Harbaugh to Chargers

[BearFan PHX]

OK. We really suck.

Jim Harbaugh was actually available and we didn't persue him. We didn't even try.

Wow.

This IS a clown show.

Whatever you think about Eberflus you can't tell me Harbaugh wouldn't be better. Is this who Kevin Warren wanted when he supposedly argued with Poles? Did Poles not want to give up on his hug friend?

This is such a giant error. How many years will we need to wait until we can fire Poles?

I'm telling you right now, you may think I'm crazy right now, but you will all eventually wish we had Harbaugh instead of Eberflus. Every one of us will eventually know this no matter what you think now. And we can fire Eberflus, but Harbaugh is gone forever to us. And yes, if you can't tell this is my opinion.

I can see it now. Harbaugh is winning, we're mired in mud, and the discussion here will be "Well if Eberflus had the Chargers roster and Justin Herbert..."

Clown show.

[adam]

This is clearly a Kevin Warren thing now. Him and Harbaugh obviously didn't get along due to the COVID year in the B10. There is no other way around it, you can't tell me Harbaugh is not jumping at the opportunity if it was presented to him to coach the team that drafted him.

At least he is in the AFC and West no less. Good luck Vegas and Denver, you might as well fold your franchises as you ain't doing nothing for at least the next decade with Mahomes and Harbaugh in your conference.

[adam]

Also remember, Harbaugh wanted more control over the roster, so Poles would've needed to be fired as well. The GM coming into LAC is just a dude by name and title only. 

[Pixote]

I'm anxious to see what they had to shell out for him. I bet it was HUGE. 

[Stinger226]

3 hours ago, adam said:

Also remember, Harbaugh wanted more control over the roster, so Poles would've needed to be fired as well. The GM coming into LAC is just a dude by name and title only. 

Totally agree, they hired the GM and coach a day apart, clearly the GM didn't have a say in that hire. If you were Poles are you going to give away power? Hell no, no one on here would do that if they were in his shoes. 

[adam]

29 minutes ago, Stinger226 said:

Totally agree, they hired the GM and coach a day apart, clearly the GM didn't have a say in that hire. If you were Poles are you going to give away power? Hell no, no one on here would do that if they were in his shoes. 

exactly, so Harbaugh was never an option unless Poles was gone.

[Mongo3451]

35 minutes ago, Stinger226 said:

Totally agree, they hired the GM and coach a day apart, clearly the GM didn't have a say in that hire. If you were Poles are you going to give away power? Hell no, no one on here would do that if they were in his shoes. 

I think it was a partnership.  They brought Harbaugh in twice.  Sure, Harbaugh was the key, but he still needs a GM.  Even Belichick had a GM to run the front office and scouting.

[BearFan PHX]

4 hours ago, adam said:

This is clearly a Kevin Warren thing now. Him and Harbaugh obviously didn't get along due to the COVID year in the B10. There is no other way around it, you can't tell me Harbaugh is not jumping at the opportunity if it was presented to him to coach the team that drafted him.

Reports say that Warren was heated with Poles about Poles keeping Eberflus. If those reports are true then maybe Warren wanted Harbaugh?

I agree that if we offered Harbaugh the job he would have seriously considered it.

[BearFan PHX]

2 hours ago, Pixote said:

I'm anxious to see what they had to shell out for him. I bet it was HUGE. 

I hope so because if it isn't a ridiculously high number, then Im gonna be even more mad that we didnt snag him.

[Pixote]

37 minutes ago, BearFan PHX said:

Reports say that Warren was heated with Poles about Poles keeping Eberflus. If those reports are true then maybe Warren wanted Harbaugh?

I agree that if we offered Harbaugh the job he would have seriously considered it.

I have not read that anywhere, and I send a lot of time reading articles about the Bears to see what others are saying. Do you have a link?

[BearFan PHX]

7 minutes ago, Pixote said:

I have not read that anywhere, and I send a lot of time reading articles about the Bears to see what others are saying. Do you have a link?

