Jim Harkema
| Sport(s) | Football |
|---|---|
| Biographical details | |
| Born | June 25, 1942 |
| Playing career | |
| 1961–1963 | Kalamazoo |
| Position(s) | Quarterback |
| Coaching career (HC unless noted) | |
| 1964–1965 | Gull Lake HS (MI) |
| 1967–1969 | Niles East HS (IL) |
| 1970–1971 | Triton JC (IL) |
| 1972 | Northern Illinois (assistant) |
| 1973–1982 | Grand Valley State |
| 1983–1992 | Eastern Michigan |
| Head coaching record | |
| Overall | 109–86–6 (college) 11–4–2 (junior college) |
| Bowls | 1–0 |
| Tournaments | 1–1 (NAIA D-I playoff) |
| Accomplishments and honors | |
| Championships | |
| 3 GLIAC (1977–1978, 1981) 1 MAC (1987) |
|
| Awards | |
| MAC Coach of the Year (1987) | |
Elson James "Jim" Harkema (born June 25, 1942) is former American football player and coach. He served as the head football coach at Grand Valley State University (Allendale, Michigan), from 1973 to 1982 and at Eastern Michigan University from 1983 to 1992, compiling a career college football record of 109–86–6. Harkema played college football as a quarterback at Kalamazoo College.
Harkema attended Owosso High School in Owosso, Michigan, where he played football, basketball, and tennis. He then matriculated at Kalamazoo College, where earned a total of ten varsity letters in those same three sports, and graduated in 1964 with a major in economics and a minor in physical education. Harkema earned a master's degree in 1967 from Western Michigan University.
Harkema was the head coach of the Grand Valley State Lakers football team from 1973 through the 1982 season, compiling a record of 68–29–1 with winning seasons in nine of his ten years. In the 1978 season, his team qualified for the NAIA Football National Championship and won their quarterfinal playoff game against Wisconsin–La Crosse, but lost in the semifinals against Elon.
In 1982, following the team's 22nd consecutive loss, was fired as head coach of the Eastern Michigan Hurons football team. Assistant coach Bob LaPointe was named the interim head coach for the remainder of the season while the school conducted a national search, and Harkema was hired to lead the team beginning in 1983. Beginning in 1986, Harkema led the team to four consecutive winning seasons, including Eastern's only Mid-American Conference championship and only 10-win season in 1987, when the team went to the 1987 California Bowl and upset 17½ point favorite San Jose State University for the only bowl game win in school history. Harkema is credited with building the program at Eastern Michigan into a "Top-Shelf" program, and he coached one of just two EMU games at Rynearson Stadium that sold-out: a 24-31 loss to Western Michigan on October 22, 1988 drew 23,003 (listed capacity at the time was 22,227), and a 0-0 tie against Eastern Kentucky on October 16, 1971 drew 17,360 (listed capacity at the time was 15,500).
...
Wikipedia