Jim Harbaugh ain't having none of what Deion Sanders is serving.
The San Francisco 49ers head coach fired back at Sanders on Monday afternoon in response to Sanders' assertion on Sunday that players on the team aren't happy with Harbaugh and want him "out."
"Personally, I think that's a bunch of a crap," Harbaugh said.
Trent Dilfer, former NFL quarterback and current ESPN analyst, called the 49ers' locker room "toxic" in a report earlier this season, according to USA Today.
"I haven't seen Trent or Deion around much," Harbaugh said. "If someone has a good story to tell, they want to put their name to it. If I had a good story to tell, I'd want to put my name to it, so I don't put a lot of credibility to the unnamed source."
Unnamed sources are a pretty normal thing in sports. Disgruntled players or coaches want the media to know what's going on in a particular city or team, but don't want to be known as the person who snitched.
Of course, coaches rarely like to hear things like "unnamed sources," because ostensibly it means that at least one of their players is blabbing to the media, and they prefer to handle things in-house.
Harbaugh said earlier this year that he had an "open-door policy" with his team and that, as of yet, no one had approached him with any locker room issues.
When asked about his relationships with GM Trent Baalke and owner Jed York, Harbaugh described them both as "very good" and said that the trio was "on the same page."
He claimed they had no issues and, together, were guiding the team exactly how they planned.
"We're focused on this season and making it the best it can be," Harbaugh said.
In reply to a question about this past weekend's win over the Philadelphia Eagles, Harbaugh offered his most descriptive response, and one that seemed to say everything an embattled coach needs to say about the state of his team.
"There is total belief in each other. Offense lifted up the defense; defense lifted up the offense, and both did that for the special teams. That's a joy to be around. That's a joy to coach," Harbaugh said. "They're playing for each other, and that's what they should be doing."
