Tough Harbaugh what the 49ers needed

SANTA CLARA, Calif. -- Jim Harbaugh is as subtle as the punch to the jaw he once tossed at Jim Kelly, a man who sees life -- and football -- as a matter of winning or losing, and let's cut to the chase.

He can talk for 20 minutes, intentionally not saying very much, or for two minutes, and tell you more than you expected.

He's been the coach at three different locations: non-scholarship University of San Diego, academically challenging Stanford University and, since last January, the San Francisco 49ers. He's succeeded at each, thanks to a blend of brains, persuasion and confidence bordering on arrogance.

After eight consecutive losing seasons, the 49ers threw tons of money at Harbaugh -- reportedly something like $5 million a year for five years -- to do exactly what he has done: bring them to the precipice of the Super Bowl. On Sunday, the 49ers will host the Giants in the NFC Championship Game.

Harbaugh, 49, seems neither surprised nor elated about what has happened. When something or someone gets in his way, better get out, as Pete Carroll discovered after Stanford ran up the score against Carroll's USC squad in 2009.

"We ask no quarter," Harbaugh said Monday, "and we give no quarter."

Kelly knows. When Harbaugh was a quarterback for the Colts in 1997, Kelly, the retired quarterback of the Buffalo Bills, contended that Harbaugh faked injuries. Harbaugh caught up with Kelly in a San Diego hotel and punched him in the jaw, breaking his own throwing hand.

"Sometimes,'' Harbaugh explained, "you have to stand up for what you believe in."

Niners president Jed York, desperate to turn around a franchise that once was one of the NFL's proudest, believed in Harbaugh. In 2010, he led Stanford to a 12-1 record. Even though quarterback Andrew Luck would return to Stanford, Harbaugh would not.

"We needed someone who understands the most important position on the field,'' York said.

He meant quarterback; Alex Smith, the No. 1 overall draft pick in 2005, had been a flop. Harbaugh convinced Smith, a free agent, to return. Then, through well-designed plays and direct words, Harbaugh resurrected his career.

Harbaugh spoke of Smith's toughness, but seemingly there is nobody tougher than Harbaugh, at Michigan or in the pros. He dislocated a finger that to this day sticks out at an angle, and he has incurred numerous other serious injuries.

The country saw him nearly slap Detroit Lions coach Jim Schwartz during an enthusiastic postgame handshake for which Harbaugh wouldn't apologize.

His coaching philosophy is "Better today than yesterday, better tomorrow than today. We had no two-year plan or three-year plan. We wanted to win now.'' And each stop, he's won "now.''

The son of a football coach and a brother of another, Harbaugh, at his essence, is competitive. He and older brother John battled each other as kids. John now coaches the Ravens, who will face the Patriots on Sunday in the AFC Championship Game. "I watch [the Ravens],'' Jim Harbaugh said, "as a brother, a fan and a possible opponent.''