One firing that might not be of much note to San Francisco 49ers fans is the departure of strength and conditioning coach Duane Carlisle. Carlisle has been with the Niners throughout the Mike Singletary era, and it seemed fitting that new head coach Jim Harbaugh would look in a different direction (in this case, promoting assistant strength coach Mike Uyeyama to the position).
However, while it might not have made much of a difference to San Francisco fans, Stanford Cardinal fans might be a little wary of the decision. Because cutting lose Duane Carlisle was probably the final straw needed to break the tenuous grasp they had with Duane's son. Four star recruit and potential all-purpose back Amir Carlisle from Sunnyvale switched his soft verbal with the Cardinal to a firm verbal for the USC Trojans. According to Rivals, Carlisle is the fourth best all-purpose back in America, and the ninth best prospect in all of California.
Although Carlisle had always been looking around, you'd have to figure one of the main reasons he chose the Cardinal was because his father worked in the Bay Area with the 49ers. While Harbaugh's departure certainly seemed to shake his commitment, it was only when his father got axed that Carlisle made the decision to join the Men of Troy. Connect the dots (and who knows? Duane might end up in USC's staff before all is said and done).
So it turns out Jim Harbaugh might have hurt Stanford football after all. The effects just won't be felt for a few more years.
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