Jim Harbaugh says ‘zero’ chance he’ll leave 49ers before contract is up

Jim Harbaugh is satisfied with the money he makes and sees himself staying as coach of the San Francisco 49ers.

That’s what he told Sports Illustrated recently, insisting he had no plans to leave before his contract expires after the 2015 season.

“Zero opportunity or chance of that in my mind,” Harbaugh said.

The 49ers and Harbaugh are working on an extension on the five-year deal he signed in 2011, and Harbaugh told SI he isn’t angling to become the highest-paid coach in the NFL.

“I get paid extremely well,” he said. “Jed York (whose family owns the team) has always been square dealing with me. I don’t think about that as an issue. … I’ve seen it written like fact, `Harbaugh wants to be the highest-paid coach in football,’ or, ‘desperately covets a new contract.’ For the record: I make plenty of money. I mean, plenty of money.”

Harbaugh, who has led the 49ers to the NFC championship game in all three of his seasons, also said he’s not in a power struggle with General Manager Trent Baalke, as has been reported.

“I have never said that [I want more power], nor do I want any more power than I have,” Harbaugh said. “I coach the team. I’ve told my owner I don’t want any more power. I want to coach the team. And I’ve never told anybody else otherwise….

“We’re both demanding and we want to be accountable for ourselves, for each other. If you haven’t had a brother, you probably don’t understand the relationship between the GM and the head coach. We’re partners on the same team. I have great respect for him. He works extremely hard at it and is very good at it. We are all part of a team. I believe in the structure we have. I don’t want to change anything that we do in that regard.”

As for Cleveland’s reported attempt recently to trade for Harbaugh? The coach hedged a bit on that, not shooting it down by any means but saying he had no plans to leave.

“There was never any opportunity to leave the San Francisco 49ers,” he said. “If that existed, it existed in somebody else’s mind, not mine. I am too fond of my team, the players, the coaches. I really feel like we have one of the best, if not the best organizations in football.”