And did the Niners do that this year?
The question to ask is; would their chances of winning next year be higher or lower with Harbaugh.
Management made the decision that they are better off w/o him. Time will tell who is right on that call.
They would have if they hadn’t sabotaged their coach. For the decade before he showed up they failed to make the playoffs. He took them to the conference finals 3 years in a row, won one, got the Super Bowl.
Their chances of winning next year will be lower. When you ill treat a top coach like that it reduces the quality of coaches you can choose from. Just look across the bay in Oakland, that’s the fate of teams that get rid of good coaches for bad reasons.