Walt Harris was born in Modesto, CA and attended elementary and El Camino High School in South San Francisco. He then attended and played football at College of San Mateo before transferring to University of the Pacific in 1964 and graduating in 1969. Walt was a graduate assistant football coach at Pacific for the 1969 season. After a year coaching at his high school he returned as secondary coach at Pacific (1971-73). He then was secondary coach at California (1974-77); linebackers coach at Michigan State (1978-80); linebackers coach at Illinois (1980-82); assistant head coach and offensive coordinator at Tennessee (1983-88); returned as Head Coach at Pacific (1989-91); quarterback’s coach at Ohio State (1995-96); Head Coach, University of Pittsburg (1997-2004); Head Coach at Stanford (2004-06); and offensive coordinator at Akron U. (2008) and Cal State, PA. (2009)
From 1992-94 he was the quarterbacks coach for the New York Jets professional team and is credited with resurrecting the quarterbacking career of Boomer Esiason. His stint as head coach at Pacific resulted in the 1991 Pacific team being ranked second nationally in total offense (511.3 yards per game) and third nationally in passing offense (342.9 yards per game). Walt is recognized by his opposing coaches as one of the best minds in football. Walt and his wife Nancy have two sons and a daughter.
