Ex-Bears QB named Stanford coach

Stanford hired former NFL quarterback Jim Harbaugh on Monday to take over its struggling football program.

Harbaugh had spent the last three years as head coach at the University of San Diego, a non-scholarship Division I-AA program. He led the Toreros to a 29-6 record, winning 27 of his final 29 games at San Diego.

The school planned to formally introduce Harbaugh at a news conference today.

Harbaugh has the tough task of turning around the Cardinal, who set a school record for losses in a 1-11 season this year that led to the firing of coach Walt Harris. Stanford has won just 16 games in the past five seasons under Harris and Buddy Teevens.

Harbaugh played in college at Michigan but has ties to Stanford. His father, Jack, was an assistant on The Farm. Harbaugh worked as a volunteer assistant for his father at Western Kentucky during his NFL career. He was an assistant with the Oakland Raiders before taking the job at San Diego.

Harbaugh was a first-round pick by the Bears in 1987 and played 15 seasons in the NFL, leading the Indianapolis Colts to the 1995 AFC championship game. He was second in the MVP voting that season, leading the NFL with a 100.7 quarterback rating.

The Cardinal finished this season with their worst record since going 0-10 in 1960.