Harris Scott Barton (born April 19, 1964) is a former American football offensive lineman who played for the San Francisco 49ers.

Early life[link]

Harris was born in Atlanta, Georgia. His mother was from a very Orthodox Jewish background in Queens, New York and his father was from a Jewish family in Brooklyn, New York. They met while attending Emory University.^{[citation needed]}

He attended [1] Hebrew Academy of Atlanta, now known as the Greenfield Hebrew Academy] through the fifth grade, and began playing football at age five. He was county MVP his senior season at Atlanta's Dunwoody High School, where he also participated in basketball and wrestling.^{[citation needed]}

College football career[link]

He was recruited by over 100 colleges including USC, Oklahoma, and Notre Dame, but Harris eventually chose the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, where he graduated with a 3.3 GPA in Finance.^{[citation needed]}

Harris was a freshman All-American at UNC, starting every game for four years. He played nose-to-nose against William "Refrigerator" Perry on national television at Clemson. He was selected to the Associated Press All-American football player team that year, being the first Jewish player in 30 years to do so.^{[citation needed]}

Pro football career[link]

He was a first-round pick of the San Francisco 49ers in 1987, and the 22nd pick overall.^{[citation needed]}

Harris signed a three-year, $1.3 million contract with the team, and started 10 of 15 games that year and was runner-up to Rookie of the Year honors. He started every game in his second year, including the Super Bowl, and was named to various Second Team All-Pros. In his third year, he started all games including the Super Bowl, and was chosen as a Campbell's Soup All-American.^{[citation needed]}

He retired after the 1998 season.^{[citation needed]}

In March 2011 he was inducted into the National Jewish Sports Hall of Fame.^[1]

After football[link]

Along with former teammate Ronnie Lott, Barton was a Managing Partner and a Founder of HRJ Capital, a failed fund of funds which invested in private equity, venture capital, and hedge funds and managed $2.4 billion at its peak in May 2008. In December 2008, the fund was taken over by SVB Financial Group in lieu of $69 million of debt and was later sold in 2009.^[2]

See also[link]

• List of select Jewish football players

References[link]

Jim Harbaugh

Harbaugh with Stanford in August 2010
San Francisco 49ers
Head coach
Personal information
Date of birth: (1963-12-23) December 23, 1963 (age 48)
Place of birth: Toledo, Ohio
Height: 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) Weight: 215 lb (98 kg)
Career information
High school: Palo Alto High School Ann Arbor Pioneer High School
College: Michigan
NFL Draft: 1987 / Round: 1 / Pick: 26
Debuted in 1987 for the Chicago Bears
Last played in 2000 for the San Diego Chargers
Made coaching debut in 1994 for the Western Kentucky Hilltoppers
Career history
As player:
Chicago Bears (1987–1993) Indianapolis Colts (1994–1997) Baltimore Ravens (1998) San Diego Chargers (1999–2000) Detroit Lions (2001)* Carolina Panthers (2001) *Offseason and/or practice squad member only
As coach:
Western Kentucky (1994–2001) (Assistant coach) Oakland Raiders (2002–2003) (Quarterbacks coach) University of San Diego (2004–2006) (Head coach) Stanford (2007–2010) (Head coach) San Francisco 49ers (2011–present) (Head coach)
Career highlights and awards
2011 AP NFL Coach of the Year 2010 Woody Hayes Coach of the Year Award 1995 AP NFL Comeback Player of the Year 1995 UPI AFL-AFC Player of the Year 1× Pro Bowl selection (1995) Indianapolis Colts Ring of Honor
Career NFL statistics as of 2001
TD–INT 129–117 Passing yards 26,288 QB rating 77.6 Stats at NFL.com

James Joseph "Jim" Harbaugh (pronounced /ˈhɑrbɔː/; born December 23, 1963) is an American football coach and former player. He is currently the head coach for the San Francisco 49ers of the National Football League. Harbaugh agreed to a five-year deal with the San Francisco 49ers on January 7, 2011.^[1] Previously, he was the head coach at Stanford University for four seasons and the University of San Diego for three seasons. Harbaugh is also a former NFL quarterback who played for the Chicago Bears, Indianapolis Colts, Baltimore Ravens, and San Diego Chargers. He was selected by the Bears with the 26th pick in the first round of the 1987 NFL Draft. He played college football at Michigan. Harbaugh and his older brother, Baltimore Ravens coach John Harbaugh, are the first pair of brothers to serve as head coaches in NFL history.^[2]

Early years[link]

Harbaugh's father was an assistant coach at Michigan under Bo Schembechler for seven seasons during the 1970s. Jim played for the junior league Ann Arbor Packers, then for Tappan Junior High, and attended Pioneer High School. When his father became defensive coordinator at Stanford for the 1980 season, Jim transferred to Palo Alto High School in California, where he graduated in 1982.^[3]

College playing career[link]

He 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 in school history. Playing for head coach Schembechler, Harbaugh was a three-year starter, though he broke his arm five games into the 1984 season and sat out the remainder the year. As a junior in 1985, Harbaugh led the nation in passing efficiency and quarterbacked one of Schembechler's best teams. The 1985 team posted a 10–1–1 record, defeated Nebraska in the 1986 Fiesta Bowl, and finished with a #2 ranking in the final polls, the highest finish for Michigan during Schembechler's tenure as head coach.

