As Jim Harbaugh's staff begins to coalesce, rumors have concurrently swirled regarding who the candidates are for certain jobs.
One of these candidates is Colin Kaepernick, who, per Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk, is a legitimate candidate to join Harbaugh's staff.
Florio cited reporting from 2022, that suggested that Harbaugh was going to hire Kaepernick if he took the Minnesota Vikings job that eventually went to Kevin O'Connell.
As far as the rationale for this goes, Kaepernick played under Harbaugh during Harbaugh's time with the 49ers, with Kaepernick's appearance at the Michigan Wolverines' 2022 spring game adding to the subplot.
In response to this, here's what former All-Pro and Charger great Shawne Merriman had to say (per Ryan Gaydos of Fox News):
"...I think it would be a horrible decision..."You got a lot of people out there putting in the time, putting in the effort and is waiting in line for those jobs and more qualified for those jobs.
And to jump over everybody else who spent their time, energy, still in line and work their way up, would just be a slap in the face to everyone that’s been committed to raising the bar."
Merriman's logic certainly makes sense, as Kaepernick has no coaching experience, so adding him to a staff over potential available candidates that have more impressive resumes sounds both counterintuitive and lacking integrity.
That said, Gaydos cites Harbaugh having previously mentioned that he thought that it was "absurd" that Kaepernick doesn't have a job, implying that he would vie for him to have one depending on the situation.
There will be a ton of press regarding Kaepernick's potential hire if it comes to that point, so it's a storyline certainly worth following.
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