It's not in the mainstream press, but I am a Patreon follower of a guy who has a YouTube channel. He often has Bears beat reporters like Adam Rank and Courtney Cronin on his show, and he has been on Adam Ranks show too, he also has current and former players on his show. He does excellent tape breakdown too.

I've followed him for quite a while, and he doesnt usually do breaking news type stuff, and he hasnt been wrong about anything hes reported in the last few years Ive been watching him. He's never been a click baiter that I have seen, and hes not a narrative guy - he gives even handed analysis and says both good and bad things about whoever he is discussing.

He says he had two separate sources inside Halas Hall that told him that Warren disagreed strongly with Poles about keeping Eberflus and that is got "heated" between them, and McCaskey and Poles overruled him. There was nothing specific about Warren and Harbaugh in the report. He also said he couldnt reveal his sources.

We do know that Warren is angry about leaks, and that was part of Cliff Steins firing.

People can dismiss it if they like, but personally I bet it's true. Like I said, he is not known for sensational stories or inside info or anything like that, and he let it slip inside a discussion, it wasnt the headline or anything, so it wasnt clickbait, because no one would have seen it unless they were already reading his article which didnt say anything about it in the headline. He kind of let it slip as evidence that he thought Eberflus was coming back (this was before the announcement).

[Pixote]

7 minutes ago, BearFan PHX said:

It's not in the mainstream press, but I am a Patreon follower of a guy who has a YouTube channel. He often has Bears beat reporters like Adam Rank and Courtney Cronin on his show, and he has been on Adam Ranks show too, he also has current and former players on his show. He does excellent tape breakdown too.

I've followed him for quite a while, and he doesnt usually do breaking news type stuff, and he hasnt been wrong about anything hes reported in the last few years Ive been watching him. He's never been a click baiter that I have seen, and hes not a narrative guy - he gives even handed analysis and says both good and bad things about whoever he is discussing.

He says he had two separate sources inside Halas Hall that told him that Warren disagreed strongly with Poles about keeping Eberflus and that is got "heated" between them, and McCaskey and Poles overruled him. There was nothing specific about Warren and Harbaugh in the report. He also said he couldnt reveal his sources.

We do know that Warren is angry about leaks, and that was part of Cliff Steins firing.

People can dismiss it if they like, but personally I bet it's true. Like I said, he is not known for sensational stories or inside info or anything like that, and he let it slip inside a discussion, it wasnt the headline or anything, so it wasnt clickbait, because no one would have seen it unless they were already reading his article which didnt say anything about it in the headline. He kind of let it slip as evidence that he thought Eberflus was coming back (this was before the announcement).

Then I don't ever want to sit down at a poker table with Warren because he sure seemed sincere when he stated publicly that we had the right people in place, meaning Poles and Flus. 

[BearFan PHX]

8 minutes ago, Pixote said:

Then I don't ever want to sit down at a poker table with Warren because he sure seemed sincere when he stated publicly that we had the right people in place, meaning Poles and Flus. 

I think that's a really true statement. Whether about Harbaugh or whatever, they surely will disagree about something, and they do project a united front to the outside world for sure.

I'll say this too:

If Waldron is allowed to run the offense, and we get Caleb Williams, I do believe this team can do well. I still think Harbaugh would have been a MUCH better choice, and is a real missed opportunity.

Poles has done well building the roster and playing the draft game so far. I keep saying that. But my concern is whether he will have the character to get rid of people when better alternatives come along. I think he may be too loyal. If he keeps Fields, that will be the final straw for me, and I'll know which way we are headed. If he trades Fields, and takes another QB, I will go along for the ride and see how Eberflus is. But even if he does well, I would bet that the Chargers win a Super Bowl before the Bears do. And that will be because we kept Eberflus, and didn't get Harbaugh.

Loyalty and fandom aside, if you were Bears GM and you could choose between Eberflus and Harbaugh, how many here would actually choose Eberflus?

[Stinger226]

18 minutes ago, BearFan PHX said:

It's not in the mainstream press, but I am a Patreon follower of a guy who has a YouTube channel. He often has Bears beat reporters like Adam Rank and Courtney Cronin on his show, and he has been on Adam Ranks show too, he also has current and former players on his show. He does excellent tape breakdown too.

