Jim Harbaugh honored as part of 2012 San Francisco 49ers team, reflects on 'time of my life'
Michigan Wolverines football head coach Jim Harbaugh was on the recruiting trail during his team’s bye week. He took a little detour to the Bay Area over the weekend, where he and his 2012 San Francisco 49ers team that made an appearance in Super Bowl XLVII was honored for their 10-year reunion.
Harbaugh told reporters he spoke at an event Saturday, before the Sunday game between the 49ers and the Kansas City Chiefs. Harbaugh was invited to the reunion by owner Jed York.
“Just super happy,” the Michigan coach said of his emotions being back in Santa Clara. “Been with a good number of the guys from the team … just so many good guys. You realize that the years are short and the days are long, but the memories come right back from when we were all together.
“Incredible. Just really happy. So many people from the organization that are still here … just amazing. A lot of gratitude, just an attitude of gratitude for Jed and the York family having us all back here — and we must’ve been pretty good, right? They don’t bring teams back unless they were pretty good. Just makes us feel good. Happy that they’re honoring the 2012 team.”
The Harbaugh-led 49ers posted an 11-4-1 regular-season record, before defeating the Green Bay Packers and Atlanta Falcons to advance to the Super Bowl. They fell to the John Harbaugh-coached Baltimore Ravens in a thrilling, 34-31 game in New Orleans.
Harbaugh notched 49 wins, including playoffs, during his four-year tenure in San Francisco from 2011-14, before taking over his alma mater, Michigan.
The last time Harbaugh was at Levi’s Stadium, just after his team’s final game Dec. 28, 2014, a 20-17 victory over the Arizona Cardinals to conclude the season, he told the media that his four years were the time of his life. Now that he reflects back eight years later, nothing has changed.
“[49ers general manager] John Lynch and Jed had me say a few words last night, and that’s exactly what I said, ‘It was the time of my life,’ those four years,” the Michigan coach said. “Very happy, and an attitude of gratitude for that opportunity, to be in that situation, that position at that time. For everybody to do so well, it’s just tremendous to be a part of.
“We worked really hard and had a lot of fun doing it. It was good times, really good times. And you just pick right back up, too. They’re memories that are so thick that you have to kind of brush them away. You just go right back to it. The days are long, the years are short. Here it’s been, 10 years since that 2012 team.
“Just super happy everybody’s back together and we’re being honored. Had to be pretty good to get honored.”
Per reports at the time, Harbaugh had a rocky relationship with the front office, including York and then-general manager Trent Baalke, which led to the mutual breakup. The Michigan head man was asked whether he would’ve been ready for a reunion several years ago.
“Right when I left, I thanked the York family for giving me the opportunity of a lifetime to be here,” Harbaugh said. “When things don’t work out in your favor or you don’t perceive them to work out in your favor, I’ve just always had an attitude that you don’t get bitter, you get better. And that’s what I strive to do.”
Harbaugh was asked if his current Michigan players ever wonder about what it was like to coach in the NFL and make a Super Bowl run.
“I told them I was coming back here for a 10-year reunion,” Harbaugh noted. “We’re working really hard to have a 10-year reunion in 2032 for the ‘22 Michigan Wolverine team.
“But I just tell them, ‘Keep doing you; it’s working. And if you do want to get a little bit better at something, work a little bit harder at it. And whatever you do, don’t get the big head because that’s a trap. That’s a deep, dark, lonely trap.’
“I’ve got a bunch of guys at Michigan that just attack everything they do, and there’s zero entitlement and none in the foreseeable future. It’s a great team to coach.
“And this team is full of Pro Bowlers and Hall of Famers — the 2012 team. But the thing I love about my Michigan team this year is they’re like the 2012 team in this regard: That they are always ready to play. You never have to worry about if they’re going to show up and want to play or be ready to play. They’re always ready to play, and it’s like they were born ready to play. That’s how this 2012 team was.”
