Alex Boone Says Harbaugh Pushed 49ers Too Hard

Classic cognitive dissonance. I think he probably did like Harbaugh in spite of being a Buckeye. But now he's still stuck on a sinking ship while Harbaugh is off to glory at Michigan. So Boone feels a little better rationalizing this as Harbaugh's fault while he and the rest of the team are about to be immolated in the tire fire that is the 49ers organization.

and his mother knows it.

A.Boone, you just won the douchebag of the week award.

here are going to run and cry "p*ssies," etcetera. The happy circle jerk will continue for some time to come. I myself am on board and enthusiastic. But this will remain the question with Harbaugh for some time to come. And it is fine if the admin slobbers over him publicly, but somewhere some people with big boy pants on are going to need to monitor closely.

This has been echoed from Staley (49er OT) as well. When Harbaugh was fired he tweeted an old buddy and big Michigan fan saying basically "He's insane."

Good, bad or otherwise Harbaugh is a crazy man. Now there's good crazy and bad crazy and I think Harbaugh is good crazy.

I'm ok with it because, crazy or not, his players mostly loved him and obviously played well for him.

Boone may be a whiny Buckeye but he plays in a league full of millionaire primadonnas who don't want to work too hard. This is why JH makes a better college coach - he is coaching kids who will listen to him, and by the time they are tired of his hard driving ways they're graduating.

LOL ...all Boone is saying is what was said throughout the second half of the NFL season -- that Harbaugh's approach was starting to wear on the team - especially with some of the veterans (entitled or not).

Back in the day, this was a Dan Reeves or Chuck Noll sort of coach ...a tough guy that got the best out of his team by being a disciplinarian ...you know, "old school."  A guy like John Fox has been coaching in the NFL for decades because he's precsiely the opposite.  He let's the players run things but looks perfect as a Head Coach out of Hollywood Central Casting up there at the postgame podium.  I guarantee the 49'ers will devolve under the new coach and hugely regret losing Harbaugh.

Who cares what Alex Boone says?  It has been said before and the Niners just keep spinning and spinning about every two weeks

Yeah, I'm sure Boone will enjoy an easier coaching staff as they go 3-13.

I get that coaches can be grating and at some point teams may zone out on them - Doug Collins' career seems like a good example of this - but Harbaugh turned a mediocre SF team (that was underperforming for years) into an NFC-champion squad.  

Thanks Alex Boone, 

This is great PR for the University of Michigan football program. Since Boone has a terrible reputation as a malcontent, has had multiple DUIs and numerous accusations of substance abuse, which have been going on since his buckeye days, no one takes him seriously. So he is just keeping our mad genius coach in the spotlight while seeming like a hypocrite for reversing 180 on what he said a few weeks ago.

and his divided opinion on Harbaugh's motviational style was a case of being interviewed under different circumstances and without the consequence of being challenged to explain his inconsistent POV. Maybe Boone is badmouthing Harbaugh now because he's the new Michigan coach. Maybe he actually did feel his coach was being picked on in mid-October when the 49ers were still competing for another return to the NFC championship game and Super Bowl. Maybe it's just a sour grapes perspective.

Whatever is the reason for his change of opinion, matters not right now. Harbaugh is a little wacky. We all know that. That's what makes him colorful and interesting. The fact is, he is no different than any other coach who expects to win all the time.

To that end, you must be demanding and always be seeking to push your players to be their best through competition and attention to detail. That's what good coaches do. And they do it effectively over a long period by knowing how to incorporate that style with the varying player personalities they deal with both individually and collectively to establish baseline standards for team performance.

Boone does say in the HBO interview that

"The players had nothing to do with him getting fired"

Seems like he knows he can't bullshit about that without getting called on it. Probably that's the most true thing he says -- the rest is just, like, his opinion, man. 20/20 hindsight.

LINK: http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2015/04/19/wearing-out-welcome-isnt-new-for-jim-harbaugh/

Only OSU pussys can not deal with Harbaugh.  No free tats, SUVs and STDs for them in the NFL.

Here are some 49ers players who loved Harbaugh:

Count on Bleacher Report for hard-hitting analysis like this:

"Ultimately, winning will determine whether Harbaugh is a success in the Maize and Blue"

LOL.. Funny how ppl talk about u when You not around but quite in ya face!! 3/4 years went to NFCchampionship/Super Bowl, that's what we play for!! #ThatswhatHEbrung #HEISAGOODCOACH #RESPECTHIM

A photo posted by Chris Culliver (@cullyinthehouse) on Apr 20, 2015 at 11:35am PDT

I know the consensus here seems to be "whiny buckeye LOLZ", but is it possible that there is some merit to what Boone is saying and that this is further proof that in the long term, Harbaugh's approach is better suited to the college game?

I had to make an account specifically for this hilarity, even though I've been lurking since Harbaugh's January recruiting blitz. By the way thanks for listing depth chart BY CLASS that's how I stumbled on this corner of blue heaven.

Just had to throw in my 2 cents in the form of some advice for Mr Boone:

Booner, you don't mind if I call ya booner do you? Booner it's probably not a brilliant idea, just after your "organization" has made the worst move in the history of worst moves, to insinuate that move was made because "professionals" couldn't handle their boss's relentless pursuit of making them THE BEST.

And the top of THAT mountain has you holding the Lombardi not staring at it from the other sideline.

This sentiment has been expressed by other people in and around programs Harbaugh has coached.  I am certain this has NOTHING to do with Alex being from OSU.

I wanted Harbaugh just as much as the next guy, and am optimistic about what he can do here.  But that was always a concern for me, hearing that from Stanford guys as well.  Happy to roll the dice on this one.

FWIW Scotty Bowman's players detested him.  Vince Lombardi was a legendary asshole.