Harbaugh: Alex Smith won’t be released

Jim Harbaugh said he thought his team had the best quarterback situation in the league, and he’s either going to keep it that way, or get something for it.
Harbaugh just said it was “unlikely” the 49ers would release quarterback Alex Smith, meaning he’s either confident he can find a trade partner, or would be content keeping him as Colin Kaepernick’s backup.
Smith at $8.5 million is too much for a backup, but for many teams, he’d be an affordable upgrade as a starter.
With a draft class of quarterbacks that no one can make up their mind about, Smith might be a safer bet than the rookies, and not so prohibitively expensive to make him a burden.
But Harbaugh also left open the possibility of keeping Smith, in an effort to maintain leverage.
“We think we’ve got the best quarterback situation,” in the league, adding after a pause: “We feel strongly about that.”
While that might be a stretch, they do have an asset, and Harbaugh is working hard to maximize it.

Source: PFT.com
Author: Darin Gantt
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Harbaugh goes old school to motivate his players

The 49ers might be road favorites this weekend against the Falcons in the NFC Championship Game, but coach Jim Harbaugh took a step to remind his players that many of them were underdogs not that long ago.
As a motivational ploy, Harbaugh had photos pulled of each of his players from high school, and put them next to their high school recruiting rankings.
Some of them were five-star recruits, some weren’t, but they all got a reminder of how far they’ve come.
“Coach really wants us to tap into what we wanted to be at that time,” safety Donte Whitner said, via Sam Farmer of the Los Angeles Times. “When you look at this picture, it’s like, ‘At this moment, what did I want to be?’ We all look at this and we understand what we wanted to be, and where we are now.”
The photos also create some natural banter in the locker room. So even though wide receiver Randy Moss was one of the top recruits in the nation, his is also one of two photos in black and white, and someone taped a note that read: “B.C. 1012” to his bio.
“I don’t think they had color pictures back then,” cornerback Chris Culliver said.
The reminders are the latest in a series of tactics by Harbaugh, which included giving out work shirts to remind his team to be blue-collar in their habits.
“It’s just something that spices things up a little bit to break up the monotony of the day,” 49ers chief executive Jed York said. “Something new for them to think about.
“You’ll get guys teasing each other, ‘Oh, you were only a three-star,’ or, ‘You weren’t even ranked.’ I remember NaVorro [Bowman] saying, ‘Guess they missed on me.’”
At a time when the world is telling his time how good they are, it’s a reminder for many of them that they still have plenty to prove.

Source: PFT.com
Author: Darin Gantt
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