Stanford to introduce Harbaugh as coach

~ The former NFL quarterback will take over the struggling program.

Stanford hired former NFL quarterback Jim Harbaugh on Monday to take over its struggling football program.

Harbaugh had spent the last three years as head coach at the University of San Diego, a non-scholarship Division I-AA program. He led the Toreros to a 29-6 record, winning 27 of his final 29 games at San Diego.

The school planned to formally introduce Harbaugh at a news conference Tuesday. Phone messages left for Harbaugh were not immediately returned.

Harbaugh has the tough task of turning around the Cardinal, who set a school record for losses in a 1-11 season this year that led to the firing of coach Walt Harris.

Stanford has won just 16 games in the past five seasons under Harris and Buddy Teevens, and have to struggled to compete in the Pac-10 since Tyrone Willingham left for Notre Dame following the 2001 season.

The first challenge for Harbaugh will be recruiting talented players who can meet Stanford's stringent academic requirements. Harris and Teevens both struggled in that aspect of the job.

Harbaugh was a star in college at Michigan, finishing third in the voting for the 1986 Heisman Trophy award. But he does have ties to Stanford, where his father, Jack, served as defensive coordinator in 1980-81. Harbaugh spent his final two years as a prep player at Palo Alto High School before going to Michigan.

Harbaugh worked as a volunteer assistant for his father at Western Kentucky during his NFL career. He was an assistant with the Oakland Raiders before taking the job at San Diego.

This was the first major hiring by athletic director Bob Bowlsby, who came to Stanford from Iowa in July. Bowlsby fired Harris two days after the Cardinal finished the season with a 26-17 loss to California in the Big Game.

He accomplished his goal of completing his search in two weeks. Other candidates included former New York Giants coach Jim Fassel, Montana coach Bobby Hauck and San Diego Chargers assistant James Lofton.

Harbaugh was a first-round pick by the Chicago Bears in 1987 and played 15 seasons in the NFL, leading the Indianapolis Colts to the 1995 AFC championship game. He was second in the MVP voting that season, leading the NFL with a 100.7 quarterback rating.

Harris finished his two-year stint with a 6-17 record, the shortest tenure of any Stanford coach since Rod Dowhower left after one season in 1979 with a 5-5-1 record.

The Cardinal finished this season with their worst record since going 0-10 in 1960.