San Francisco 49ers general manager Trent Baalke took the high road in response to former coach Jim Harbaugh's comments that the 49ers fired him toward the end of the 2014.
The low road may have hit close to home.
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NFL.com reported that Baalke resisted getting into a media grudge match with Harbaugh, now the head coach at the University of Michigan.
"I have no response to that," Baalke said to reporters at the NFL Scouting Combine. "You know, Jim's moved on, we've moved on. He's done a heck of a job. We've got a new head football coach and we're trying to get ready for the draft, free agency and the offseason."
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Baalke, however, received a follow-up question to the one he refused to answer as he was asked whether he and owner Jed York forced out Harbaugh, the coach that led the franchise to three consecutive NFC Championship Game appearances during the 2011, 2012 and 2013 seasons.
"Once again, he's moved on and we've moved on and I think the important thing for us now is just to look forward and that's what we're trying to do," Baalke said.
Interestingly, Baalke did talk about another report from NFL.com that stated that the 49ers had offered the head coaching position originally to former Denver Broncos offensive coordinator Adam Gase on the condition that he promote Jim Tomsula from defensive line coach to defensive coordinator.
"The 49ers job was offered to one person and one person only," Baalke told reporters. "Jim Tomsula."
Harbaugh said the 49ers told him after the team lost to the Seattle Seahawks to end their playoff hopes in 2014 that he would not be returning in 2015.
"Yes, I was told I wouldn't be the coach anymore," Harbaugh said of 49ers management. "And then ... you can call it 'mutual,' I mean, I wasn't going to put the 49ers in the position to have a coach that they didn't want any more.
"But that's the truth of it. I didn't leave the 49ers. I felt like the 49er hierarchy left me."
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