Jim Harbaugh

When 49ers hired Jim Harbaugh in 2011, he had been head coach at two colleges, Stanford University and University of San Diego. His college records were good. Before he became coach at Stanford, Stanford had had 5 years of losing record.  He also had a good college and NFL career as a quarterback.

PLAYING HISTORY

Jim Harbaugh played under Bo Schembechler at Michigan.

He played for four NFL Teams as the starting quarterback. He played for Chicago Bears from 1987-1983 then played for Indianapolis Colts from 1994-1997, then played for the Baltimore Ravens in 1999, then played for the San Diego Chargers.

Jack Harbaugh, his dad, had been assistant coach for Michigan State and Stanford. Jim Harbaugh also had been Michigan's starting Quarterback when his dad was assistant coach there.

San Diego: 2004-2006

He started coaching San Diego in 2004. In their first season they went 7-5. The next season they went 11-1 to win the Pioneer League Championship. In his last year he coached their they were 11-1 to win the Pioneer League Championship two consecutive years.

Stanford: 2006-2010

Jim started coaching Stanford in the December of 2006. His father Jack, had been Defensive Coordinator from 1980-1981. Stanford and USC had been rivals for a while. When Jim coached his first year at Stanford in 2007 they beat the #1 USC 24-23. But, in 2008 they lost to USC. In 2009 the Cardinals beat USC at home 55-21. 55 was the highest another team had ever scored against them but in 2012 Oregon Ducks beat them 62-51.

In 2009 Stanford finished 8-4 and were invited to play in the 2009 Sun Bowl. In 2009 running back Tony Garhart was named Heisman Trophy finalist and finished second place.  Then in 2010 quarterback Andrew Luck was a Heisman Trophy Finalist and finished second.

NFL Coaching Career

His first year coaching an NFL team in 2002. He was Oakland Raiders Quarterback coach. Then in 2011 he became coach for the San Francisco 49ers. They went to the NFC Championship Game in 2011 which and lost to the New York Giants. In 2012, 49ers went to the Super Bowl and lost to the Baltimore Ravens. The 49ers have the Ravens twice and lost to them both times (The other time was in the Thanksgiving Classic in 2011.)

As you can see, Jim Harbaugh is an amazing coach. But why?