Walt Harris Walt Harris ( born November 9 , 1946 ) is a former American football player and coach in the United States . Harris served as the head football coach at the University of the Pacific in Stockton , California from 1989 to 1991 , the University of Pittsburgh from 1997 to 2004 , and at Stanford University from 2005 to 2006 , compiling a career college football record of 69 – 85 . Playing and coaching career . Harris attended El Camino High School in South San Francisco , California . Harris received a bachelor ' s degree in 1968 and a master ' s degree in 1969 from the University of the Pacific , where he played college football . Harris served as offensive coordinator at Tennessee under Johnny Majors , helping the Volunteers win four of five bowl games while there . In 1989 , he became head coach at the University of the Pacific . As head coach of Pacific , his staff included future NFL head coaches Jon Gruden and Hue Jackson . Harris was the quarterbacks coach for the New York Jets from 1992 to 1994 . A noted quarterback tutor , he helped Boomer Esiason return to form and earn a trip to the 1993 Pro Bowl . Pittsburgh . When Harris took over at the University of Pittsburgh in 1997 , the football program was in decline . They had won just 12 games in the previous four seasons . He eventually led Pitt to five consecutive bowl games . In 1997 Harris won Big East Coach of the Year honors when he led his team to the Liberty Bowl , the first postseason game since 1989 . 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 . That year he won the American Football Coaches Foundation ( AFCA ) Region I Coach of the Year . The Panthers went 8 - 5 after losing to Virginia in the Continental Tire Bowl in 2003 . Notably , he coached both Antonio Bryant and Larry Fitzgerald to the Biletnikoff Award , given to the nation ' s top wide receiver . In 2004 , Harris led the Panthers to their first BCS bowl game in school history . Pitt lost to Utah in the Fiesta Bowl that season . Despite winning the Big East Coach of the Year award , Harris was pushed out of Pittsburgh . After Harris left , Pitt did not make another bowl game for four years . Stanford . Harris was the head coach of the football team at Stanford University . In his first season as head coach there he posted a record of 5 – 6 . In his second season as head coach the team posted a 1 – 11 record , the school ' s worst since going 0 – 10 in 1960 . He was fired on December 4 , 2006 , two days after Stanford ' s abysmal regular season ended . By the end of his tenure at Stanford , Harris had surpassed Jack Curtice with the lowest winning percentage in the history of Stanford football , with a 26 . 1 % record . Current career . In February 2009 he joined the University of Akron coaching staff as quarterback ' s coach / passing game coordinator , but the team struggled and head coach J . D . Brookhart lost his job at the end of the year . In April 2010 , Harris became the offensive coordinator at Division II California University of Pennsylvania . He was replaced after one season . Coaching style . Harris has been viewed by some players as difficult to work with . One article about his departure from Stanford called him a " disciplinarian " and reported that a player briefly quit the team in protest of his coaching style . Harris also has a questionable history of play calling , particularly when it comes to his tenure at the University of Pittsburgh . In a controversial series of calls he had Tyler Palko quarterback punt on third down a number of times in a 2004 game against Nebraska which the Panthers lost . Harris was also criticized after the 2003 Continental Tire Bowl for under - utilizing Heisman Trophy runner - up and eventual third overall NFL draft pick Larry Fitzgerald .