I've followed him for quite a while, and he doesnt usually do breaking news type stuff, and he hasnt been wrong about anything hes reported in the last few years Ive been watching him. He's never been a click baiter that I have seen, and hes not a narrative guy - he gives even handed analysis and says both good and bad things about whoever he is discussing.

He says he had two separate sources inside Halas Hall that told him that Warren disagreed strongly with Poles about keeping Eberflus and that is got "heated" between them, and McCaskey and Poles overruled him. There was nothing specific about Warren and Harbaugh in the report. He also said he couldnt reveal his sources.

We do know that Warren is angry about leaks, and that was part of Cliff Steins firing.

People can dismiss it if they like, but personally I bet it's true. Like I said, he is not known for sensational stories or inside info or anything like that, and he let it slip inside a discussion, it wasnt the headline or anything, so it wasnt clickbait, because no one would have seen it unless they were already reading his article which didnt say anything about it in the headline. He kind of let it slip as evidence that he thought Eberflus was coming back (this was before the announcement).

I couldn't say if that is real or not real but there is no way to prove it, so we believe what we want to believe. I would think we would see signs of them not getting along .in the public exposure and have not seen that at all. I can see where the contrary exists where he gives   total support to Poles and praises Flus. Let's say the public imagine seems they totally support each other and it probably didn't go down that way.

[Stinger226]

Harbaugh was never even in the conversation. He would steal power from Poles and could be the alpha in the room with Warren. Why would any GM give away control to a coach . People keep thinking because Harbaugh was available its an automatic that they have to hire him. They would have to throw away their plan and bow down to Harbaugh. No one will do that. You did notice they hired the coach before they hired a GM, the GM will only be a title,  Harbaugh has all the power.

[BearFan PHX]

So youd rather keep Poles powerful than get Harbaugh? You think future Bears success is more likely with Poles at GM than Harbaugh at HC if you had to pick one?

This place is getting really weird.

[Stinger226]

59 minutes ago, BearFan PHX said:

So youd rather keep Poles powerful than get Harbaugh? You think future Bears success is more likely with Poles at GM than Harbaugh at HC if you had to pick one?

This place is getting really weird.

Never said any of that, I'm saying Poles wasn't hiring him so it's a wasted conversation. We can all play fantasy and pretend a existing GM is going to hire a coach and relinquish some of his power to the alpha dog , that was never going to happen, so why talk fantasy? Warren would have to overrule Poles and hire him and everything I read is he supports him. Find me a statement where Warren bad mouths Poles and we can then have this conversation.

[CrackerDog]

I’m a big Wolverines fan in addition to being an even bigger Bears fan.  No way I wanted Harbaugh here.  I’ll leave it at that.  The OP in this thread was way over top.  This front office is a clown show?  I strongly disagree.  

[CrackerDog]

7 hours ago, Pixote said:

I'm anxious to see what they had to shell out for him. I bet it was HUGE. 

The Wolverines were making him the highest paid HC in the NCAA with a clause that would keep him that….  So yeah, you’re 100% right Pix.  

[Pixote]

9 minutes ago, CrackerDog said:

I’m a big Wolverines fan in addition to being an even bigger Bears fan.  No way I wanted Harbaugh here.  I’ll leave it at that.  The OP in this thread was way over top.  This front office is a clown show?  I strongly disagree.  

The thing I found interesting that it has been reported the NFL will not provide Harbaugh a "safe harbor" ie. his alleged NCAA rules violations.

He has two ongoing investigations. One for recruiting violations. One for sign-stealing. If the NCAA finds him in violation of the rules, the NFL may very well take disciplinary measures against him.

[BearFan PHX]

49 minutes ago, Pixote said:

The thing I found interesting that it has been reported the NFL will not provide Harbaugh a "safe harbor" ie. his alleged NCAA rules violations.

He has two ongoing investigations. One for recruiting violations. One for sign-stealing. If the NCAA finds him in violation of the rules, the NFL may very well take disciplinary measures against him.

I read this too, and I expect youre right. They dont want the NFL to be a way coaches avoid sanctions for college actions.

