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Jim Harbaugh, as only he could, was talking in passionate detail about his pants after Saturday's preseason finale against the 49ers, of course he was.
But you could tell he was also probably talking about Trey Lance, about life in general, about living and learning in the NFL, and yes, Harbaugh was almost certainly talking about himself.
"Probably noticed I've moved to a different color," Harbaugh said with a big smile as he stood at the Chargers' podium and gestured to his legs. "I can't remember when it was, probably 2018 or 2019, went to blue (while he was the Michigan coach). Then wore those for five or six years. And now I'm in gray.
"You don't want things to get stale, you know? It's like over-ripe fruit, stale bread, burned meat. Gotta change things up."
Things have changed so much for Harbaugh and the 49ers that sometimes it seems like it was 100 years ago — not just 11 — when he finished out his frenetic 49ers tenure with a weird farewell at Levi's Stadium and an awkward announcement about a "mutual parting."
But on Saturday, the first time Harbaugh has coached at Levi's since that game, some of it felt a little like yesterday. It was, as always, the Full Harbaugh. On this day, he hugged Frank Gore on the field before game, chatted with Patrick Willis, and had Trey Lance looking as calm and settled as I've ever seen him at quarterback.
Harbaugh wouldn't quite confirm that Lance has won the backup job behind Justin Herbert, but Lance has almost certainly won the role quite easily this preseason.
So why did Harbaugh like Lance, who spent two fitful seasons in Dallas after his flameout with the 49ers, enough to sign him last spring?
"Twenty-five years old — just in life that's the fat part of the bat," Harbaugh said. "For a quarterback, that's the fat part of the bat. I like the skill set. I like the player. And just having a chance to talk to him and get to know him in those days.
"I really liked that part, too. He just wants to get good at football. And that's all I want him to do."
Harbaugh noted that Lance didn't commit a turnover the entire preseason and has shown his commitment to being better every day — which, for Harbaugh, is just about everything.
Lance, for his part, sounded as relaxed as he spoke in the locker room after the 30-23 loss as he looked when he completed 5-of-8 passes for 39 yards in three offensive series. Nothing extraneous. Nothing overdone. Nothing stale, either.
"It's a fun place to be, a joyful place to be," Lance said of the Chargers. "A lot of great players around. Learning from Justin's been great. Nothing but great things to say. I feel like I've been fortunate to have been with three great organizations and I'm really enjoying my time here with the Chargers."
And what's it like to be coached by Harbaugh?
"He's one of a kind — personality, coaching style, everything," Lance said. "He played the position for a long time. Just the way he communicates with us is different than what I've been around in Dallas especially. Every place is different, every head coach is different...
"Unbelievably thankful for my time, starting my career here in San Francisco and then being in Dallas. I feel like I've learned a lot in each step I've been in, and this is another one."
Lance said he didn't get a chance to talk to Shanahan before or after the game — I saw Shanahan looking for him quickly at midfield after shaking Harbaugh's hand but not seeing him — but had a good chat with Shanahan's son, Carter.
And Lance said he has no bitterness over the way his 49ers career ended; he got hurt in 2022, Brock Purdy eventually took over the job, and Lance was shuffled down to third string in the summer of 2023 before he was traded to Dallas.
"Yeah, I'm a firm believer everything works out exactly how it's supposed to," Lance said. "That's just how the plan was, that's how it was written for me.
"Just unbelievably thankful for my time here in San Francisco. For Kyle, for John (Lynch), and yeah, it was open and honest the whole time throughout my whole time here. And that's all you can ask for."
But let's get back to Harbaugh, who perhaps surprised himself by going with me on a mini nostalgia tour. OK, maybe Gore and Willis and a few others had more to do with it than me, but still, it happened.
Harbaugh's been in a good mood all summer, I've heard, and it makes sense. He lifted the Chargers to the playoffs last season and their roster is better this year. They took a huge blow recently when they lost left tackle Rashawn Slater for the season, but they've still got a lot of talent.
And all of this is more than enough to keep Harbaugh focused on a long run in the playoffs and not on the NCAA's recent penalties after an investigation into Harbaugh's Michigan program. (Harbaugh is not commenting on this, FYI. "Not engaging," is his repeated response. I didn't try for another one Saturday.)
Harbaugh, of course, won the national title at Michigan in 2023. Then he moved to the Chargers. And never looked back.
But it was a little different on Saturday.
"Just tremendous memories," Harbaugh said. "Great times. Great people. It's been a lot of years, but it's a lot of days, you know? So many days. Where every day you're just on to the next.
"But ... for one that's not real nostalgic, there's some nostalgia there. For sure. Because they were such good times. So good."
Gore, a personnel advisor for the 49ers these days, beamed in the press box at halftime when I asked him what it was like to see Harbaugh coaching at Levi's again.
"That's my guy, man," Gore said. "Any time I see Harbaugh, it's good. Harbaugh's one of the best coaches I played for. I think we're similar — as he is a coach, that's how I am as a player. All football, going to do whatever it takes to win."
For Gore, the point is that Harbaugh turns teams into winners — and the 49ers desperately needed that back in 2011. Almost everybody needs this.
"He did great things here," Gore said. "I just wish we would've won a Super Bowl, but Harbaugh did great. When he got here, you've got to understand what we were going through.
"We were the laughingstock of the NFL. And first year he got here, we got to the NFC Championship. That was big. ... Everywhere he goes, he wins. When he got here, he showed us how to win. And I love him. ... It's more than just football, me and Harbaugh."
In that that wistful spirit, I asked Harbaugh if he remembered that final game as 49ers coach on Dec. 28, 2014.
"Against the Cardinals? I sure do. I remember, I think it was Kasim Osgood, gave me the ball," Harbaugh said. "Still got it. ...
"I remember the 2013 game at Candlestick, the last one there. Last one I coached in Candlestick. NaVorro Bowman running down the sideline. I was like a pig in slop. I was the happiest... A lot of, like, top-1o type of things happened in my life here."
Really, the Harbaugh-49ers thaw started a few years ago when Harbaugh accepted an invitation from Jed York to return for the first time since his firing to celebrate the 10th anniversary of the 2012 Super Bowl team. Harbaugh was on the field. He was at a dinner with everybody the night before.
And now he and Jed York are fine. Which is a sentence that would've seemed completely impossible 10 years ago.
"We've had a lot of good conversations," Harbaugh said. "Jed's been great. The York family. Sat next to John at the owners' meetings. It was good seeing Kyle here. We've had a lot of good conversations.
'With (Chargers owner) John Spanos, Jed gave me a really good recommendation to this Spanos family when I got this job. It's all good. I love being (with the Chargers). It's been a blessing. ... So if you're wondering how I'm doing, I'm doing A-plus. A-plus-plus.
"And great days and challenges ahead. As you much suspect, I'm attacking them with an enthusiasm unknown to mankind."
But there was one little reminder of those troubled times in 2014 — that was Levi's inaugural season and it was well known that 49ers management wanted the home team to use the east sideline, which was closer to a club-level tunnel full of well-heeled fans. That, though, is the side that's bombarded by the sun. As soon as Harbaugh saw this, he immediately vetoed the idea and made sure that his 49ers teams would have the west sideline — almost always in the shade.
He was asked Saturday, hey, wasn't it your idea to flip the sides of the benches?
"Oh, humility prevents me from saying that," Harbaugh said with a grin.
But on Saturday, he was the visitor, so the Chargers had to broil on the sunny side until evening fell. So how was it, Jim?
"Beautiful night," he said. As only Jim Harbaugh could and would say, and as only he would really, truly mean.