With Jim Harbaugh, San Francisco 49ers Buck NFL Trend By Hiring A College Coach

In San Francisco, 49er fans cannot be more excited about the team’s hiring of former Stanford coach Jim Harbaugh. 

Owner Jed York and GM Trent Baalke targeted Harbaugh from the beginning and they got their man.  You cannot pick up a Bay Area newspaper or listen to sports radio without someone gushing superlatives about Harbaugh—"an offensive genius," "a dynamic play caller," "born to coach," “a great motivator,” the list goes on and on.  Add that he is coming from Stanford, and 49er faithful are “over the moon” with the Bill Walsh connection. 

Having watched successive coaching failures since 2002 (when the Yorks fired Steve Mariucci), any coaching candidate that mentions the “West Coast Offense” or even “offense” in the same sentence as the 49ers gets their fans’ hearts racing. 

From a marketing standpoint, the 49ers probably could not have done better.  They have a new coach that says all the right things, hits all the right notes, and looks the part.  All key points if you are trying to connect with your fan base and get a new stadium built in Santa Clara. 

But how will Harbaugh actually do in the NFL?  And when you get outside Northern California, you have to wonder if it was the right decision.  Looking around the NFL, there were seven head coaching vacancies, with the Niners being the only team that went with a college coach.  The Cowboys, Vikings, Broncos, Browns, Panthers and Raiders all choose candidates that had extensive NFL experience, either a previous head coach or coordinators. 

Why the hesitancy?  Well, most college coaches have just not done well.  Remember Nick Saban, Bobby Petrino, and Lane Kiffin?  And tell me if this does not sound familiar. 

A former NFL quarterback is suddenly the "hot" NFL coaching prospect being wooed by a number of NFL teams.  He is eventually signed by a young NFL owner for five years at $25 million.  This coach had taken a perennial cellar-dwelling college football team with super high academic standards and turned their program around, leading them to its first bowl appearance in decades. 

Jim Harbaugh, right? 

Wrong, Steve Spurrier (the "academic standards" reference concerns his time at Duke).  What's my point?  The jump from college to the NFL is harder than it looks.   As your stock broker will tell you, "previous success is no guarantee of future results."  

Spurrier provides a fascinating comparison because his resume is Harbaugh's on steroids.  When the Redskins hired Steve Spurrier in 2002, here is what he had accomplished:  (1) a Heisman trophy winner; (2) 10 years as NFL QB; (3) two years as college QB coach; (4) three years as head coach in USFL (35-21); (5) three years as Duke Head Coach (20-13-1), including ACC Coach of Year twice; and (6) eleven years as head coach at Florida, including winning a National Championship in 1996, six SEC championships, and named SEC Coach of the Year five times.   

You might have heard of the SEC, they play a pretty high level of football and Spurrier's record while at Florida—122 wins, 27 loses and one tie.  Before he got there, Florida had not won a SEC conference championship in fifty-seven previous seasons.   

In contrast, you have Harbaugh’s record.  He was a great college QB at Michigan under Bo Schembechler and had a nice NFL career, playing QB for 14 years, with one Pro Bowl appearance.  He comes from a coaching family, his father being a long time football coach at Western Kentucky and his brother, John, coaches the Baltimore Ravens.  

As we have all heard, coaching in his blood.  Jim coached two years with the Oakland Raiders (2002-2003), one as an offensive assistant and the other as the QB coach.  He then went on to be the head coach at the University of San Diego for three years, compiling a 29-6 record and winning two Pioneer League Championships.  

After that, the Stanford head coach, going 29-21 while there (2007-2010).  Inheriting a program that was in disarray, his teams went 4-8, 5-7, 8-5 and 12-1, including winning the Orange Bowl in 2010.  Stanford finished this season ranked fourth in the country, a remarkable accomplishment at a school where football has not been a priority.     

If you did not know anything about these two coaches, one would think that the guy named Spurrier was a natural for NFL coaching.  What is the SEC if not the NFL’s minor league? 

Harbaugh on the other hand, has a nice resume—a very good start to a coaching career.  But hire him for the NFL right now, really?  Remember, Spurrier—six SEC Championships, one National Championship, and had already been a head coach in the pros, (albeit it was the USFL, but a 35-21 record).  Harbaugh—two Pioneer League Championships. 

Who is doing the hiring might also tell you something.  NFL executives that have been around forever (Holmgren in Cleveland, Wilf in Minnesota, Hurney in Carolina, Davis in Oakland) all filled their vacancies with former NFL coordinators.  Who went after Harbaugh, the Niners’ Baalke (a first-time GM), the Broncos’ Elway (a first-time NFL executive) and Miami Dolphins owner, Stephen Ross (enough said). 

Harbaugh might turn out to be a great NFL coach, but the hire is certainly bucking the NFL trend of staying away from the college ranks.      

Oh, and you might be wondering how Spurrier did when he made the jump to the Redskins?  Don't ask.  He resigned after two seasons with a record of 12 wins and 20 loses.   As Spurrier's resume shows, maybe asking a NFL coaching candidate what they have done in college may not be the best place to start.