In the middle of the first decade of the 2000s, Rob Ash's Drake Bulldogs and Jim Harbaugh's San Diego Toreros began a brief but impactful rivalry. Drake beat USD 25-20 in 2004 on the way to a Pioneer League title and FCS playoff bid. In 2005, Harbaugh returned the favor, winning 31-26 at home and winning their first conference title.
In 2006, Ash thought Drake had USD in the crosshairs. The Bulldogs were meeting the Toreros at home for the eventual conference title, and it was a blustery Iowa day: cold, windy and eventually wet. Ash thought he had Harbaugh's squad of Californians at a disadvantage in the battle for another conference title, but USD showed up prepared. Their players wore puffy jackets and warm clothing provided by the San Diego Chargers, with whom Harbaugh had made a deal before the game.
Through resourcefulness and a by-any-means-necessary ethos, Harbaugh's Toreros turned a potential disadvantage into an extreme advantage and cruised to a 37-0 win. They won another conference title and walloped Monmouth by 20 points in the FCS' Gridiron Classic.
The ever-resourceful Harbaugh parlayed both that success and ethos into everything that followed. He took the Stanford job in 2007 and flipped the Cardinal from 4-8 in his first year to 12-1 in his fourth. He went 44-19-1 in four years with the San Francisco 49ers, reaching the NFC Championship Game three straight times and the Super Bowl once. He returned to the collegiate level in 2015 in an endless quest for glory. And Monday night in Houston, he found it in the College Football Playoff National Championship. His Michigan Wolverines turned a nip-and-tuck game against the Washington Huskies into an easy 34-13 victory cruise, securing the school's first national title since 1997.
