Frank Gore, Vernon Davis, Delanie Walker, Joe Staley, Anthony Thomas, Mike Iupati, Ray McDonald, Isaac Sopoaga, Justin Smith, Novarro Bowman, Ahmad Brooks, Pat Willis, Takeo Spikes, Dashon Goldson, Michael Crabtree, Ted Ginn, and yes Alex Smith. He even had a world class punter in Lee and the 7th pick in the draft.
Don't pretend this is some kind of murderers row comparable to the Dynasty Cowboys or 9ers. There's no Jerry fucking Rice or Emmitt Smith on that team. There's no Troy Aikman or Steve Young. the 2011-2013 Cowboys had two locks for the HoF in Witten and Ware, a likely 3rd with Dez. I don't think you could say that about Harbaugh's 49ers.
Ahmad Brooks was a decent LBer who had the best year of his career under Harbaugh, looking at most of the defense (with Pat Willis as a possible exception.) there seems to be a big difference in how they performed under Harbaugh, and what they accomplished elsewhere. Imagine that kind of coaching applied to Ware, Ratliff, Spencer, Hatcher, Crawford, Lee, and Carter.
Ted Ginn? Seriously? Ted Ginn isn't even as good as Cole Beasley. Crabtree? Imagine what Harbaugh could have done on a Cowboys team with Dez fucking Bryant, who's like two tiers above Crabtree.
Mike Iupati's cool. Imagine what Harbaugh could have done with Smith, Leary and Frederick.
Frank Gore is a good running back. Demarco Murray broke Emmitt's single game and season franchise yardage records, imagine if someone had committed to running Murray the way the 49ers ran with Gore.
Vernon Davis and Jason Witten are kind of a wash.
Takeo Spikes wasn't a 49er after 2010.
Dashon is a damn good DB. There isn't an equivalent on the Cowboys roster. That being said with as many resources and as many guys have flashed potential then horrifically regressed I think good coaching could have made all the difference. Guys like Jenkins, Newman, Carr, Claiborne, and Scandrick should have been able to make a decent defensive backfield.
Alex Smith. Who the fuck was Alex Smith before Jim Harbaugh showed up? He was a consensus waste of a first overall pick. Harbaugh was the guy who managed to turn him into a QB that minimized turnovers. If Harbaugh had Tony fucking Romo to work with, good god, His stat line would have looked like 2014 every. year.
Harbaugh couldn't just take any team to 3 NFC championships. He'd probably flounder with the Dolphins, Raiders, Browns, or Jaguars the way every head coach would. But even good coaches struggle to be this competitive with great teams. 3 consecutive conference championships meant winning games against some of the very best teams in the most crucial situations.
I mostly agree with Arians, although him getting absolutely murdered by a shit bag Panther team in the playoffs is way different than Harbaugh's playoff success.