SANTA CLARA –- Jed York admitted Monday to making mistakes in his tenure as 49ers CEO.
But he stopped short of expressing regret for not being able to retain Jim Harbaugh beyond last season as the organization’s head coach.
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“I think it’s well-understood what effort we made to keep him here,” York said on Monday during a press conference at Levi’s Stadium. “I’m not going to dive into that. I’m not going to get into things that happened behind the scenes. And I can’t look backward.
“We can’t win games we’ve already played. We can’t undo decisions that have been made. We need to make sure all of our efforts are focused on the next head coach of the team.”
York and Harbaugh spoke about a contract extension in the 2013 offseason after the 49ers advanced to the Super Bowl. The sides also had negotiations in 2014 but called off their talks at the beginning of training camp to focus on the upcoming season.
The sides had agreed to a “mutual parting” – an announcement the 49ers made shortly after the final game of the season -- with two games remaining in the season. The night before the 2014 season finale, it was confirmed that Harbaugh would become the next coach at Michigan, his alma mater.
“Jim Harbaugh is a good football coach,” York said. "His success at Michigan does not surprise me at all.”
The 49ers advanced to three consecutive NFC Championship games in Harbaugh’s first three seasons, including a trip to the Super Bowl, after he signed a five-year, $25 million contract with the 49ers in January 2011 to leave Stanford.
The 49ers replaced Harbaugh after an 8-8 season in 2014 with Jim Tomsula, who was considered more of an agreeable personality and a favorite personality among management and ownership.
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When asked if the personality of the next head coach was going to be a factor in the next hire, York said, “We’re in need of somebody who can win Super Bowls.”
He repeated, “We’re in need of somebody who can win Super Bowls.”
York was asked if the 49ers had that person when Harbaugh was the coach.
“We haven’t won a Super Bowl since 1994,” York answered.
Now, a year later, the 49ers are back in the same position of entering into a search to find the team’s next head coach.
“Eight-and-8 and 5-11, neither one of them is acceptable to me,” York said. “I’d rather take a swing on ‘Jimmy T’ like we did and if we miss, the nice thing about the NFL is, they reward you for missing. We have a high draft pick. I don’t want to be drafting him, but if we don’t compete for championships, I’d much rather be drafting high and being able to add the top-tier talent in the draft to this roster.”
Tomsula became just the fifth coach in the 49ers’ seven decades who did not even make it into a second season. He is the eighth coach in the NFL since 2000 to get fired after one year.
“You have to learn from mistakes, you have to learn from failure, and we didn’t get this one right,” York said.
Harbaugh, posting his thoughts on social media Sunday night, appeared to take delight in the failings of the organization after his departure. Harbaugh wrote on his verified Twitter page:
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“Do not be deceived. You will reap what you sow.”
Harbaugh may have believed Tomsula, the team's defensive line coach the previous eight years, maneuvered behind the scenes to align himself to replace Harbaugh.
“Yeah, I’m definitely aware of it,” York said when asked about Harbaugh’s public reaction. “But I can’t focus myself on things that are outside of our head-coaching search right now.”
Earlier in his press conference that lasted nearly 30 minutes, York said he learned from his own mistakes in using social media. York famously sent out an apology after the 49ers’ 2014 Thanksgiving night loss to the Seattle Seahawks. York's reaction was seen as an affront to Harbaugh and his coaching staff.
“Thank God you can’t see tweets I didn’t send,” York said. “Those things aren’t helpful for the team. And much as I’d like to share how I feel about the team, it’s not helpful for our club to talk about how I feel when we win and how I feel when we lose. It’s ultimately a distraction.”
