The Oakland Raiders are a team without a coach, desperately searching for a big name answer to turn their franchise around while changing the culture of a team that hasn’t made the playoffs since their last Super Bowl run in 2002. That means that the Raiders and owner Mark Davis are attached to pretty much any big name head coach who has a possibility of hitting the open market, as it makes realistic sense that Davis along with general manager Reggie McKenzie would be interested in bringing in any proven coach who is mutually interested in the team.
San Francisco 49ers head coach Jim Harbaugh is one of those head coaches that has his name in the rotation of big names that get rumored when discussions of potential Raiders targets is brought up. Going through a difficult season in San Francisco where missing the playoffs is still a possibility despite a big win over the New Orleans Saints recently, Harbaugh has been long noted as a coach who respects the late Al Davis and has roots in the Bay Area. So in theory, it makes plenty of sense that if Harbaugh hits the open market that he and the Raiders would be mutually interested.
Peter King (SI writer, MMQB.com Editor-In-Chief) feels that it is a possibility that Harbaugh jumps across the Bay (or from Santa Clara to be exact) to Oakland down the road, giving it a greater than 20% chance of the successful coach to move to Oakland should his contract negotiations with the Niners continue to sour.
RT @frankieboy1989: @SI_PeterKing Jim Harbaugh coaching the Raiders next year? ,,, Odds: 21.71%
— Peter King (@peter_king) November 12, 2014
CSN Bay Area’s Scott Bair also discussed the idea of Harbaugh joining the Raiders in a recent video with Bleacher Report.
Of course 21.71% odds is a total random guess, but the rumblings haver been persisting nearly all season about the chances of Harbaugh making the switch to Oakland should he get let go by his current employers. It would make for a good story and give Harbaugh a chance at revenge over the Niners by leading the other Bay Area team to potential success, but with suitors at the college level as well as the NFL likely to be in the mix along with the Raiders it is far from a lock that Harbaugh’s first choice would be Oakland. At this stage it is merely a great angle that has plenty of legs as the idea of Harbaugh joining Oakland from San Francisco is incredibly enticing.