Miami Dolphins: Why Hiring Jim Harbaugh Makes Perfect Sense

There has been an increasing amount of chatter amongst Dolphins fans in the past 24 hours about the newest development over owner Stephen Ross and his hasty pursuit of Jim Harbaugh to be the next Miami Dolphins head coach. 

Many fans seem to think he is under-qualified and lacks the coaching experience, others seem to quote that old saying, "college coaches just don't translate in the NFL."

What most fans fail to realize is who Jim Harbaugh really is and why he is the perfect man to be the next coach of your Miami Dolphins.

Captain Comeback

Sure, he was a college head coach this past season, but there is so much more that proves the man worthy of the job that Miami fans so hoarsely demanded be stripped from Tony Sparano's hands when he lost at home to the 5-11 Cleveland Browns, 4-12 Buffalo Bills and 6-10 Detroit Lions in the waning weeks of the 2010 NFL season.

Let's start off with experience.

Harbaugh was a first round draft pick by the Chicago Bears in 1987. He played 14 NFL seasons with the Bears, Colts, Ravens and Chargers, amassing 129 touchdowns in his career to go along with 5 playoff appearances.

He was by no stretch of the imagination an elite quarterback, but in a league where the average player only last four years, a 14-year career is nothing to be tossed aside. 

While with the Colts, he led Indianapolis to the AFC Championship game in the 1995-1996 playoffs and came within one dropped Hail Mary pass of taking the Colts to the Super Bowl for the first time since 1970.

In 1995, he was voted to the Pro Bowl, was named Comeback Player of the Year, AFC Player of the Year and was runner-up in the NFL MVP voting.

While playing for the Colts he developed the nickname "Captain Comeback" for his ability to win games in the 4th quarter.

Then of course, comes coaching experience.

Harbaugh was involved in recruiting over a dozen players on the 2002 Western Kentucky University I-AA national champion team that was coached by his father Jack Harbaugh.

Harbaugh was an assistant coach with the Oakland Raiders in 2002–2003. In 2002 (the year the Raiders lost in the Super Bowl to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers) he was an offensive assistant coach, and in 2003 he was the quarterbacks coach.

Beginning in 2004, Harbaugh took the reins at the University of San Diego where he finished with an overall record of 29-6, going 11-1 in his last two seasons and winning back-to-back Pioneer League titles.

Fast Times at the Stanford University

In March 2007, Harbaugh assumed the coaching duties over at Stanford in the Pacific-10 Conference.

Inheriting a one-win team, Harbaugh immediately improved the program by going 4-8 in his first season as head coach, with a defining win over the #1 USC Trojans following a last minute touchdown. The 24-23 victory in front of over 85,000 fans in the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum was only the beginning. With USC being the favorite by 41 points, it was statistically the greatest upset in college football history.

In his last two years at Stanford, Harbaugh posted a 20-6 record, recently cruising to a 40-12 win over Virginia Tech in the Orange Bowl.

In that time he had two Heisman Trophy candidates in Toby Gerhart and Andrew Luck, and now Luck is the No. 1 college prospect in the upcoming 2011 NFL Draft, should he choose to forgo his remaining eligibility. 

This past season his team went 12-1 with it's only loss to one of the teams playing for the National Title, the Oregon Ducks, and Harbaugh was named the Woody Hayes Coach of the Year in college football.

In his short time coaching at Stanford and San Diego, Harbaugh has more than shown that he can build a team, coach it and win. His use of a pro style offense is further proof that captain comeback can coach in the NFL.

Another factor that must be taken into consideration is that to be accepted into Stanford the student average accepted SAT score is 1400, while at other schools like Alabama, Ohio State and Auburn the average scores are significantly lower.

The Crystal Ball

Of course we will not know the outcome of the Jim Harbaugh tenure in Miami until it is all over, but this has the potential to be one of the biggest moves in franchise history.

All hometown buzz was lost after Miami went 1-9 in its past 10 home games at Sun Life Stadium and then failed to even show up in the season finale's 38-7 tailspin loss to the New England Patriots. 

If Jim Harbaugh is hired to be the next coach of the Dolphins expect football to return to its glory days once again in the sunny skies of Miami-Dade county.

Expect to watch meaningful football again in January. 

It will only be the beginning of a fresh new era for the Miami Dolphins.

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