49ers GM Trent Baalke: I have no response to Jim Harbaugh comments
San Francisco 49ers general manager Trent Baalke said he has no response to former coach Jim Harbaugh saying he felt the 49ers' hierarchy left him, according to NFL.com's Marc Sessler.
Speaking on The TK Show podcast with the San Jose Mercury News recently, Harbaugh addressed how the team announced his departure as a mutual parting.
"Yes, I was told I wouldn’t be the coach any more," Harbaugh said. "And then that's … you can call it 'mutual,' I mean, I wasn’t going to put the 49ers in a 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."
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Harbaugh went on to become the head coach at Michigan, his alma mater, while San Francisco promoted defensive line coach Jim Tomsula to replace him. There were rumors that the team would hire Denver Broncos offensive coordinator Adam Gase, but Baalke said Wednesday that the job was only offered to Tomsula.
Baalke also said that Harbaugh did "a heck of a job" with the 49ers.
Over four seasons in San Francisco, Harbaugh led the team to a 44-19 record and three consecutive appearances in the NFC Championship Game.
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