USD Magazine, Spring 2004

ALMANAC

Football Great Jim Harbaugh Wi II Lead Toreros by Timothy McKernan T here was more than one raised eyebrow when Jim Harbaugh was introduced as USD's football coach in December. After a 15-year NFL career, Harbaugh was in his second year coaching quarter– backs for the Oakland Raiders when the Torero job caught his attention.

Few NFL coaches would leave the prestige of the professional ranks for the relatively humble world of Division I-AA and a univer– sity at which football is a non-scholarship sport, but Harbaugh saw the job as a step forward "A quarterbacks coach basically deals with three guys," he says, refer– ring to the trio of signal-callers most pro tean1s employ. "Here I've got a rare opportunity to make a difference in the lives of 100 student– athleres. It's exciting to have a challenge like that, and at this point in my life it means much more to me than working in the NFL." Harbaugh faces many chal–

lenges, especially orchestrating an encore to the team's 8-2 record last season. But for Harbaugh, the USD job is about much more than wins and losses. His philosophy is simple: Football is an extension of the academic experience. "Football teaches so many things - mental and physical discipline, the importance of teamwork, winning with humility and losing with dig– nity," he says. "I view it as leader– ship training, with everything focused on game day. There are always going to be game days in life - this project to complete, that case to argue. I don't know if any of these players will make it to the NFL, but I'm going to do what I can to make each one a better person. " He also likely will make them more experienced football players.

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In addition to leading the Toreros on the field, Jim Harbaugh (center) also is a leader off the field, as co-owner of the Panther Racing team, the all-time Indy Racing League Champion.

An All-American quarterback at the University of Michigan and the 1987 first-round draft choice of the Chicago Bears, Harbaugh spent a decade and a half confounding opposing defenses with his ability to make accurate throws on the run and a physical toughness more often associated with linebackers than quarterbacks. In 1995, the year he won AFC Player of the Year honors and led the Indianapolis Colts

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