With rumors circulating, Harbaugh mum on anything but his 49ers team

The San Francisco 49ers’ 22-17 victory over the Chiefs on Sunday did not the dissipate the turmoil surrounding coach Jim Harbaugh.

It’s been no secret that Harbaugh and 49ers general manager Trent Baalke have been at odds. Baalke even tried trading the temperamental Harbaugh to Cleveland before the Browns hired Mike Pettine last winter.

But with rancor reportedly in the locker room and jobs opening or soon to be opening on both the major college and NFL levels, Harbaugh’s name is a hot topic.

Harbaugh, who has guided the 49ers to three straight NFC Championship Games, including one Super Bowl, once considered Kansas while he was coaching at Stanford, largely because his wife, Sarah, is from Olathe, and he is close with her family.

But bigger jobs could be out there, including his alma mater Michigan, as well as the Oakland Raiders, who fired Dennis Allen last week, and the usual NFL turnover that occurs every year.

“My destiny lies between these walls with these men,” Harbaugh said after the 49ers improved to 3-2 with their win over the Chiefs.

Still, Harbaugh twice has turned down contract extensions, and now, with two years left on the five-year, $25 million deal he signed in 2011, it’s uncertain whether he wants to coach the 49ers next year and beyond, or even whether they want him back.

Because of all the speculation, 49ers CEO Jed York went to Twitter on Sunday, saying, “Jim is my coach. We are trying to win a (Super Bowl), not a personality or popularity contest. Any more questions?”

Oh, there were after the game. Asked how his team has responded to all the talk about him, Harbaugh said: “The team doesn’t have to respond. The team has to do their job and play football. It’s my job to love them — those players, those coaches, everybody in our organization.”

Quarterback Colin Kaepernick took up for his coach after the game.

“I love coach Harbaugh,” Kaepernick said. “I’d go to war with him any day of the week. He’s a competitor. He wants to win, and he’s going to do anything to put this team in a position to win.”

Still, it’s worth remembering after the departure of Mark Mangino in late 2009, then Kansas athletic director Lew Perkins pursued Harbaugh. Harbaugh confirmed the interest earlier this year, while attending a KU basketball game at Allen Fieldhouse with his father-in-law, Merle Feuerborn.

Harbaugh eventually remained at Stanford while Kansas hired Buffalo coach Turner Gill. Four days after the Orange Bowl victory in January 2011, Harbaugh took over the 49ers.

Now more Kansas rumblings have surfaced. According to reporting by ESPN’s Seth Wickersham, an anonymous Harbaugh confidant said that if Harbaugh ever returned to the college ranks, it would be at Kansas.

“He’s just crazy enough to do it,” the confidant told Wickersham.

After firing third-year coach Charlie Weis on Sept. 28, KU athletic director Sheahon Zenger said the school will conduct a national search for its next head coach.

This story was originally published October 5, 2014 at 9:26 PM with the headline "With rumors circulating, Harbaugh mum on anything but his 49ers team."