San Francisco 49ers head coach Jim Harbaugh took to the podium at the NFL Combine in Indianapolis Thursday afternoon, discussing a number of topics including re-signing quarterback Alex Smith, seeing some players at the combine, and even reuniting with some of his former Stanford players, just not Andrew Luck (unfortunately).
Harbaugh noted that he's 'lost sleep' over not having Smith signed already, and was steadfast on the notion that he is their choice at signal caller moving forward:
"Alex is our guy," Harbaugh said. "That's well documented. He had a tremendous season. Definitely as a coach you worry about a lot of things. When a quarterback is not signed and is a free agent, leads to lost sleep."
As for his improvement, Coach Harbaugh feels that Alex will flourish even more in his second year under the Harbaugh regime:
"The most improvement you can make is form Year 1 to Year 2," Harbaugh said. "Much like a college freshman, the most improvement he can make is that entire one year of college football, going from Year 1 freshman year to his sophomore year. Like a pro football player going from his rookie season to his second season. There's a window there that will never come again, you have a chance to make your biggest stride."
Harbaugh also touched on Andrew Luck, stating that he is still the best QB he's ever worked with (sorry Alex). But the 49ers won't be setting up a reunion between the two:
"Not going to like playing against him. Not looking forward to that."
As for players he's coached, Harbaugh mentioned he'd like to reunite with some of them, but because of his relationships notes that he may have a slightly tilted view of them:
"I have so much history with them, from recruiting them to practice and games and spending every day for four years with those guys," Harbaugh said. "In some ways, I don't know if I'm under-evaluating them or over-evaluating them."
Coach was also asked about Robert Griffin III, who he tried to recruit to Palo Alto to play for the Card:
"I can't wait to find out why they didn't come to Stanford," Harbaugh said, laughing.
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