I don't think Luck cared. If he did, he'd have waited a few days to make his decision, since it was clear at the time he announced his intent to return to Stanford that Harbaugh wasn't going to take very long to make his decision.
Yup. It appears he wanted to stay in the Bay Area, as reports had him most interested in $5 million/year offers from the 49ers and Stanford.
If only. Or convince Luck to enter the draft and pull a John Elway/Eli Manning and refuse to sign with the Panthers after they draft him #1...only sign with the 49ers.
Me too. This is the first coach I've been excited about since.......... God..... I don't know honestly. I liked Siefert and Mariucci had his strong points, but nobody ever really lived up to Walsh.
Walsh was once in a generation. I don't expect another 49ers coach in my lifetime to live up to Walsh.
Honestly, i'm not sure if he's perfect for the pros. His brother seems like a better fit for the NFL.
My hope is that the 49ers can get Blaine Gabbert at #7. I think Gabbert is the best combination of most talented quarterback prospect in the draft and most similar to Luck in that he has no glaring flaws. The main strikes against him are that he's unproven in a pro style offense where he needs to make multiple reads and that he doesn't check down enough when his receiver down the field is taken away. While nothing is guaranteed, these seem like the types of things Harbaugh can best address. Gabbert's strengths are numerous: he's a big quarterback, he has a big arm, he's very mobile and athletic, he has accuracy and poise in the pocket, he seems like an intelligent guy. I think this is the type of guy that Harbaugh could plausibly turn into a star.
One thing that Walsh was good at was judging coaching talent. The Niners haven't been able to replicate that since he left. The guy had so many successful understudies in guys like Holmgren, Dennis Green, George Siefert, etc.
You guys need a pass rush badly. And cornerbacks, and safeties, and maybe more OL. QB is a pressing need as well but you gotta go BPA and not reach for a guy just because of position. Besides, Harbaugh is touted as a great QB developer and I've read that he plucked Luck out of HS where he wasn't a star or very highly rated and turned him into a top prospect. Obviously if he likes a QB at 7 thats good but I wouldn't be surprised if they take the best available 3-4 OLB/DE or CB and take a lesser known QB that Harbaugh likes later. I keep hearing Niners fans talk about how much of a talented roster they have but in my (Raiders fan) eyes there are a lot of weaknesses and while QB is probably the biggest a pass rush is a close second.
No, Luck was definitely a star in high school. There's a good article on Darron Thomas that talks about Luck (they played against each other in high school a lot). http://sports.espn.go.com/ncf/bowls10/news/story?id=5995924
