Going the Distance 2

         After the 49ers went 6-10 in the 2010 season, Mike Singletary was fired. Almost all hope as lost in the 49ers franchise, nobody knew who the new coah was going to be and even with a new coach, the 49ers record would still be below .500. Then it happened. Jim Harbaugh happened. After turning around a stuggling Stanford football program into one of the powerhouses of the NCAA, Jim Harbaugh wanted to become an NFL head coach. He had already played 15 years in the NFL as a Quarterback for the Bears, and the Colts and had been somewhat successful with only a few playoff apperences but nothing special. So immidiatly teams were interested, Dolphins being one of the strongest contenders along with the 49ers. Ulimatlely the 49ers got their man in Harbaugh because he didn't have to move away from him home, the 49ers even offered him less on the contract then the Dolphins.
           In the draft that followed the hiring Harbaugh made outstanding picks that would be crucial to the success of the team, the best pick by far was Aldon Smith out of Missouri selected number seven overall in the first round. In Aldon's rookie season he almost broke the rookie sack record with 14, the record being 14.5. Now back to Harbaugh. People were expecting Harbaugh to strip the team dry cut players and put in his 'own' guys, but instead Harbaugh kept virtually the same exact team only a few additions in free agency: CB Carlos Rodgers, WR Braylon Edwards, ILB Blake Costanzo, and C Johnathan Goodwin. Rogers, Costanzo, and Goodwin would prove to be valueable asstes. One of the biggest things Harbaugh did was putting faith in Alex Smith, after Smith was ridiculed for his entire career being called a 'bust' and a loser. Harbaugh was 100% behind what Alex did and Harbaugh even boasted about Smith saying that he is an elite Quarterback, and a Probowler that was probably the first time those words were mentioned in the same sentence with Alex Smith. Even 49er fans were sceptical about it, but appericiated the enthusiasm. WE HAD NO IDEA WHAT WAS ABOUT TO TAKE PLACE.
          Week 1 of the 2011 season Harbaugh and his 49ers were in a little bit of a pickel against the Seahawks but a couple of returns for touchdowns gave Harbaugh his first win. The win, however, didn't end the speculation of the 49ers offense, specifically the wide recivers and QB Alex Smith. Alex only had 124 yards passing and the offense looked sluggish to say the least. The 49ers best WR Michael Crabtree had only one catch for 4 yards and the reciver with the most only had 27. So NFL experts deemed this win as a lucky one but still they could only see the 49ers going 7-9 at best. Harbaugh loves being the underdog.