “mutual.”
“Yes, I was told I wouldn’t be the coach any more,” Harbaugh said of 49ers management. “And then … you can call it ‘mutual,’ I mean, I wasn’t going to put the 49ers in the position to have a coach that they didn’t want any more. But that’s the truth of it. I didn’t leave the 49ers. I felt like the 49er hierarchy left me.”
A clashing of egos may have ultimately left to his departure, but it appears that the hard-headed Harbaugh and the York family have buried the hatchet.
The franchise is proud of its rich history and those were some special teams a decade ago, led by stars like Patrick Willis, Frank Gore, Justin Smith, Vernon Davis, NaVorro Bowman, Alex Smith and Colin Kaepernick. The Jerry Rice/Joe Montana/Steve Young era is deservedly celebrated, but it’s about time this era of the franchise got its proper due. Shanahan told reporters he wasn't sure if Kaepernick will be in attendance Sunday.
Harbaugh has spent the past eight seasons coaching his alma mater, Michigan. He has a 68-24 record with the Wolverines, who are 7-0 this season and currently ranked No. 4 in the AP Top 25 poll.
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