The Zeitgeist List · coaching

Walt Harris

Followed Buddy Teevens. Walt Harris held Stanford at National Program II for 2 seasons.

The builder
58–61
1997–2006 · 2 stints
PittsburghStanford
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Career arc

His real stature score, season by season, across every program he’s coached — so a stretch that stays in one tier the whole way can still climb or sink on the line, not just flatten out. Node color marks the tier reached. Which program a stretch belongs to is carried by the shaded lane behind it.

Stature score reached, by season of his head-coaching careerPITTSBURGHSTANFORDNational Programrespectable, streakyRegional Programthe building-block levelPittsburgh, 1997: 6-6, Regional Program I1997Pittsburgh, 1998: 2-9, Regional Program I1998Pittsburgh, 1999: 5-6, Regional Program I1999Pittsburgh, 2000: 7-5, Regional Program I2000Pittsburgh, 2001: 7-5, National Program III2001Pittsburgh, 2002: 9-4, National Program II2002Pittsburgh, 2003: 8-5, National Program II2003Pittsburgh, 2004: 8-4, National Program II2004+9.3Stanford, 2005: 5-6, National Program II2005Stanford, 2006: 1-11, National Program III2006-0.3One point per coached season, in career order; dashed segments are program changes — spacing is not proportional to calendar time

Reached National Program in his 5th career season — faster than 14% of the 675 FBS coaches who have ever reached National Program (rank #547 of 675 by seasons-to-arrival).

Pittsburgh, 8 seasons
+9.3
Regional Program I → National Program II.
Stanford, 2 seasons
−0.3
National Program II → National Program III.

The big-game ledger

How he does in the games that matter most — rivalry record, performance broken out by real opponent tier, one-score games, and his toughest historical matchup.

5–11 against his rivals. Winless in 3 tries against Larry Coker.

Rivalry record
5–11
31.2% · 4 rivals
One-score games
20–26
43.5% · margin ≤8
vs. Blue Blood or better
0–1
0.0%
Rivalry ledger
West Virginia4–450%
Penn State1–325%
California0–20%
Notre Dame0–20%
The toughest matchup
vs. Larry Coker0–3
3 meetings, 2001–2003
’01 L’02 L’03 L
0% win rate across a real, 3-meeting series — short of the bar this site uses before badging a series “Nemesis.” Shown here as the toughest matchup on record, not an algorithmic crown.
Performance by opponent class
Dynasty
0–1 0.0%
Blue Blood
2–10 16.7%
Power Program
10–25 28.6%
National Program
15–15 50.0%
Regional Program
28–8 77.8%

Coaching career

2005–2006
Stanfordcaretaker
National Program II → National Program II
Walt Harris held Stanford at National Program II for 2 seasons.

18th-best Stanford tenure of 20 by the numbers.

Followed Buddy Teevens (2002–2004) · succeeded by Jim Harbaugh (2007–2010).

13 NFL Draft picks: Oshiomogho Atogwe (2005), Alex Smith (2005), Stanley Wilson (2005), Jared Newberry (2005), Will Svitek (2005), David Bergeron (2005), Jon Alston (2006), Julian Jenkins (2006) + 5 more

6–17
1997–2004
Pittsburghcaretaker
Regional Program I → National Program II
Walt Harris moved Pittsburgh from Regional Program I to National Program II in 8 seasons.

16th-best Pittsburgh tenure of 23 by the numbers.

Followed Johnny Majors (1973–1996) · succeeded by Dave Wannstedt (2005–2010).

15 NFL Draft picks: Hank Poteat (2000), Kevan Barlow (2001), Antonio Bryant (2002), Ramon Walker (2002), Bryan Knight (2002), Gerald Hayes (2003), Torrie Cox (2003), Bryan Anderson (2003) + 7 more

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