[Alaskan Grizzly]

53 minutes ago, Pixote said:

He has two ongoing investigations. One for recruiting violations. One for sign-stealing. If the NCAA finds him in violation of the rules, the NFL may very well take disciplinary measures against him.

If I had to guess, this more than anything is what kept Warren from being interested in working with him. Not only has he had the experience as the Big 10 Commissioner but I'm sure he 'knows people' still in the business there that he talks to.  And bottom line, Warren (and Poles) seem like they're trying to avoid anymore distracting (aka big) personalities while they continue the rebuild with a relatively young team.  

[BearFan PHX]

1 hour ago, CrackerDog said:

I’m a big Wolverines fan in addition to being an even bigger Bears fan.  No way I wanted Harbaugh here.  I’ll leave it at that.  The OP in this thread was way over top.  This front office is a clown show?  I strongly disagree.  

we'll see. If they keep Fields, and it ends up like i think it will as a result, then it'll be time for the flower that squirts water.

I just don't personally understand keeping Flus on his own merits, no less when Harbaugh was available. But I do know that Harbaugh is a hard ass, and a lot of people dont like him, and so i understand concerns that he burns people out, and that pro players arent like college kids, and dont take as much of it.

Still and all, we'll see how the Chargers fare after this, and how we do too from here.

If we take Caleb Williams and he works out for us, that will cover for a lot of everything else.

I dont see Eberflus adding much, but I do think if the defense continues to improve, and Waldron dials up Williams into a potent offense, we could go places, possibly even winning the Super Bowl.

I dont think Fields will ever win a Super Bowl for us, but i do think we could win a Super Bowl because of everyone around Eberflus even if he doesn't add much in giving us any kind of winning edge.

I still think keeping Flus was a mistake, and especially missing out on Harbaugh. Up until now I have really liked Poles, his acquisition phase has been really great. I am just worried that hes too loyal to his friends, and wont be able to trade, cut or fire people he likes and considers part of the team when it needs to be done. If Im right and they keep Fields too, then I think it's a clown show. If they draft a rookie QB, then it might just be a missed opportunity to be factored in with everything else that might bring the average up.

For the record, I really didnt blame Poles for Claypool or Velus Jones. I understood those reaches, and pretty much everything else hes touched has turned to gold. Hes doing great. But now from here, where you gotta be able to cut dead weight, Im starting to be concerned. Well see what the draft brings.

[CrackerDog]

5 minutes ago, BearFan PHX said:

I read this too, and I expect youre right. They dont want the NFL to be a way coaches avoid sanctions for college actions.

It’ll be a slap on the wrist from the NFL if anything happens at all.  They’re sending the right signals but at the end of the day, is the NFL going to suspend a coach for taking prospects out for hamburgers or sign stealing?   It didn’t happen in the NFL so he’d win in court anyway.   No jurisdiction so to speak.   
 

Harbaugh is just too fricken weird for my taste with the Bears.  I do hope he’s successful but still glad they didn’t pursue him.  

[BearFan PHX]

2 minutes ago, Alaskan Grizzly said:

If I had to guess, this more than anything is what kept Warren from being interested in working with him. Not only has he had the experience as the Big 10 Commissioner but I'm sure he 'knows people' still in the business there that he talks to.  And bottom line, Warren (and Poles) seem like they're trying to avoid anymore distracting (aka big) personalities while they continue the rebuild with a relatively young team.  

I'm not sure Warren didn't want Harbaugh, but I do know about their clash when Warren was the Big 10 Commissioner. So it could be that you're right about this too.

Either way though I definitely think youre right and that's what Poles and McCaskey were thinking. Avoiding risk and big personalities.

I personally think it's too safe, and winning matters more than that. But the history of who the Bears have hired since Lovie has been of safe personalities that dont threaten the McCaskeys power or image. I had thought that was something we were all criticizing them for and why we hired Warren as a buffer to it?

I would love a young Mike Ditka for this team. I dont deny any of the risk that comes with Harbaugh and I know he can be an SOB, so I get it. But I sure would love a young Mike Ditka for this team.