Jim Harbaugh is not nearly the monster that the media is portraying him to be. Just ask him.
Sports Illustrated did, and Harbaugh used the opportunity to try to set the record straight about his relationship and standing with the San Francisco 49ers organization.
Harbaugh, who has guided the 49ers to three consecutive NFC championship game appearances with a Super Bowl XLVII appearance among them, has two more years on a five-year contract with the team.
Rumor of upheaval within the 49ers began with a Pro Football Talk report that the Cleveland Browns attempted to acquire Harbaugh in a trade and believed they had a shot at pulling it off.
Asked whether Harbaugh thought he could part ways with San Francisco before the end of his contract that concludes with the 2015 season, Harbaugh told SI, "No. Zero opportunity or chance of that in my mind."
A San Jose Mercury report in December also stated that Harbaugh and his agent told the 49ers that any talk about a contract extension couldn't start until the team immediately made him the highest-paid coach in the NFL.
Harbaugh refuted those claims as well.
"I see all these reports about how I want to be the highest-paid coach in football," Harbaugh said. "They presume I covet some kind of extension. I have never said to anybody that I want to be the highest-paid coach in football. I have never said that to anybody -- my wife, my brother, my dad. I make plenty of money.
"The other one is that I want more power. I have never said that, nor do I want any more power than I have. I coach the team. I've told my owner I don't want any more power. I want to coach the team. And I've never told anybody else otherwise."
The coach added that he viewed his relationship with general manager Trent Baalke is fine.
"We're both demanding and we want to be accountable for ourselves, for each other," Harbaugh said. "If you haven't had a brother, you probably don't understand the relationship between the GM and the head coach. We're partners on the same team. I have great respect for him. He works extremely hard at it and is very good at it. We are all part of a team. I believe in the structure we have. I don't want to change anything that we do in that regard."
Harbaugh added that the only demand on money he has made has been for his assistant coaches, especially defensive coordinator Vic Fangio.
"He has not had a raise since he's been here. Focus on that."
Harbaugh said he never considered leaving the Niners for Cleveland.
"If that existed, it existed in somebody else's mind, not mine. I am too fond of my team, the players, the coaches. I really feel like we have one of the best, if not the best organizations in football."
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