When Jim Harbaugh “mutually departed” from the San Francisco 49ers after last season, many wondered if Colin Kaepernick would struggle without the old quarterback to guide him in the coming years. Nothing could be further from the truth, which is that Kaepernick can now finally blossom without Harbaugh controlling his every move.
Hearken back to Frank Gore’s recent comment about Andrew Luck running the huddle. Gore said he’d never before been in a situation in which a quarterback controlled the huddle. It’s been construed in the media that perhaps what Gore said was a dig at Kaepernick, but that isn’t the case, as Matt Maiocco of CSN Bay Area points out:
“During training camp and regular-season practices the past four seasons, then-coach Jim Harbaugh often took control and made the play call to the offense,” Maiocco wrote.
Things are different this summer, however, as quarterbacks coach Steve Logan calls the plays into Kaepernick, just as he will do once the games are being played. Essentially, the 49ers are practicing the way they intend to play—a novel idea, we know.
Kaepernick is understandably excited about this new development for him as a quarterback and the leader of the 49ers:
“It allows the players to have confidence in hearing your voice and you’re the one who’s going to be giving them direction on the field,” Kaepernick said on Wednesday. “It’s something that every quarterback should have the ability to do.”
Nobody should ever knock coach Harbaugh for being who he is. He turned the 49ers franchise into a winner again after a decade of incompetence, and he deserves respect for that. However, regardless of what your opinion is about what the team did after Harbaugh was let go, he did need to leave in order for Kaepernick to truly take the next step in his development.
Harbaugh was the leader of the offense—not Kaepernick—while he was the head coach. This cannot be the case going forward. The quarterback must be the undeniable leader, but Harbaugh is still too much a player in his own mind to relinquish control. Heck, the guy still wears cleats when he coaches.
Now, Kaepernick finally has a chance to become the true leader of the offense for the 49ers. Whether or not he finds success in this role remains to be seen, but he won’t have anyone standing in his way from here on out.
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