(Written by kencraw)

I just read this article over at the Daily Furd and was struck by this quote:

In three seasons, he took one of the worst teams in the nation, churned out eight wins and booked the Cardinal a bowl game for the first time since 2001. This season, at 7-1, Stanford now ranks among the nation’s elite and is a popular pick as the best one-loss team in the country.

Simply put, in a profession devoid of job security, Harbaugh is set for life. We could churn out four consecutive five-win seasons and Jim could replace practice with Pilates, and he would still have a job.

This young man needs to take a look across the Bay before making such a stupid statement. In 3 years Cal churned out TEN wins and already had a bowl game, and a WIN under his belt. From mid-season 2007 to mid-season 2009, a stretch where Cal never missed a bowl game, is all it took for Tedford to go from “beloved coach who could ‘churn out four consecutive five-win seasons and could replace practice with Pilates, and he would still have a job.'” to “why can’t we fire this guy yet?”

Note to people like Zack Zimmerman: Football fans have surprisingly short memories. The best thing Stanford could do right now to keep Harbaugh long term is to do a face plant for the rest of the season (minus the Big Game) and then return to consistent 7-5 to 8-4 seasons. Any sustained flirting with the top-10 is bound to lead to disappointment sooner or later, particularly with the return of 5 win seasons.