{"id":79409,"date":"2024-01-11T03:20:52","date_gmt":"2024-01-11T03:20:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/aweu.info\/?p=79409"},"modified":"2024-01-11T03:20:52","modified_gmt":"2024-01-11T03:20:52","slug":"former-browns-ceo-says-cleveland-nearly-nabbed-jim-harbaugh-kieu-linh","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/aweu.info\/former-browns-ceo-says-cleveland-nearly-nabbed-jim-harbaugh-kieu-linh\/","title":{"rendered":"Former Browns CEO Says Cleveland Nearly Nabbed Jim Harbaugh"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>While\u00a0Kevin Stefanski\u00a0has led the\u00a0Cleveland Browns\u00a0to two playoff appearances in his four seasons as head coach, one has to wonder what the team might have looked like with\u00a0Jim Harbaugh\u00a0on the sidelines.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/heavy.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/Jim-Harbaugh.jpg?quality=65&amp;strip=all&amp;w=780\" alt=\"Jim Harbaugh\" \/><\/p>\n<p>Ten years ago, the Browns were close to bringing the Ohio native to the Forest City in a trade with the\u00a0San Francisco 49ers, according to former Browns CEO Joe Banner.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNot many remember that in 2014 with the Browns we agreed to a trade with the 49ers to acquire Jim Harbaugh,\u201d\u00a0Banner, the team\u2019s top executive in 2012 and 2013, posted\u00a0on X on January 9. \u201cUnfortunately from our perspective Jim blocked the trade and look what has happened to both sides since then. Changed the next decade for both sides.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Given that Stefanski has led the Browns to a 37-29 record and has a year left on his five-year contract, there appears to be little reason for the Browns to be interested in Harbaugh now that he\u2019s wrapped up a national championship-winning season with the\u00a0Michigan Wolverines.<\/p>\n<p>Stefanski, the first Browns coach since Marty Schottenheimer (1984-88) to have a winning record in his career, appears to be on the verge of an extension, according to USA Today\u2019s Browns Wire.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cStefanski is here to stay in Cleveland and is going to see a new contract on his desk. It\u2019s not a matter of if, it\u2019s a matter of when,\u201d Browns Wire\u2019s\u00a0Cory Kinnan wrote\u00a0in a December 13 story.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Not many remember that in 2014 with the Browns we agreed to a trade with the 49ers to acquire Jim Harbaugh. Unfortunately from our perspective Jim blocked the trade and look what has happened to both sides since then. Changed the next decade for both sides.<\/p>\n<p>&mdash; Joe Banner (@JoeBanner13) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/JoeBanner13\/status\/1744777240586437036?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">January 9, 2024<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<div id=\"cb268636d00119dcf09dd6bfc9f96bc0\" class=\"embed_container\">\n<div class=\"lazy-embed lazy-embed--ssr embed-twitter-com lazy-embed--loaded\" data-url=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/JoeBanner13\/status\/1744777240586437036\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h2>Harbaugh Denied the Initial Report, But the Browns Didn\u2019t<\/h2>\n<p>On February 21, 2014, Pro Football Talk\u2019s\u00a0Mike Florio was the first to report the trade, saying the Browns would have sent multiple draft picks to the 49ers in exchange for Harbaugh\u2019s services.<\/p>\n<p>Later that same day, ESPN\u2019s\u00a0Chris Mortensen confirmed the report, even going so far as to say talks between the two sides \u201creached a serious stage.\u201d<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Browns did indeed make a run at Jim Harbaugh that reached a serious stage, sources confirm substance of  <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/ProFootballTalk?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">@ProFootballTalk<\/a> report.<\/p>\n<p>&mdash; Chris Mortensen (@mortreport) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/mortreport\/status\/437056612994260992?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">February 22, 2014<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p>However, then-49ers CEO Jed York jumped into the mix, tagging Pro Football Talk and NFL Network\u2019s Ian Rapoport in a tweet\u00a0stating the rumors were false.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\"><a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/ProFootballTalk?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">@ProFootballTalk<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/RapSheet?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">@RapSheet<\/a> is this on the record? Report isn&#39;t true<\/p>\n<p>&mdash; Jed York (@JedYork) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/JedYork\/status\/437001873011142656?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">February 21, 2014<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p>Harbaugh himself then jumped into the conversation, according to ESPN\u2019s Ed Werder, who\u00a0posted that he\u2019d received a text from Harbaugh denying the reports.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">SF Head coach Jim Harbaugh text to me on reports Niners-Browns discussed trading him: &quot;I echo Jed York&#39;s comment &#8211; isn&#39;t true&#8230;.&quot;<\/p>\n<p>&mdash; Ed Werder (@WerderEdESPN) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/WerderEdESPN\/status\/437090341200490497?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">February 22, 2014<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p>The Browns, though, did not deny Florio\u2019s report. Cleveland stated that the search for a new head coach was \u201cthorough\u201d and \u201cacknowledged that many options were considered\u201d before expressing excitement about Buffalo Bills defensive coordinator Mike Pettine and his future with the franchise, which, again, lasted just two years.<\/p>\n<h2>Browns Were Struggling at the Time of the Report<\/h2>\n<p>Simply put, the Browns were not in a good place following the 2013 season. They\u2019d just wrapped up a 4-12 campaign, marking the sixth straight season the team had won five games or fewer.<\/p>\n<p>And in those six seasons, the franchise had employed four different head coaches, the last being Rob Chudzinski, who was fired after one season and hasn\u2019t been a head coach since.<\/p>\n<p>Meanwhile, Harbaugh, who\u2019d taken the San Francisco job in 2011 after four seasons at Stanford, was just a year removed from taking the 49ers to the Super Bowl and was coming off his third consecutive appearance in the NFC Championship Game.<\/p>\n<p>With Harbaugh no longer an option, the Browns ultimately hired Pettine. Banner announced in February 2014 that he would be leaving the Browns. Later that year, he joined the\u00a0Atlanta Falcons\u00a0as a consultant.<\/p>\n<p>Pettine was the first of another four head coaches in Cleveland over the next six seasons before the franchise brought in Stefanski in 2020.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>While\u00a0Kevin Stefanski\u00a0has led the\u00a0Cleveland Browns\u00a0to two playoff appearances in his four seasons as head coach, one has to wonder what the team might have looked like with\u00a0Jim&#8230; <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-79409","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-nfl"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/aweu.info\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/79409","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/aweu.info\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/aweu.info\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/aweu.info\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/aweu.info\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=79409"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/aweu.info\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/79409\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/aweu.info\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=79409"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/aweu.info\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=79409"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/aweu.info\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=79409"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}