In February of 2009, University of Akron head football coach J.D. Brookhart had the unique opportunity of hiring his former mentor Walt Harris as the Zips’ passing game coordinator and quarterbacks coach.

It was Harris who gave Brookhart his first full-time coaching position and, under Harris’ tutelage, Brookhart quickly rose to offensive coordinator at the University of Pittsburgh. Together, the Panther offense excelled under the Harris-Brookhart combination. Most notably, Pittsburgh had two Biletnikoff  Award winners in Antonio Bryant and Larry Fitzgerald and saw a host players make an impact on NFL squads including Kevan Barlow, Nick Goings, Kris Wilson, Rob Petitti and Pete Gonzalez to name a few.

During his near 40 years as a coach, starting in 1970 as head coach at El Camino (Calif.) High School, Harris has coached some of the finest players in the game, been a part of championship teams at some of the most respected program in the collegiate ranks and has built a reputation for being one of the a great innovators and teachers in football.

Harris, most recently, served as head coach for the Stanford Cardinal (2005-06) and has a 13-year head coaching record of 69-85. Prior to his time in Palo Alto, Calif., Harris posted a 52-44 mark in resurrecting the Pittsburgh program, taking the Panthers to six bowl games in eight years. From 1989-91, Harris was head coach at Pacific, going 11-24 there, as the program showed improvement in each of his years at his alma mater. He additionally had stops as an assistant at California, Air Force, Michigan State, Illinois, Tennessee, New York Jets and Ohio State. Overall, he has coached in 14 bowl games, while tutoring 11 NFL first-round picks and 14 NFL quarterbacks.

In addition to Fitzgerald and Bryant, Harris was part of Ohio State’s offensive staff that saw Eddie George win the Heisman Trophy, Terry Glenn win the Biletnikoff Award and Orlando Pace win the Lombardi Award. Also, while working for current Southern California head coach Pete Carroll at the New York Jets, Harris coached Pro Bowl quarterback Boomer Esiason.

After returning the Pittsburgh to prominence, Harris was charged with rebuilding the proud Stanford tradition. In his first year (2005), he came within one win of giving the Cardinal their first bowl berth since 2001 with a 5-6 record. In the PAC-10, Stanford went 4-4 and placed fourth after being picked to finish no higher than ninth by most preseason publications.

At Pittsburgh, the Panthers reached bowl games in six of his eight seasons, including each of the last five, to give the school its best bowl run since reaching nine in a row from 1975-83. Furthermore, each of his last five bowl teams won at least seven games and combined to post an impressive 39-23 record, marking the program’s best five-season stretch since 1979-83.

Harris led an impressive turnaround of the Pittsburgh football program during his tenure in the Steel City, culminating with the school’s first Bowl Championship Series berth, a share of the Big East title and an 8-4 overall record in 2004. Harris, who was named the Big East Conference Coach of the Year for a second time in his career, led his team to six wins in its last seven regular games to set up a Fiesta Bowl showdown against unbeaten Utah.

Harris made a splash when he arrived at Pittsburgh in 1997 and earned Big East Coach of the Year honors by leading the team to the Liberty Bowl for its first postseason berth since 1989. The Panthers had not won more than four games in each of the previous five seasons (1992-96) before Harris’ arrival.

His coaching skills have been recognized by many in the football world, including The Sporting News, which ranked the Pittsburgh coaching staff led by Harris No. 3 nationally and the best in the Big East in its 2003 college football annual. In 2002, the American Football Coaches Foundation (AFCA) named him the Region I Coach of the Year.

After his first season at Pittsburgh, Harris began building the program into a perennial bowl contender. His teams did not qualify for bowl games in 1998 and 1999, but Harris was busy laying the groundwork for future success. His last five teams all competed in postseason bowl games as the Panthers took their rightful place as one of the nation’s top programs.

