Jim Harbaugh And Aggressive Coaching

by David Fucillo on Jan 28, 2012 3:00 PM PST in San Francisco 49ers News

The folks at Football Outsiders took a look at aggressiveness of coaches on fourth down, and 49ers head coach Jim Harbaugh shows up second on the list for most aggressive on fourth down. They created an aggressiveness index that looked at fourth down calls when the team was in the opponent's territory and removed obvious catch-up situations from the formula.

When it comes to aggressive coaching, on the surface Jim Harbaugh struck me as incredibly aggressive, but a closer look opens the door for some questions. We saw things like throwing deep to Joshua Morgan against the Bucs with a big lead, and the team's overall defense was incredibly aggressive. At other times, we see the offense go into a bit of a shell in a fairly conservative nature. This is in part due to the nature of the Harbaugh/Roman offense, but it still leaves me wondering what's what with it.

Where on the aggressive scale does Jim Harbaugh fall? He strikes most as an aggressive personality, but is it really that cut and dry?

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I think he does what is necessary to win games

His coaching style seems to be “whatever works”. This year has been a more run-oriented team, but Harbaugh wasn’t afraid to go passing. I think he may tend towards agressiveness, but his main focus is to WIN.

Who's got it better than Honey Badger? Honey Badger don't give a ....

by ak4niner on Jan 28, 2012 3:07 PM PST reply actions

in the first half of the season, I would say we were more run-orientated

But were more pass orientated in the second half

Rule #1) If you hate Joe Buck, watch this www.youtube.com/watch?v=fkCSZKbyL94

Rule #2) Follow rule #1

by mtl9ers14 on Jan 28, 2012 3:27 PM PST up reply actions

I agree...they do what's necessary to win.

The aggressive nature one week and conservative nature another makes Harbaugh and Roman unpredictable which is an advantage.

by Thrashard340 on Jan 29, 2012 12:40 AM PST up reply actions

I feel vic is a aggressive coach thats why if i'm defensive free-agent i want 2 come

here he’s going to get your stats up harbaugh i feel is going 2 to do what ever it takes he’s more of i’m going on my—vibe feel.Damm we have a top of the line coaching staff n to get where we got in our 1st season whoa look out!!!!!

by Jayubb415rebirth on Jan 28, 2012 3:30 PM PST reply actions

Looks like the Colts are going to cut Manning Before the scouting Combine ( rumor ) ...

… if I’m Andrew Luck and I see this and how the Colts treat their start player of more than a DECADE , I pull a Elway and refuse to sign with them …!!

I'm your " Huckelberry "...it's just my game ..( .AleX ) was asked , what do you think about all the game manager talk ... AleX i guess i just managed myself a VIctory ... Extend the Man ...!!

by Edggy on Jan 28, 2012 5:01 PM PST reply actions

Really?

They chose NOT to put him on IR and let him simply sit and collect 26 million when they knew he couldn’t play.

Luck should want to go there big time. There’s a difference in not taking care of a player and knowing when to move on for the good of your franchise.

Not many other teams would have done that much for a star player.

"Bears are crazy, Willie. They'll bite your head off if you're wearing steak on it."

by Blank x2 on Jan 28, 2012 6:27 PM PST via mobile up reply actions

YuP REALLY ...!!

I'm your " Huckelberry "...it's just my game ..( .AleX ) was asked , what do you think about all the game manager talk ... AleX i guess i just managed myself a VIctory ... Extend the Man ...!!

by Edggy on Jan 28, 2012 6:40 PM PST up reply actions

schizo

I share the curiosity in the post. There will always be things, factors, we are unaware of that will dictate a certain approach, but I have found the Niners offensive approach to be frustrating from a spectator’s perspective.
Personally, the loss of Morgan, and later, Walker, were big factors in the wheels on offense running a bit flat.

by TheCatch81 on Jan 28, 2012 5:45 PM PST via mobile reply actions

Harbaugh is plenty agressive

he oked Alex Smith throwing into traffic in the NO game when a FG would have sent the game to overtime. That ball is tipped and the game is over.

Seems like they go with their gut, can’t blame them on a coin toss type decision.

by reedkrase on Jan 28, 2012 5:48 PM PST reply actions

Harbaugh and Co.

called the plays that they needed to win, whether we were down by 20 or up by 20. The losses came because of mistakes or poor execution.

Let's giggity giggity Go 49ers!!!

by Kittles on Jan 28, 2012 7:50 PM PST via Android app reply actions

Andrew Luck $hould consider...

Staying away from the draft and instead becoming a free agent in a year so that he gets a phat paycheck. Some rookies don’t get paid what they should because of the new wage scale. I wonder if this would be a possibility.

by Leoniner on Jan 28, 2012 8:06 PM PST via mobile reply actions

Every rookie has to go through the draft.

And when we win, we want to dominate. We want to take guys out. We want to hurt guys. We want to win. We just want to dominate, hit them in the mouth. - Rathman
Follow @manraj76

by manraj7 on Jan 28, 2012 9:44 PM PST up reply actions

Harbaugh is by nature an aggresive human being

Look no further than Stanford. He didn’t just want to beat you, he wanted to HUMILIATE you (ie. Carroll). He believes in winning with cruelty, with completely destroying an opponent’s will to fight. But Harbaugh is also shrewd and cunning. Our offense was conservative by design this season, because he, like all good coaches, tailored it to the strengths of the personnel he has. He had to rebuild Alex slowly, while not risking a very public failure.

Next season, as we beginning acquiring more pieces, I can see Harbaugh opening it up even more.

by TotallyBodaciousDude on Jan 28, 2012 8:22 PM PST reply actions