Trent Baalke has had control of personnel decisions for the San Francisco 49ers since January 2011 when he was promoted to general manager.

Baalke, along with Jed York, then made the decision to hire Jim Harbaugh as head coach.

While Harbaugh has been one of the NFL's most celebrated coaches since making the jump from Stanford, power of the 49ers has remained with Baalke.

Baalke has not been overruled by York on a single matter, according to Kawakami.

Baalke decided the 49ers would fully support Aldon Smith, as well as allowing Ray McDonald to continue playing after his domestic violence arrest.

"But in those early years, Harbaugh received almost all of the attention and he deserved to, because the 49ers needed an adrenaline shot most of all," writes Kawakami.

"Which Harbaugh obviously provided.

"Then, at some point along the line, the Yorks had to pick their No. 1 guy for the long-term, and it’s clear that Jed York picked Baalke over Harbaugh a while ago."