JIM HARBAUGH WAS underqualified when he applied for the University of San Diego's head coaching job in late 2003 -- and the panel interviewing him knew it.
"For the majority of the group, he was not the leading candidate," Dan Yourg, USD's senior associate director of athletics for administration, said of the committee composed of Toreros administrators and players.
Harbaugh, then 39, had recently retired after playing 15 seasons in the NFL and was in his second season as an assistant quarterbacks coach with the Oakland Raiders. He had never been a head coach. Concern about his lack of experience prevailed.