Walt Harris

::"For the San Francisco 49ers player, see Walt Harris (football player)"

College coach infobox


Name = Walt Harris
| Caption =
DateOfBirth = Birth date and age|1946|11|9|mf=y
Birthplace = South San Francisco, California
DateOfDeath =
Sport = Football
Title = Former Head Coach
OverallRecord = 69-83
Awards = 1997, 2004 Big East coach of the year
2002 AFCA Region I coach of the year
Championships =
CFbDWID = 988
Player = Y
Years = 1964-65
1966-67
Team = College of San Mateo
Pacific
Position = Defensive back
Coach = Y
CoachYears = 1989-1991
1997-2004
2005-2006
CoachTeams = Pacific
Pittsburgh
Stanford
FootballHOF =

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 out of coaching and resides in the Pittsburgh area. [cite news | last=Cook | first=Ron | title=Harris not bitter over days at Pitt | url=http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/08272/915585-87.stm | date=2008-09-28 | work=Pittsburgh Post-Gazette | accessdate=2008-09-30]

Playing and Coaching Career

Harris attended El Camino High School in South San Francisco, California. Harris received a bachelor's degree (1968) and a master's degree (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 only 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 was plagued with injuries, and The Cardinal posted a 1-11 record, the school's worst since going 0-10 in 1960. He was fired on December 4 2006, two days after Stanford's regular season ended.

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. According to Esiason, "Walt Harris is right up there with the best. There's nobody better." Fact|date=February 2007

Criticisms

Harris has been viewed by many player to be overbearing and 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.cite news | last=Maisel | first=Ivan | title=Harris out as Cardinal coach following 1-11 season | url=http://sports.espn.go.com/ncf/news/story?id=2685975 | publisher=Associated Press | work=ESPN | date=2006-12-06] 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.Fact|date=September 2008 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 plaers, 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.

Harris also has a questionable history of play calling, particularly when it comes to his tenure at The University of Pittsburgh. In a controversial series of calls he had Tyler Palko quarterback punt on 3rd down a number of times in a 2004 game against Nebraska which the Panthers lost. Harris was also roundly criticized after 2003's Continential Tire Bowl for refusing to throw to Heisman Trophy runner-up and eventual third overall NFL draft pick Larry Fitzgerald. The Panthers lost that game against an underdog University of Virginia Cavaliers. He is also noted for such gafs as "The Slide," "The Spread," and "The Swinging Gate."Fact|date=September 2008

Head coaching record

CFB Yearly Record Subhead
name = Pacific Tigers
conf = Big West Conference
startyear = 1989
endyear = 1991CFB Yearly Record Entry
championship =
year = 1989
name = Pacific
overall = 2-10
conference = 2-5
confstanding = 6(t)
bowlname =
bowloutcome =
bcsbowl =
ranking = CFB Yearly Record Entry
year = 1990
name = Pacific
overall = 4-7
conference = 2-5
confstanding = 6
bowlname =
bowloutcome =
bcsbowl =
ranking = CFB Yearly Record Entry
year = 1991
name = Pacific
overall = 5-7
conference = 4-3
confstanding = 4
bowlname =
bowloutcome =
bcsbowl =
ranking = CFB Yearly Record Subtotal
name = Pacific
overall = 11-24
confrecord = 8-13CFB Yearly Record Subhead
name = Pittsburgh Panthers
conf = Big East Conference
startyear = 1997
endyear = 2004CFB Yearly Record Entry
championship =
year = 1997
name = Pittsburgh
overall = 6-6
conference = 4-3
confstanding = 3(t)
bowlname = Liberty Bowl
bowloutcome = L 7-41
bcsbowl =
ranking = CFB Yearly Record Entry
championship =
year = 1998
name = Pittsburgh
overall = 2-9
conference = 0-7
confstanding = 8
bowlname =
bowloutcome =
bcsbowl =
ranking = CFB Yearly Record Entry
championship =
year = 1999
name = Pittsburgh
overall = 5-6
conference = 2-5
confstanding = 6(t)
bowlname =
bowloutcome =
bcsbowl =
ranking = CFB Yearly Record Entry
championship =
year = 2000
name = Pittsburgh
overall = 7-5
conference = 4-3
confstanding = 3(t)
bowlname = Insight Bowl
bowloutcome = L 29-37
bcsbowl =
ranking = CFB Yearly Record Entry
championship =
year = 2001
name = Pittsburgh
overall = 7-5
conference = 4-3
confstanding = 3(t)
bowlname = Tangerine Bowl
bowloutcome = W 34-19
bcsbowl =
ranking = CFB Yearly Record Entry
championship =
year = 2002
name = Pittsburgh
overall = 9-4
conference = 5-2
confstanding = 3
bowlname = Insight Bowl
bowloutcome = W 38-13
bcsbowl =
ranking = 19CFB Yearly Record Entry
championship =
year = 2003
name = Pittsburgh
overall = 8-5
conference = 5-2
confstanding = 3
bowlname = Continental Tire Bowl
bowloutcome = L 16-23
bcsbowl =
ranking = CFB Yearly Record Entry
championship = conference
year = 2004
name = Pittsburgh
overall = 8-4
conference = 4-2
confstanding = 1-T
bowlname = Fiesta Bowl
bowloutcome = L 7-35
bcsbowl = yes
ranking = 25CFB Yearly Record Subtotal
name = Pittsburgh
overall = 52-44
confrecord = 28-27CFB Yearly Record Subhead
name = Stanford Cardinal
conf = Pacific Ten Conference
startyear = 2005
endyear = 2006CFB Yearly Record Entry
championship =
year = 2005
name = Stanford
overall = 5-6
conference = 4-4
confstanding = 4-T
bowlname =
bowloutcome =
bcsbowl =
ranking = CFB Yearly Record Entry
championship =
year = 2006
name = Stanford
overall = 1-11
conference = 1-8
confstanding = 10
bowlname =
bowloutcome =
bcsbowl =
ranking = CFB Yearly Record Subtotal
name = Stanford
overall = 6-17
confrecord = 5-12CFB Yearly Record End
overall = 69-85
bcs =
poll =
polltype =

References