You know that feeling right after you wake up from a really bad dream — the kind that’s just real enough that it takes a few minutes for you to realize that it’s over, but you’re still not quite able to shake the feeling that maybe it isn’t?

That’s more or less how I feel about the Stanford football program right now.

The Walt Harris era is over, of that there’s no doubt. But whether better days are ahead for the Cardinal is yet to be seen. Of course, on the bright side, things couldn’t get much worse.

That Harris had to go is no longer in doubt, really. True, he only had two years to turn around an already struggling program, but things didn’t exactly show any signs of improving in his time on the Farm.

Moreover, as was especially evident after the Cardinal’s surprisingly close 26-17 loss at Berkeley, Harris’s often stonefaced personality seemed to clash with the passion displayed by team leaders. I’ll never forget the raw emotion I saw from Stanford athletes like Brandon Harrison and Michael Okwo following that game. But from Harris, nothing. Frustration certainly, and maybe even a bit of anger — but nothing to match the passion of his players.

Stoicism in football coaches has often been an admired trait — the fedora and level gaze of Tom Landry comes to mind — but for a team that lost 11 of 12 games in 2006, fans and players alike want to know that the team’s struggles are affecting the head coach as well. Losing should never be an easy thing to deal with, and in trying to appear even-keeled and cool under pressure, Harris too often made it appear to be easy for him.

And that is exactly why the hiring of Jim Harbaugh has to be encouraging for Stanford fans. As an ex-player, the former Michigan and NFL quarterback should bring a more visible level of emotion to the Stanford sidelines. If his college teams can adopt some part of the attitude Harbaugh played with when he was known as “Captain Comeback,” then Stanford’s games should at least be more interesting from the fan’s perspective.

His NFL experience should also be a strong selling point for potential recruits, especially early in what the University hopes will be a rebuilding process. Although he might not be able to sell great high school athletes on their chances to compete for national recognition in college, at least Harbaugh will be able to say that he knows what it takes to get to the next level. And, so far at least, his personality seems to be one that recruits might want to play for.

In a tough Pac-10 Conference that will get only tougher over the next few years, Harbaugh has a long road ahead of him as he tries to transform the Cardinal from a doormat to a contender. USC and Cal show no signs of fading as conference powers. Oregon State finished strong in 2006. And Arizona State could soon compete for a conference title under new coach Dennis Erickson. Indeed, there is a strong argument to be made that the Pac-10 could be the nation’s second-toughest conference, after the SEC, in 2007.

But at least now the Cardinal look like they’re trying to get ahead rather than merely keep up. The hiring of Harris felt like a halfhearted attempt at finding a caretaker for the program. He was regarded as a solid but unspectacular hire, the kind of guy who would do all right, but at the same time you knew he wasn’t a prodigy. In sports terms, there was no real ‘up side’ with Harris.

The opposite is true of his successor. Harbaugh comes in as an unproven coach at the highest level of college football, but that’s exactly what makes him interesting. The sky is the limit for Harbaugh because we don’t really know who he is as a coach.

Whether Jim Harbaugh was the best choice for the job, only time will tell. So far though, he certainly seems to be at least a good choice. Stanford offered him the position and he accepted with energy and enthusiasm. Given where the program has been since the days of Ty Willingham, that’s really all the University could ask.

Denis Griffin is a junior. Email him at djgriff@stanford.edu.