Trading for San Francisco 49ers coach Jim Harbaugh is a possibility the Atlanta Falcons reportedly are considering. CBS Sports' Jason La Canfora named Harbaugh as a possible "big-name" candidate the Falcons could pursue as a replacement for current head coach Mike Smith, who's expected to be fired before next season.
With a 2-6 record and a new stadium in the works, Blank appears ready to shake up things. The first order of business, according to La Canfora, is to fire Smith and to bring in a "big-name" head coach to help sell tickets.
"(Blank) has become increasingly frustrated with his team's descent into the bottom rung of the NFL and is irate about his 2014 product, according to a source close to him," La Canfora wrote Sunday. "Coach Mike Smith is not expected to be back next season, according to the source, with his job security now (becoming) a regular topic of conversation in Atlanta. Blank is mulling a move for a big-name head coach to help usher his team into the new stadium he is constructing.
"Should he land an A-list head coach, the immediate question becomes would that coach be comfortable with the front office as presently constructed, or would he want to hire his own general manager instead."
La Canfora said Blank would be willing to do whatever it took to land a quality coach, which would likely help to entice Harbaugh into coming to Atlanta. Harbaugh was specifically named by La Canfora as a potential replacement, largely because of Harbaugh's winning pedigree and his purported rift with the San Francisco front office.
The Atlantic Journal Constitution also named Harbaugh as a potential "big-name" target for the Falcons.
Landing Harbaugh wouldn't be far-fetched, either. In January, Pro Football Talk reported a deal between San Francisco and the Cleveland Browns for Harbaugh nearly happened. In October, another report - one from Pro Football Talk that said Harbaugh would "love" to coach the Oakland Raiders - indicated Harbaugh would be open to leaving the 49ers. Any Harbaugh trade, though, would be unlikely to happen until the offseason.
Both Harbaugh and the 49ers dismissed the reports, but where there's smoke there's fire.
