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- For the San Francisco 49ers player, see Walt Harris (American football)
| Wlat Harris | ||
|---|---|---|
 |
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| Title | Quarterbacks coach/Passing game coordinator and Former head coach | |
| Sport | Football | |
| Born | November 9, 1946 | |
| Place of birth | South San Francisco, California | |
| Career highlights | ||
| Overall | 69–83 | |
| Coaching stats | ||
| College Football DataWarehouse | ||
| Championships | ||
| 2004 Big East Co-champion | ||
| Awards | ||
| 1997, 2004 Big East coach of the year 2002 AFCA Region I coach of the year |
||
| Playing career | ||
| 1964–65 1966–67 |
College of San Mateo Pacific |
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| Position | Defensive back | |
| Coaching career (HC unless noted) | ||
| 1989–1991 1997–2004 2005–2006 |
Pacific Pittsburgh Stanford |
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Walt Harris (born November 9, 1946 in South San Francisco, California) is an American football coach. He is most known for his tenures as head coach at the University of Pittsburgh and Stanford University. He is currently the quarterbacks coach/passing game coordinator at the University of Akron and resides in the Pittsburgh area.[1]
Contents |
Playing and coaching career
Harris attended El Camino High School in South San Francisco, California. Harris received a bachelor's degree in 1968 and a master's degree in 1969 from the University of the Pacific, where he played college football.
Harris' coaching career began shortly after his playing days ended. He held many assistant or coordinator jobs before becoming the head coach at Pitt in 1997. He started his career at the high school level and worked his way up, starting at his alma mater, El Camino High School, in 1970. He then moved on to various college programs as well as one pro team over the next twenty-six years: University of the Pacific (secondary, 1971–73), University of California, Berkeley (linebacker coach, 1974–77), United States Air Force Academy (secondary coach, spring 1978), Michigan State University (linebacker coach, 1978–79), University of Illinois (QB coach, 1980–82), University of Tennessee (offensive coordinator, 1983–88), University of the Pacific (head coach, 1989–91), New York Jets (QB coach, 1992–94), and Ohio State University (QB coach, 1995–96).
When Harris accepted the Pitt job in 1997 he was tasked with rebuilding a program that had crumbled in recent years and had won only fifteen games in the previous five seasons. Harris took Pitt to a bowl game, the Liberty Bowl, in his first season. Overall Harris led the Panthers to a bowl game in six of his eight seasons, including five consecutive bowl games from 2000 through 2004. Harris also led Pittsburgh to the Big East Conference championship in 2004. He was named the Big East Conference coach of the year in 1997 and 2004, and he was the AFCA Region I coach of the year in 2002. Over his eight years at Pitt, from 1997–2004, Harris compiled an overall record of 52–44.
Most recently, Harris was the head coach of the football team at Stanford University. In his first season as head coach there he posted a record of 5–6. In his second season as head coach the team posted a 1–11 record, the school's worst since going 0–10 in 1960.[2] He was fired on December 4, 2006, two days after Stanford's regular season ended. By the end of his tenure at Stanford, Harris had surpassed Jack Curtice as the worst coach in the history of Stanford football, with a 26.1% record.[3]
In 2008 Harris had an NFL job lined up that "fell through". In February 2009 he joined the University of Akron coaching staff as quarterback's coach/passing game coordinator.
Achievements
Harris built a reputation for himself as a good coach of quarterbacks and the passing game, with a background in the West Coast Offense. As a college coach Harris has coached 14 quarterbacks who went on to the NFL. At Pitt Harris coached two wide receivers who won the Fred Biletnikoff Award as the best receiver in the nation – Antonio Bryant in 2000 and Larry Fitzgerald in 2003. Also, Harris was the QB coach for Ohio State when Terry Glenn won the Biletnikoff Award in 1995. Harris also coached Boomer Esiason to a Pro Bowl season with the New York Jets in 1993.
Criticisms
Harris has been viewed by some players as difficult to work with. One article about his departure from Stanford called him a "disciplinarian" and reported that a player briefly quit the team in protest of his coaching style.[2] Bryant claimed that one of the main reasons for not returning for a senior year at Pittsburgh was due to the fact that he would have to deal with Harris once again.[citation needed] USC Head Coach Pete Carroll's son, Brennan Carroll, played for Harris, and he reportedly used stories of Harris' strict coaching style to lure recruits away from Harris when Harris was coaching Pac-10 rival Stanford. However, Harris was supported by some of his players, such as Tyler Palko, who, when Harris left The University of Pittsburgh, was one of several players who were very outspoken about their desire to keep Harris in their program.
Head coaching record
| Year | Team | Overall | Conference | Standing | Bowl | Rank# | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pacific Tigers (Big West Conference) (1989–1991) | |||||||||
| 1989 | Pacific | 2–10 | 2–5 | 6(t) | |||||
| 1990 | Pacific | 4–7 | 2–5 | 6 | |||||
| 1991 | Pacific | 5–7 | 4–3 | 4 | |||||
| Pacific: | 11–24 | 8–13 | |||||||
| Pittsburgh Panthers (Big East Conference) (1997–2004) | |||||||||
| 1997 | Pittsburgh | 6–6 | 4–3 | 3(t) | L 7–41 Liberty Bowl | ||||
| 1998 | Pittsburgh | 2–9 | 0–7 | 8 | |||||
| 1999 | Pittsburgh | 5–6 | 2–5 | 6(t) | |||||
| 2000 | Pittsburgh | 7–5 | 4–3 | 3(t) | L 29–37 Insight Bowl | ||||
| 2001 | Pittsburgh | 7–5 | 4–3 | 3(t) | W 34–19 Tangerine Bowl | ||||
| 2002 | Pittsburgh | 9–4 | 5–2 | 3 | W 38–13 Insight Bowl | 19 | |||
| 2003 | Pittsburgh | 8–5 | 5–2 | 3 | L 16–23 Continental Tire Bowl | ||||
| 2004 | Pittsburgh | 8–4 | 4–2 | 1-T | L 7–35 Fiesta Bowl † | 25 | |||
| Pittsburgh: | 52–44 | 28–27 | |||||||
| Stanford Cardinal (Pacific Ten Conference) (2005–2006) | |||||||||
| 2005 | Stanford | 5–6 | 4–4 | 4-T | |||||
| 2006 | Stanford | 1–11 | 1–8 | 10 | |||||
| Stanford: | 6–17 | 5–12 | |||||||
| Total: | 69–85 | ||||||||
| National Championship Conference Title Conference Division Title | |||||||||
| †Indicates BCS bowl game. #Rankings from final Coaches Poll. | |||||||||
References
- ^ Cook, Ron (September 28, 2008). "Harris not bitter over days at Pitt". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/08272/915585-87.stm. Retrieved 2008-09-30.
- ^ a b Maisel, Ivan (2006-12-06). "Harris out as Cardinal coach following 1–11 season". ESPN (Stanford, California: Associated Press). http://sports.espn.go.com/ncf/news/story?id=2685975.
- ^ "Stanford 2009 Football Media Guide". Stanford University. http://www.gostanford.com/auto_pdf/p_hotos/s_chools/stan/sports/m-footbl/auto_pdf/09FB-history.
| Sporting positions | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by Bob Cope |
Pacific Football Coaches 1989–1992 |
Succeeded by Chuck Shelton |
| Preceded by Johnny Majors |
University of Pittsburgh Football Coaches 1997–2004 |
Succeeded by Dave Wannstedt |
| Preceded by Buddy Teevens |
Stanford University Head Football Coach 2005–2006 |
Succeeded by Jim Harbaugh |
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