Did Jim Harbaugh Make Some Head Coaching Jobs More Difficult?

Jim Harbaugh is off to the NFL now and has bequeathed to Stanford an amazing legacy, a 12-1 season and a victory in the BCS Orange Bowl.

However, not only are Stanford fans going to expect David Shaw, the new Stanford head coach to continue Harbaugh's winning ways but other alumni elsewhere in similar high academic universities are thinking to themselves, "If Stanford can do it, why can't we?"

Did Harbaugh do any favors for some head coaches? Is the Stanford example even duplicatable?

Let's see

David Cutcliffe- Duke

As long as Mike Krzyzewki is coaching Blue Devil men's basketball, Duke University will always be first and foremost a basketball school.

David Cutcliffe has just completed his third year with Duke as the head coach. Harbaugh's break out year with Stanford was his fourth year. However, the Blue Devils show no sign of making the same progress that Harbaugh did with Stanford who increased wins ever year as head coach. Cutcliffe has gone 4-8, 5-7 and 3-9.

Duke's last taste of success was in 1989 under Steve Spurrier when they won the ACC. From 1999 to 2007, Blue Devil football went 13-90.

Cutcliffe has his work cut out for him but the odds of Duke doing a Stanford in the ACC looks to be slim and none. Blue Devil nation may have to be content with 6-6 or 7-6 as a ceiling on football success currently or just be content with saying around mid-September, "When does basketball season start!"

Pat Fitzgerald- Northwestern

Northwestern University recently was ranked as the smartest school in Division 1 sports for football by the Daily Beast. So considering this in mind, Northwestern Wildcats head coach, Pat Fitzgerald has been doing a fine job.

Just completed his fifth year as head coach, Fitzgerald has a 33-29 record and three bowl games to his credit. Of course, he has yet to get the 'bowl curse' off Northwestern's back, that is, they have not won a bowl game since Truman was in the White House, 1949.

However, Fitzgerald's spread offense is innovative in the smash mouth world of the Big 10 and the University has been doing a great PR job of trying to get the city of Chicago to consider Northwestern their college football team.

Fitzgerald may not duplicate Harbaugh's 12-1 season in the next couple of years but his Wildcats certainly are in a position to make progress in winning, setting attendance records and recruiting smart football players to the University.

James Franklin- Vanderbilt

There may not be a more difficult job in Division 1 football then head coach of Vanderbilt. A small, private university that is in arguably the strongest conference in football, the SEC.

But what was once a graveyard for coaches, former coach, Bobby Johnson, gave the 'Dores some light at the end of the tunnel. In 2007 they defeated two ranked teams and in 2008, they not only went bowling for the first time since 1982 but were ranked as high as #13 in the AP polls during the season.

Johnson comes to Vanderbilt as the former Maryland offensive coordinator for Ralph Friedgen. Johnson runs a Pro-Set offense but one wonders if he will be able to get the kind of recruits he needs to be competitive running that style of offense in the SEC.

Much like Duke, don't expect Vanderbilt to become a Stanford anytime soon in the SEC. But not all is lost, there certainly is no reason Vanderbilt can't at least get above .500 on a regular basis.

Brian Kelly- Notre Dame

Some may question putting Notre Dame in this list but the fact is, by the standards of the National Collegiate Athletic Association's Academic Progress Rate (APR), the Fighting Irish's standards are as high as Northwestern's.

The good news for Notre Dame is Brian Kelly has been successful everywhere he has coached and after his first year in South Bend, with playing one of the strongest football schedules in 2010, Kelly got the Irish a winning season and a bowl win over an old nemesis, Miami Hurricanes.

Likewise, there is probably no alumni base more hungry to recover the glory days then Notre Dame. The Irish have not won a BCS Bowl game since 1992 nor won a National Championship since 1988. Kelly has probably the best chance to duplicate Jim Harbaugh's 12-1 season then all the coaches listed in this survey.

David Baliff- Rice

Rice is a non-AQ program in the C-USA. So the only chance of them making a BCS bowl would be a 12-0 season and even that may be not enough since Boise State is still a non-AQ team.

David Baliff however has given Rice a little taste of success when two years ago, Rice went 10-3, tied for first place in C-USA West and won their first bowl game since 1954 in the Texas Bowl.

Baliff's Owls have potential to repeat such success, Rice is in the heart of the state of Texas, a very rich football recruiting ground and unlike Vanderbilt they don't have to contend with the likes of Florida or an Alabama or LSU every week.

Years ago in the days of the Southwest Conference, suggesting Rice could go 10-3 would have been meet with a great howl of derision but no more, the Owls have a realistic chance of winning at least 10 games now in C-USA.

Frank Spaziani- Boston College

Much like their Catholic rival Notre Dame, Boston College can boast nearly every year some of the best graduation rates in Division 1 football.

Despite this, the Eagles do manage to perform better then most of the other programs such as Vanderbilt, Duke, Northwestern in football. Since joining the ACC in 2005, Boston College has averaged nine wins a year.

Frank Spazini has been on the job for only two years but has two winning seasons and two bowl games under his belt. With the Eagles averaging nine wins in the ACC, there is not much Stanford envy as with say, their fellow ACC partners, Duke  However, a BCS Bowl game has been out of reach for the Eagles for some time.

Boston College has the staff and the talent, its time for them to get past the Hunger, Emerald and Music City bowls and find away into the Orange Bowl. With Florida State on the rebound under Jimbo Fisher in the Atlantic Division of the ACC, that may be easier said then done for the Eagles.

Bob Toledo- Tulane

It is not easy being Tulane. That giant sucking sound Ross Perot spoke about years ago could equally apply to the sound one hears of LSU getting the Division 1 football players in the state of Louisiana. Add that to the mix, Tulane is a high academic institution. And just a few years ago, the University briefly floated the idea of dropping out of Division 1 sports.

It is no secret Bob Toledo is on the so called 'hot seat' this year. He is 13-35 as head coach and things don't seem to be improving.

But it is still possible to pull a 12-1 season at Tulane. In 1998, the Green Wave finished 12-0 and #7 in the Top 20 rankings. Since 1998, Tulane has had only one winning season, that was in 2002.

The good news for Tulane is the two of the men responsible for their 1998 success are currently available for job opportunities, Tommy Bowden and Rich Rodriguez.