Jim Harbaugh isn't coaching this year's Super Bowl, but the Michigan head coach is in town for it.

And he's taking questions before the big game.

Harbaugh was asked by the San Jose Mercury News' Tim Kawakami on Friday if it was tough to see what Colin Kaepernick went through this past season.

"Yea, that was disappointing because nobody fights for their team like Colin Kaepernick," Harbaugh told Kawakami on the TK Show.

"Colin will flourish, there's no question in my mind about that," Harbaugh commented. "He's too great of a talent. He is a competitior at the very highest level, very similar to the two quarterbacks you're going to watch in the Super Bowl in Cam Newton and Peyton Manning. There's ups and downs in football, that's football - welcome to it, welcome to the game of football.

[MAIOCCO: Harbaugh loves Kaepernick: 'He'll flourish']

"Colin will flourish, I have no doubt about that," the coach added.

Does Harbaugh still keep in touch with Kaepernick?

"We've talked, we've texted back and forth. I talked to Rick Kaepernick a bunch of times," Harbaugh said of the communication between he and Kaepernick. "That doesn't end because you're not on the same team. That's a trusting, lasting friendship that will always be there."

While Harbaugh was thriving in his first season at Michigan, the 49ers were one of the worst teams in the league. The 49ers were 5-11 under coach Jim Tomsula and were outscored by 149 points, second-worst in the league only to the Cleveland Browns.

Harbaugh said he focused on his own job at Michigan and did not pay much attention to the disastrous season with the 49ers that led to Tomsula’s firing after just one season.