Is Jim Harbaugh the Next Rick Pitino

Jim Harbaugh has apparently agreed to become the next coach of the San Francisco 49ers. I say “apparently” because things can change. But if he does take the 49ers job, do his personality and job progression not remind you of Rick Pitino?

Hear me out. This thought came to me as I failed to fall asleep last night. Pitino’s first head coaching job was at Boston University. Pitino took the Terriers from a losing record to two postseason appearances. He then went to Providence, a non-power school in a power conference, and led the Friars to the Final Four. Coming off that final Four appearance, Pitino left Providence for the New York Knicks, a team that saw him as a franchise savior after fifteen years of no relevance. Harbaugh’s path from conference championships at the University of San Diego to the Orange Bowl with Stanford to attempting to San Francisco would follow the exact same path—except, of course, that Pitino traveled south from New England to New York while Harbaugh traveled north along the Pacific Coast.

I could say that about many pairs of coaches, though. What makes Pitino and Harbaugh so similar to me are their personalities, specifically their charisma and the ways they control the media. Both Pitino and Harbaugh earned their first professional head coaching positions by falling just short of national championships at schools that are only good once a generation. Like Pitino before him, Jim Harbaugh left his small school at the right time.

I do not think the 49ers are currently as bad as the Knicks were when Pitino took over in 1987. The Knicks had a great defensive presence in Patrick Ewing and the new coach used his very first NBA draft pick to select floor leader in Mark Jackson. Harbaugh takes over a 49er team that has some pieces in place. Patrick Willis is a stud, and the rest of the defense is solid. With the seventh pick in the first round, the 49ers can, if they so choose, draft Ryan Mallett or Cam Newton to be their quarterback of the future.

While these aren’t necessarily championship pieces, I think Harbaugh has enough talent in San Francisco to not embarrass himself. I think he will eventually go back to coaching at the collegiate level. Michigan or some other glamour program will introduce Jim Harbaugh as its head coach sometime between 2013 and 2015. And, like Rick Pitino, achieve his greatest success there.