San Francisco 49ers guard Alex Boone has flipped his narrative regarding Jim Harbaugh.
Boone vehemently attacked all those who attacked his former coach during the season. More recently the guard told Andrea Kremer, in an interview that will air Tuesday on HBO's Real Sports with Bryant Gumble, that Harbaugh grated on the players after a time.
"He does a great job of giving you that spark, that initial boom," Boone said, via NBC Sports. "But after a while, you just want to kick his ass. ... He just keeps pushing you, and you're like, 'Dude, we got over the mountain. Stop. Let go.' He kind of wore out his welcome."
Kremer asked Boone to clarify his comments.
"I think he just pushed guys too far," the former Ohio State player said. " He wanted too much, demanded too much, expected too much. You know, 'We gotta go out and do this. We gotta go out and do this. We gotta go out and do this.' And you'd be like, 'This guy might be clinically insane. He's crazy.' ... I think that if you're stuck in your ways enough, eventually people are just going to say, 'Listen, we just can't work with this.'"
It's not a new theory that Harbaugh got under his players' skin. Randy Moss' criticism early in Harbaugh's tenure in San Francisco was that the coach ran the squad less like a pro team and more like a college one.
Former-49ers cornerback Chris Culliver, who signed with the Redskins in the offseason after playing three seasons in San Francisco, posted a photo of Jim Harbaugh on Monday referencing the details, writing: (Sic) "Funny how ppl talk about u when You not around but quite in ya face!! 3/4 years went to NFCchampionship/Super Bowl, that's what we play for!!"Â
Harbaugh even admitted to Kremer that he knows his style can wear on people.
"It must be true, yeah," Harbaugh said. "Sometimes I'd wear out my welcome."
"What does that mean you wear out your welcome?" Kremer asked.
"They just don't want to be around you after a while," Harbaugh replied.
Harbaugh now has a fresh start at Michigan and Boone has a more player-friendly coach in Jim Tomsula.
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