Jim Harbaugh

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Jim Harbaugh
Jim Harbaugh as featured on the cover of Sports Illustrated
Date of birth	December 23, 1963
Place of birth	Toledo, Ohio
Position(s)	Quarterback
College	Michigan
NFL Draft	1987 / Round 1
Pro Bowls	1
Awards	1995 AP NFL Comeback Player of the Year, 1995 UPI AFC Offensive Player of the Year
Honors	Indianapolis Colts ROH
Statistics	Pro Football Reference DatabaseFootball
Team(s)
1987-1993 1994-1997 1998 1999-2000 2001	Chicago Bears Indianapolis Colts Baltimore Ravens San Diego Chargers Carolina Panthers

James Joseph "Jim" Harbaugh (born December 23, 1963 in Toledo, Ohio) is a former American football quarterback who played for the Chicago Bears, Indianapolis Colts, Baltimore Ravens, Detroit Lions, San Diego Chargers and finally the Carolina Panthers of the National Football League (NFL). He was drafted by the Bears out of the University of Michigan with the 26th pick in the first round of the 1987 NFL Draft. Currently he is the head football coach at the University of San Diego and co-owner of Panther Racing in the Indy Racing League.

[edit] College career

Harbaugh was a four-year letterman at the University of Michigan and finished his college career in the top five in passing attempts, completions, completion percentage, passing yards and touchdown passes for them. Playing for Bo Schembechler, he was a three-year starter and led the Wolverines to appearances in the Fiesta, Holiday, and Rose Bowl games. As a senior in 1986 he guided Michigan to a No. 2 national ranking while earning Big Ten Player of the Year honors and finishing third in the Heisman balloting.

[edit] NFL career

Harbaugh, a former NFL quarterback who played 15 seasons in the league, resides in Coronado, California. He played in 177 league games with 140 starts since originally entering the NFL as a first round pick by the Chicago Bears in 1987. For his career, he completed 2,305 of 3,918 passes for 26,288 yards with 129 touchdowns.

Harbaugh played seven seasons for the Bears and passed for a career-high 3,121 yards for Chicago in 1991. He played for the Indianapolis Colts from 1994-98 and in 1995, achieved career highs in completion percentage (63.7) and touchdown passes (17). While with the Colts he led the team to the AFC Championship game and came within one dropped "Hail Mary" of taking the Colts to the Super Bowl for the first time since 1970; was voted to the Pro Bowl; was named the 1995 Comeback Player of the Year and the AFC Player of the Year; and was runner-up in the NFL MVP voting. Harbaugh played for Baltimore in 1998, and following his two-year stint with the Chargers closed out his NFL career with Carolina in 2001. Harbaugh's was nicknamed "Captain Comeback" (the second player to be nicknamed after Roger Staubach) for his ability to win games in the fourth quarter after overcoming significant point deficits.

In January, 2005, Jim was inducted into the Indianapolis Colts Ring of Honor. Harbaugh, one of the most successful and popular players in the club's 21-year Indianapolis era, played from 1994-98 with the Colts. He was inducted at halftime of the Colts-Denver Wild Card playoff game. Jim started for the majority of his Colts career, completing 746 of 1,230 passes for 8,705 yards and 49 touchdowns. He won the NFL passer rating title in 1995 at 100.7. Harbaugh joins the late Robert Irsay, Bill Brooks, Ted Marchibroda and Chris Hinton in the Colts Ring of Honor.

Harbaugh ends his second year as the University of San Diego head football coach and quarterbacks coach. Last year he directed the Toreros to an overall mark of 7-4, including 5 straight wins to end the season. USD finished 3-1 in the Pioneer Football League North Division, good for a 2nd place finish. Five of his players were recognized as All-America; twelve were recognized as All-PFL; eight players were selected to the PFL All-Academic Team; and quarterback Todd Mortensen, the PFL co-Offensive Player of the Year, signed a free agent contract with the Detroit Lions. This year, USD went 11-1 with the lone loss in a non-PFL game by three points at Princeton. Harbaugh coached the Toreros to the 2005 Pioneer Football League Championship. Unfortunately, he was charged with a DUI shortly after the season ended.

Over his final eight seasons in the NFL (1994-2001), Jim was an NCAA-certified unpaid assistant coach under his father, Jack, at Western Kentucky University. Serving as an offensive consultant, he scouted and recruited high school student-athletes throughout several states including Florida, Indiana and Illinois. He was involved in recruiting 17 players on WKU's 2002 Division I-AA National Championship team. His dad was a football coach for 41 years, including 14-years as Head Coach at Western Kentucky. His brother, John, is currently Special Teams Coordinator with the Philadelphia Eagles; and his brother-in-law, Tom Crean, is Head Basketball Coach of Marquette University.

Harbaugh has been very active in Community Service ventures. He has been actively involved with the Harbaugh Hill Foundation, the James Whitcomb Riley Hospital for Children (Indiana University), Western Kentucky University, the Jim Harbaugh Foundation, the Uhlich's Children's Home and the Children's Miracle Network.

Jim and his wife, Miah, have two sons, Jay and James, Jr., and one daughter, Grace.

Harbaugh's #4 jersey became an influence when he entered the Indy Racing League with Panther Racing. The main car for the team carries the #4, which they noted was for Harbaugh's jersey. When the team won the 2001 and 2002 IRL championship, the team, which had the option of going to the #1, chose instead to keep the #4 for team identity, especially with the identity of Harbaugh and the #4 (even though his final year in the NFL, he wore #14, as Carolina kicker John Kasay wore #4).

[edit] External link

• http://usdtoreros.cstv.com/sports/m-footbl/mtt/harbaugh_jim00.html
• Pro-Football-Reference.com - career statistics

Preceded by Jeff George	Indianapolis Colts Starting Quarterbacks 1994-1998	Succeeded by Peyton Manning
Preceded by Dan Marino	NFL Comeback Player of the Year Award 1995 (Co-Award Winner Garrison Hearst)	Succeeded by Jerome Bettis
Preceded by Ryan Leaf	San Diego Chargers Starting Quarterbacks 2000	Succeeded by Doug Flutie
Preceded by Jason DesJarlais	University of San Diego Head Football Coach 2003–	Succeeded by Current head coach