The most impressive thing about Harbaugh's turnaround

Honestly, 13-3 didn't surprise me as it should have. We've always had a nucleus of excellent players just waiting to break out. I'd never put money on over 10 wins, but in retrospect it's not shocking. We shouldn't have been as bad as we've been in the past.

More impressive is the fact that he's done this without a full offseason. We were completely in the dark with a new staff not even being able to work with its players until the lockout lifted. Alex wasn't even on the roster. Then shortly after, training camp starts and we're an absolute mess in practice and preseason. Then the staff figures shite out as they go, and before you know it we're 13-3 and the #2 seed.

Smith had "Camp Alex" but that was effectively just a few Niners playing catch. Doesn't come close to anything Brees did at Tulane, nor did we have any inkling as to what the hell the offense, which was going to be infinitely more complex that Singeltary's, was going to look like. The Saints had continuity and knew what they were doing over the lockout, perhaps more than any other team. Now they've been deposed by a team and staff that had to hit the ground running full speed to even put a competitive team out there.

13-3 isn't inherently worth drooling over, but the circumstances surrounding it, with such little time to get things going and what he's done to save the career of Alex Smith absolutely are.