SEATTLE — When Jim Harbaugh stomps around the sideline at CenturyLink Field on Sunday, pleading his case for a penalty or looking annoyed with the actions of his team or the officials, take it all in, Seahawks fans, and savor the moment.
Because if the increasing noise out of the Bay Area is to be believed, Harbaugh won’t be coaching the San Francisco 49ers much longer, the result of growing tension between Harbaugh and ownership/general manager Trent Baalke. Numerous reports, dating back to the beginning of this season, have said that Harbaugh, despite leading the 49ers to three consecutive NFC championship games and one Super Bowl in his three seasons there, wouldn’t be back in 2015. Those reports only have increased during the past few weeks, fueled both by consecutive losses as well as a Tweet from team CEO Jed York that called his team’s Thanksgiving loss to Seattle, “unacceptable.”
And while most Seahawks fans at first are likely enjoying the drama that is unfolding in San Francisco, both with reports of unrest leaking out to the media and with the 49ers struggling on the field, you should really be pulling for Harbaugh to survive this mess. Obviously, no Seahawks fan wants to see Harbaugh and his 49ers succeed in Seattle on Sunday, but for the sake of what in recent years has become the NFL’s most intense rivalry, everyone should be pulling for Harbaugh to stick around.
To be their best, rivalries need a villain, and just as 49ers fans can’t stand cornerback Richard Sherman’s bravado or head coach Pete Carroll’s satisfied grin when things are going well for the Seahawks, Seattle fans love to hate Harbaugh for his sideline fits and grumpy demeanor. (And just a quick aside, when I say hate, I’m referring to the more innocent “sports hate” not anything actually malicious. If you find yourself actually hating someone because he plays for or coaches a rival, it’s time to take a step back and re-evaluate your priorities).
Just imagine for a second if the 49ers replace Harbaugh with a coach who’s outgoing and likeable. What if their next coach has a great back story that makes him easy to pull for? What if, and this one would really sting for Seahawks fans, the 49ers were to hire Seahawks defensive coordinator Dan Quinn, who will be a candidate for open head-coaching jobs this offseason? Sure you’ll still want the Seahawks to beat the 49ers, but be honest, it won’t be as fun when they do, will it?
The Seahawks-49ers rivalry didn’t become such a great one just because the two teams became two of the best in the NFL — though that was the biggest part of it. The rivalry also has grown because of personalities like Harbaugh and Carroll, and because of moments like Sherman talking trash after the Seahawks clinched an NFC championship.
Harbaugh and Carroll have both gone out of their way over the years to downplay any personal rivalry between them, but it’s impossible to see the two of them in the same stadium and not think back to that infamous “what’s your deal?” postgame handshake after Harbaugh’s Stanford Cardinal drubbed Carroll’s USC Trojans, going for a two-point conversion late in the game with the outcome already secured. Years later, Sherman was encouraging Carroll to go for two late in a 2012 Seahawks blowout of the 49ers. So, you can’t tell me both sides don’t remember the 2009 moment that helped launch the Harbaugh-Carroll rivalry which has carried over to the NFL.
Another element making the 49ers-Seahawks rivalry so good is that for all of the differences between Carroll and Harbaugh from a personality standpoint, they both have similar coaching philosophies. They lean on a formula of physical, run-first offense and stingy defense. When two teams play that way, it only makes a rivalry game that much better. San Francisco’s next coach could go away from that style, which would weaken the rivalry a little, or the 49ers could struggle post-Harbaugh, which would really take the edge off those twice-a-year meetings.
You might not realize it now, but if he’s traded or fired, you’ll miss Harbaugh pirouetting while begging for a defensive holding call; you’ll long for the days of a frustrated, black sweatshirt, pleated khaki-wearing Harbaugh slamming his headset to the ground. Game-day just won’t be the same if Sherman and Doug Baldwin aren’t playing with an extra chip on their shoulders because they want to shove their success in the face of a former coach with whom neither had the greatest of relationships.
As long as the Seahawks and 49ers are two of the top teams in the NFC West, there will always be a rivalry between them. If the reports out of San Francisco are right, however, and if this is Harbaugh’s last game in Seattle, the rivalry just won’t be the same without him.
Herald Columnist John Boyle: jboyle@heraldnet.com
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