(AP)

To some fans, Black Monday is a small glimmer of hope for their flailing franchise. The organization makes the decision to fire a coach after a season rife with struggles, or losing, or incompetence, or in many cases all three. The Monday after the regular season ends is a cleansing period for these fans. They won’t have a team in the playoffs, but at least they won’t have to deal with the guy responsible either.

On this Black Monday morning, there are many fan bases set to begin the healing process. The Jets, Bears, and Falcons are of note. Franchises basking in dysfunction and underachievement. And then there are the 49ers.

San Francisco hasn’t had a losing record in four years. They’ve been to the playoffs three out of the past four seasons, and reached the NFC Championship every single time. They even made a Super Bowl. Yet, the dysfunction in San Francisco dwarfs that of just about every other NFL organization.

The 49ers parted ways with their head coach not because he was losing or incompetent. When we look back on the relationship between Jim Harbaugh and the San Francisco front office, the reason for his dismissal is clear.

(USA TODAY Sports)

They just didn’t like him.

It’s a ridiculous conclusion – I feel ridiculous writing it – but look at what Harbaugh built in San Francisco and try to come up with a better answer.

His was a team and a style that just about any team not based in Seattle or New England would die to have. In four season, Harbaugh not only hauled the 49ers out of mediocrity, he gave them a culture of success – unparalleled success. Forty-four wins in four seasons. That’s the second-most by any coach in his first four seasons. He was also the only coach in NFL history to go to back-to-back-to-back NFC Championships in his first three years.

And San Francisco decided he wasn’t the guy they wanted. It’s happened before. Steve Mariucci is somewhere shaking his head and smiling at what has transpired.

(AP)

Harbaugh is a man of principle. Not your principles or my principles, but his and only his. Who has it better than Jim Harbaugh? No one, according to Jim Harbaugh. Things are done his way, his way is best, and honestly that’s not wrong. Harbaugh proved that his way was much better than the 49ers highway.

But Harbaugh’s methods, cadence, and personality did not run in accord with 49ers CEO Jed York. Ultimately, that was his undoing. Harbaugh was about winning, and San Francisco is about something else.

What is that something else? We will find out in the coming year. Whatever it is, it takes priority over winning.

Knowing that, it was never a question of if Jim Harbaugh would leave but a matter of when.

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