We knew that behind closed doors, whatever was happening to the 49ers wasn't pretty. We didn't know just how bad things got.
According to a Yahoo.com report that cites the San Jose Mercury-News, the situation inside 49ers HQ got so toxic that Jim Harbaugh and Jim Tomsula - the coach eventually promoted to replace Harbaugh - weren't speaking to each other as the season spiraled to a disappointing conclusion.
Apparently, Jed York had been telling people around the building for some time that he thought Tomsula could win more games than Harbaugh. That sentiment eventually made its way back to the 49ers HC, and the livid Harbaugh had little to no contact with his defensive line coach after that.
This was far from the only incident that turned Harbaugh and York against each other, but it sounds like it might have been the final straw. Harbaugh and York were already at odds after a botched attempt to trade him to Cleveland, and things only got worse when York replaced team president Gideon Yu - a Harbaugh favorite - with York loyalist Paraag Marathe. Harbaugh could never stand Marathe, and things only deteriorated further from there.
Harbaugh, now head coach of the Michigan Wolverines, went 49-22-1 as 49ers HC. He took the team to three straight NFC Championship games and a Super Bowl appearance in 2012, but the team stumbled to a 8-8 record in 2014. Harbaugh and the team parted ways just hours after the season ended.
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