Harbaugh Ready for New Task

Jim Harbaugh has received many coaching lessons in his life. He’ll use them in his new role as coach at San Diego.

The former NFL quarterback said Saturday that he will draw from the intensity of his former pro coach Mike Ditka and the forthrightness of his coaching father.

He will assume his duties at the Division I-AA school, which doesn’t offer scholarships, after completing his second season as quarterback coach of the Oakland Raiders.

After applying for the job, Harbaugh, 39, had a conversation with Ditka, his coach during six of his seven seasons with the Chicago Bears from 1987 to ’93. Harbaugh says Ditka reaffirmed his decision to seek the job at San Diego.

“He said what he thought was important when he was younger and what is important now are two different things,” Harbaugh said. “He told me that this was a great opportunity. It’s about the game and the relationships that you make. The money and the limelight aren’t what’s most important.”

Harbaugh also served as an unpaid assistant coach with his father, Jack, at Western Kentucky. His father coached for 41 years before retiring, including 14 at Western Kentucky, which won the 2002 Division I-AA national championship.

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Pittsburgh Coach Walt Harris says sophomore receiver Larry Fitzgerald is ready to play in the NFL, but only if Fitzgerald really wants to turn pro.

“If he’s ready to be a kid and enjoy college football for another year or two, and he doesn’t want to be under the microscope like he will be in the NFL, then he should [stay],” Harris said.

Fitzgerald’s recent comments suggest he will petition the NFL to be included in the April draft. He has emphasized that Pitt’s offense will be in a rebuilding mode next season.

The NFL currently bars players from applying for the draft until three years after their high school graduation. Fitzgerald graduated from Valley Forge Military Academy in 2002, but only after he transferred from his Minneapolis high school during the second semester of his senior year in 2001, while on pace to graduate.

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Arizona State junior safety Jason Shivers will give up his final year of eligibility and declare himself eligible for the NFL draft, April 24-25 in New York.... Former Arizona and Hawaii coach Dick Tomey and former Washington State coach Mike Price are the finalists for the opening at Texas El Paso, the El Paso Times reported.... Ingle Martin, the former Florida quarterback who announced his decision to leave the Gators on Dec. 1, said he has decided to transfer to Furman, a Division I-AA school in South Carolina, the Orlando Sentinel reported.