As a senior in 1986, Harbaugh guided Michigan to an 11–2 record (which included his guaranteed victory over arch-rival Ohio State, which Michigan won, 26–24 in Columbus)^[4] and a berth in the 1987 Rose Bowl while earning Big Ten Conference Player of the Year honors and finishing third in the Heisman balloting. Harbaugh was also named to the Big Ten's All-Academic team, as well as the 1986 AP and UPI All-American teams. He held the career NCAA Division I-A (now FBS) passing efficiency rating record (325–399 completions) for 12 years.^[5] He led the nation in efficiency in 1985.^[6]

Career passing stats[link]

Career rushing statistics[link]

NFL playing career[link]

Harbaugh entered the NFL as a first-round draft pick by the Chicago Bears in 1987. He spent his first season on the bench with future head coach Sean Payton. He played seven seasons for the Bears and passed for a career-high 3,121 yards with them in 1991.

From 1994 to 1997, Harbaugh quarterbacked the Indianapolis Colts, and in 1995, achieved career highs in completion percentage (63.7) and touchdown passes (17). While with the Colts, during the 1995–96 NFL playoffs he led the team to the AFC Championship game and came within one dropped Hail Mary pass of taking the Colts to the Super Bowl for the first time since 1970. In 1995, he was voted to the Pro Bowl, was named Comeback Player of the Year and AFC Player of the Year, and was runner-up in the NFL MVP voting. With the Colts, Harbaugh completed 746 of 1,230 passes for 8,705 yards and 49 touchdowns and won the NFL passer rating title in 1995 with a rating of 100.7. In January 2005, Harbaugh was inducted into the Indianapolis Colts Ring of Honor as one of the most successful and popular players in the club's Indianapolis era.

After a last-place 3–13 record in 1997, Harbaugh was traded to the Baltimore Ravens (based in the Colts' former home city of Baltimore, Maryland) to make room for 1st overall draft pick Peyton Manning. During the 1998 season, Harbaugh was the starter but would split playing time with Eric Zeier. Then he played two years with the San Diego Chargers. In 1999 he led the Chargers to an 8–8 record, but in 2000 the Chargers finished with a 1–15 record behind Harbaugh and first-round bust Ryan Leaf. Harbaugh signed with the Detroit Lions prior to the 2001 season, where he was expected to back up incumbent starter Charlie Batch. However, on the eve of the regular season, the Lions cut him and traded for Ty Detmer. Harbaugh then closed out his NFL career with the Carolina Panthers in 2001, where he dressed for 6 games but did not compile any statistics.

For his NFL career, Harbaugh played in 177 league games with 140 starts. He completed 2,305 of 3,918 passes for 26,288 yards with 129 touchdowns. Particularly during his time with Indianapolis—such as when he led the Colts to come-from-behind wins over the Chiefs and Chargers in the 1995–96 NFL playoffs and a near upset over the No. 2 AFC seed Steelers—he earned the nickname "Captain Comeback" (the second player to be so nicknamed after Roger Staubach) for his ability to win games in the fourth quarter after overcoming significant point deficits.

Career passing stats[link]

Coaching career[link]

Assistant coaching[link]

During his final eight seasons in the NFL (1994–2001), Harbaugh 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 champion team. His father was a football coach for 18 years, including 14 years as head coach at WKU.

Harbaugh was an assistant coach with the Oakland Raiders in 2002–2003. In 2002 he was an offensive assistant coach, and in 2003 he was the quarterbacks coach.

University of San Diego[link]

Prior to the 2004 season, Harbaugh was named head football coach at the University of San Diego. In his first year, he directed the Toreros to an overall mark of 7–4, including 5 straight wins to end the season. The following year, the team improved to 11–1 and won the 2005 Pioneer Football League Championship. In 2006, USD again went 11–1 winning their second consecutive Pioneer League title in the process.