Harris led the Panthers to back-to-back 7-5 seasons and bowl appearances in 2000 and 2001. In 2002, Pittsburgh finished 9-4 after beating Oregon State, 38-13, in the Insight Bowl. The Panthers went 8-5 after losing to Virginia in the Continental Tire Bowl in 2003.

Also in 2000, with the start of the impressive five-year run, Bryant, Pitt’s first All-American since 1994, went a long way in putting Pittsburgh back on the map nationally by winning the Biletnikoff Award, annually going to the nation’s top receiver. That success led to the signing of highly-touted Fitzgerald, who duplicated the feat in 2003 and finished runner-up for the Heisman Trophy.

His ability to get Bryant and Fitzgerald to that level was no surprise as he has been developing future pros since 1980 when he first started coaching on the offensive side of the ball as quarterbacks coach at Illinois. Overall, Harris has coached 11 first round NFL Draft picks, including two of his quarterbacks: Dave Wilson (1981, Illinois) and Tony Eason (1983, Illinois). Harris also coached Jack Trudeau at Illinois, who was a second round draft pick in 1986. Fifteen of Harris’ quarterbacks have gone on to compete in the NFL.

During his time at Pittsbugh, 14 players were drafted; including six in 2004, and 12 were on 2008 NFL rosters.

Prior to his tenure at Pittsburgh, he spent two campaigns as the quarterbacks’ coach at Ohio State (1995-96) with the Buckeyes tying a then-school record with 11 victories each season. Ohio State reached the Citrus Bowl in 1995 with George, Glenn and Pace capturing some of college football’s top awards. In 1996, the Buckeyes earned a co-Big Ten title and received the conference’s berth in the Rose Bowl, where they went on to defeat Arizona State and finished the season ranked No. 2 in the national polls.

From 1992-94, Harris was the quarterbacks’ coach for the New York Jets (1992-94) of the NFL, where he helped Boomer Esiason revitalize his career and earn a spot in the 1993 Pro Bowl.

Harris spent six seasons from 1983-88 as the offensive coordinator at Tennessee under Johnny Majors with the Volunteers posting a 47-21-4 record and winning four of the five bowl games they played in during his stint in Knoxville. Harris was also the team’s assistant head coach during his final season with the program in 1988.

Harris began his career on the gridiron sidelines as the head coach at his prep alma mater El Camino High School in South San Francisco for one campaign in 1970. He quickly moved into the collegiate ranks and then spent 18 seasons refining his skills as an assistant before receiving his first head coaching position at his collegiate alma mater Pacific, where he spent three seasons (1989-91), improving the Tigers in each of his final two campaigns.

His stops prior to Tennessee as a collegiate assistant came at Pacific (1971-73, secondary), California (1974-77, linebackers), Air Force (spring 1978, secondary), Michigan State (1978-79, linebackers) and Illinois (1980-82, quarterbacks).

Harris graduated with a Bachelor’s degree in History and Physical Education from Pacific in 1968, and earned his Master’s degree in Physical Education from the Stockton school a year later. As a defensive back for Pacific from 1966-67, he played for former NFL head coach Buddy Ryan, who was the defensive coordinator for the Tigers at the time. He also played for two seasons (1964-65) as a defensive back at the College of San Mateo.

Harris is the father of three children: Scott, Summer and Brett.

The Harris File
Full Name: Walt Harris
Date of Birth: November 9, 1946
Hometown: South San Francisco, Calif.
High School: El Camino (South San Francisco, Calif.), 1964
Junior College: College of San Mateo (San Mateo, Calif.), 1965
College: Pacific, 1968 (B.A., History/Physical Education)
Graduate Degree: Pacific, 1969 (M.A., Physical Education)
Children: Scott, Summer, Brett
Playing Experience: DB, College of San Mateo (1964-65); DB, Pacific (1966-67)

Career Head Coaching Record: 69-85 (13 Seasons)
at Pacific: 11-24 (1989-91, 3 Seasons)
at Pittsburgh: 52-44 (1997-2004, 8 Seasons)
at Stanford: 6-17 (2005-06, 2 Seasons)