Bill Parcells was Trent Baalke’s first choice, according to new book

Jim Harbaugh and Trent Baalke have done some great things over the last 3+ seasons, but it turns out Harbaugh might not have been Baalke's first choice to coach the San Francisco 49ers. According to a new authorized biography, Trent Baalke's first choice might have been former Cowboys, Jets, Patriots, and Giants head coach Bill Parcells. I'm a little behind on this, but since I know some of you had not seen this information, I figured it was worth sharing.

The beat writers were discussing this yesterday, but given the extensive Harbaugh stuff we've discussed the last couple days, I figured I would until today to post about this. Eric Branch and Matt Maiocco were among those posting excerpts from the book. According to the book, shortly after Trent Baalke was promoted to the general manager position, he and Jed York approached Parcells about the job. Parcells reportedly declined due to his age and the fact that he preferred to be closer to his Florida home. As Branch pointed out, Parcells also declined a later offer from Sean Payton to coach the Saints during his one-year suspension.

We are now almost four years removed from this. This would have seemingly been a fairly short term fix. The 49ers had a talented roster, but coaching had been an issue with Mike Singletary. Parcells has had a career all over the place, but Trent Baalke got his start as a scout with Parcells in New York, and clearly had some measure of faith in him as an initial option.

The 49ers could very well be in the midst of another coaching search after the season ends. There is only a month left in the regular season, but plenty can still happen. If the 49ers don't make the playoffs, any decision on Harbaugh's 2015 future would likely happen very quickly. I say 2015 because it could very well be that he simply coaches out his contract, as opposed to getting traded or fired. On the other hand, if the 49ers are able to snag a playoff berth, all bets are off on what the future holds.