Harbaugh in October 2007

Stanford University[link]

Harbaugh was named the head football coach at Stanford University in December 2006, replacing Walt Harris. Harbaugh's father, Jack, was Stanford's defensive coordinator from 1980–1981, while Harbaugh attended Palo Alto High School, located directly across the street from Stanford Stadium.^[3][7]

Harbaugh stirred some intra-conference controversy in March 2007, when he was quoted as saying rival USC head coach "Pete Carroll's only got one more year, though. He'll be there one more year. That's what I've heard. I heard it inside the staff." Upon further questions, Harbaugh claimed he had heard it from staff at USC. The comment caused a rebuke from Carroll.^[8] (In fact, Carroll would be at USC for three more years.) At the Pacific-10 Conference media day on July 26, 2007, Harbaugh praised the Trojans, stating "There is no question in my mind that USC is the best team in the country and may be the best team in the history of college football." The declaration, especially in light of his earlier comment, garnered more media attention.^[9][10] Later in the season, Stanford defeated #1 USC 24–23 with a touchdown in the final minute. With USC being the favorite by 41 points, it was statistically the greatest upset in college football history.^[11][12] Although Stanford lost to USC in 2008, Harbaugh and the Stanford Cardinal upset USC at home again with a score of 55–21 on November 14, 2009.^[13] Stanford's 55 points are the most ever scored on USC in the Trojans' history. It was Pete Carroll's first November loss as USC head coach. Harbaugh joined Kansas State coach Bill Snyder and Oregon's Chip Kelly as the only coaches in college football to have a winning record against Carroll, with a record of 2–1. Harbaugh has never lost in USC's home stadium, the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum.

In January 2009, Harbaugh was confirmed to have been interviewed by the New York Jets for the head coach position,^[14] although the job was eventually offered to Rex Ryan.^[15]

In 2009, the Cardinal had a comeback season, finishing the regular season at 8–4, finishing #21 in the polls, and receiving an invitation to play in the 2009 Sun Bowl, the Cardinal's first bowl appearance since 2001. Running back Toby Gerhart was named a Heisman Trophy finalist, finishing second to Mark Ingram in the closest margin of voting in Heisman history. On December 13, 2009, Harbaugh was rewarded with a three-year contract extension through the 2014 season.^[16]

The 2010 season brought more success for Harbaugh and the Cardinal. The team went 11–1 in the regular season, with their only loss coming from Oregon, a team that was undefeated and earned a berth in the BCS National Championship Game. The first 11 win season in program history earned the Cardinal a #4 BCS ranking and a BCS bowl invitation to the Orange Bowl. Stanford defeated Virginia Tech 40–12 for the Cardinal's first bowl win since 1996 and the first BCS bowl victory in program history.^[17] Second year starting quarterback Andrew Luck was the runner-up to for the Heisman Trophy, the second year in a row that the runner-up was from Stanford. Harbaugh was named the winner of the Woody Hayes Coach of the Year Award.^[1]

San Francisco 49ers[link]

On January 7, 2011, just four days after winning the Orange Bowl, Harbaugh agreed to a 5-year $25 million contract to become the next head coach for the San Francisco 49ers.^[1] He succeeded Jim Tomsula, who was interim head coach for only the last game of the preceding season after succeeding the fired Mike Singletary. Though the 49ers were expected to struggle in what was anticipated to be a rebuilding season,^[18] with a new scheme and many new players as well as shortened summer practices due to the lockout, Harbaugh had led the team to a 13-3 record in the regular season, winning the NFC West division while finishing second overall in the NFC and bringing the team to the NFC Championship Game. This was the first time the 49ers had made the playoffs since the 2002 NFL season, generating widespread praise.^[19][20] On November 24, Harbaugh played his brother John and the Baltimore Ravens, losing the Thanksgiving showdown 16-6. Harbaugh's work in San Francisco had resulted in an extremely successful season, revitalizing the career of quarterback Alex Smith and with defensive coordinator Vic Fangio creating one of the best defensive squads of the 2011–2012 season. The 49ers season ended with a 20–17 loss in overtime to the New York Giants in the NFC Championship game. At the conclusion of the season Harbaugh was named the AP NFL Coach of the Year.

Personal life[link]

Harbaugh comes from a coaching family, and is the son of college football coach Jack Harbaugh. Jim Harbaugh has five children: Jay (an undergraduate at Oregon State University and a student intern for the Oregon State Beavers football team^[21]); James and Grace, all from his first marriage, and two daughters, Addison and Katherine with his second wife, Sarah. His brother John is the head coach of the Baltimore Ravens and his brother-in-law, Tom Crean, is head coach of the Indiana University men's basketball team.

He has been very active in community service ventures. He has been actively involved with the Harbaugh Hill Foundation, the Riley Hospital, Western Kentucky University, the Jim Harbaugh Foundation, the Uhlich's Children's Home and the Children's Miracle Network.

Harbaugh is co-owner of Panther Racing in the IndyCar Series. The main car for the team carries Harbaugh's old jersey number, 4. When the team won the 2001 and 2002 IRL championship, the team, which had the option of going to #1, chose instead to keep the #4 for its association with Harbaugh's career.^{[citation needed]}

Head coaching record[link]

College[link]

NFL[link]

References[link]