CHARLOTTE, N.C. (May 3, 2018) — The Charlotte Touchdown Club in conjunction with the Football Writers Association of America, officially announced today Jim Harbaugh, Head Football Coach at the University of Michigan, as Keynote Speaker for the 2018 Bronko Nagurski Awards Banquet scheduled for Monday, December 3.

“I am honored to be asked to speak at an award banquet named after a fellow Chicago Bear, Bronko Nagurski, a college and pro football hall of fame player and legend in the Windy City,” Harbaugh said. “We have always prided ourselves on having a program with a strong defense and our Defensive Coordinator Don Brown has mentored some of the best defensive players in the game. The traits that the Nagurski award candidates display are the same ones that are fundamental to our success at Michigan. I look forward to attending this event as it’s always great to be around the game’s best defensive student-athletes and coaches.”

Michigan coach Jim Harbaugh

On December 13, 2014, when named Michigan’s Head Football Coach Harbaugh said, “Throughout my life I have dreamed of coaching at the University of Michigan,” said Harbaugh, the J. Ira and Nicki Harris Family Head Football Coach. “Now I have the honor to live it.”

Harbaugh began coaching in 1994 during an impressive playing career. He served as volunteer assistant coach for his father, Jack Harbaugh, at Western Kentucky while still playing in the NFL (1994-2001). After finishing his playing career, Harbaugh was the Oakland Raiders Quarterbacks Coach (2002-03). Harbaugh was named Head Coach at the University of San Diego (2004-06) and Stanford University (2007-10) before becoming an NFL Head Coach for the San Francisco 49ers (2011-2014).  Harbaugh is now serving as the head coach of his alma mater, the University of Michigan. Harbaugh is one of four Big Ten coaches to win 10-plus games in each of his first two seasons directing a conference school.

Harbaugh is one of only two head coaches to collect back-to-back 10-win seasons in their first two seasons at U-M. In his first two seasons as the Michigan head coach, Harbaugh guided the Wolverines to 10-win seasons. U-M has appeared in a bowl game in all three seasons with Harbaugh at the helm of the program, including a New Year’s Six Bowl with the 2017 Orange Bowl, and two other bowls played on New Year’s Day (2016 Buffalo Wild Wings Bowl; 2018 Outback Bowl).

As a former Michigan Wolverine quarterback, Harbaugh was one of Michigan’s all-time record holders for passing yards with 5,449. He also tallied 620 passing attempts, 387 completions, a 62.4% completion percentage, 31 touchdown passes and 22 interceptions. He held the career NCAA Division I-A passing efficiency record (149.6) for 12 years.

After his success in college Harbaugh moved on to play for six NFL teams including: the Chicago Bears, Indianapolis Colts, Baltimore Ravens, San Diego Chargers, Detroit Lions, and the Carolina Panthers. Harbaugh played in 177 league games with 140 starts in his NFL career. He completed 2,305 of 3,918 passes for 26,288 yards with 129 touchdowns.
Harbaugh earned a B.A. in communications from Michigan’s College of Literature, Science, and the Arts in 1986.

Harbaugh comes from a coaching family, and is the son of college football coach Jack Harbaugh and the brother of John Harbaugh, the head coach of the Baltimore Ravens.

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About The Independence Fund
The Independence Fund is a nonprofit organization that empowers our nation’s severely wounded veterans and the caregivers who support them to take control of their lives.  Through its dedicated mobility and treatment programs, the Fund assists veterans in transforming their lives toward a better future.  The Independence Fund believes we owe it to our veterans to provide the resources they need to move forward and build a strong foundation toward lasting emotional and physical healing in order to reestablish their independence.  To learn more, visit www.independencefund.org.

The Charlotte Touchdown Club is a 501(c)3 non-profit organization founded in 1990 for the purpose of promoting high school, collegiate, and professional football in the Charlotte, North Carolina region.  Since its inception, the club has grown as well as diversified boasting a sponsor team of more than (80) companies.  The Club’s activities and services focus community attention on the outstanding Citizenship, Scholarship, Sportsmanship, and Leadership of area athletes and coaches.  Through individual and corporate support, more than $2,000,000 has been raised to benefit the Touchdown Club’s scholarship efforts.

Founded in 1941, the Football Writers Association of America consists of the men and women across North America who cover college football for a living.  The membership includes journalists, broadcasters and publicists, as well as key executives in all the areas that involve the game. The FWAA works to govern areas that include game day operations, major awards and an All-America team.  Through its website, the FWAA works to improve communication among all those who work within the game. The FWAA also sponsors scholarships for aspiring writers and an annual writing contest.  Behind the leadership of President David Jones and Executive Director Steve Richardson and a board of veteran journalists, the FWAA continues grow and work to help college football prosper at all levels. There are now over 1,000 members.

The Bronko Nagurski Trophy is a member of the National College Football Awards Association (NCFAA), which was founded in 1997 as a coalition of the major collegiate football awards to protect, preserve and enhance the integrity, influence and prestige of the game’s predominant awards.  The NCFAA encourages professionalism and the highest standards for the administration of its member awards and the selection of their candidates and recipients.  For more information, visit the association’s official website, www.NCFAA.org.
The Bronko Nagurski Trophy is presented annually by the Charlotte Touchdown Club and the Football Writers Association of America to the nation’s most outstanding NCAA defensive football player at the Bronko Nagurski Awards Banquet in Charlotte, N.C.  All proceeds benefit the Charlotte Touchdown Club Scholarship Fund.  For more information call 704-347-2918 or www.touchdownclub.com.