Cardinals coach Bruce Arians says he’ll fight it if the NFL tries to force his team to appear on Hard Knocks. But 49ers coach Jim Harbaugh says he’d welcome it.
“There’s going to be teams that are going to be on Hard Knocks and that seems like a popular thing and something people want to see,” Harbaugh said. “So, I don’t see it going away. You could stamp your feet and say I don’t want to do it, but I don’t know how productive that is for anybody concerned.”
This week the NFL adopted a rule saying the league office can force a team to appear on Hard Knocks if no team volunteers. However, that rule says any team that has made the playoffs in either of the previous two seasons cannot be forced to appear on the show. The 49ers made the playoffs last year, so Harbaugh knows the 49ers won’t be forced to appear on Hard Knocks next year.
The rule also exempts teams that have been on Hard Knocks in any of the last 10 years from being compelled to appear, and also exempts teams with new coaches. None of those rules would help the Cardinals if they don’t make the playoffs this year, however, so Arians might find himself forced to appear on Hard Knocks next year. In which case Harbaugh would tell him not to stomp his feet and say he doesn’t want to do it.