Harris goes from small-town player to Kansas leader

By Case Keefer

Friday, October 3, 2008

Chris Harris knew Kansas’ trio of freshmen cornerbacks had a rough night two Saturdays ago in a 38-14 victory against Sam Houston State.

He saw Bearkat quarterback Rhett Bomar, who passed for 340 yards and a touchdown in the game, pick on Ryan Murphy, Isiah Barfield and Corrigan Powell by continually throwing to receivers they were covering.

Harris consoled them after the game.

“That’s what’s going to happen being a corner,” Harris told them. “You’ve got to have the shortest memory being a corner.”

The Kansas football roster lists Harris as a sophomore. But he doesn’t seem like one — doesn’t act like one. Even Harris fumbles his words when trying to describe his role among the cornerbacks.

He’s the same age as Murphy and Barfield, who coaches and fans often peg as being “young.” Harris was a member of the same recruiting class, but played his freshman year instead of receiving a redshirt.

But in football, experience trumps age — and Harris has experience. He’s started 14 games during the past two seasons for the Jayhawks, practically making him a grandfather compared with the other cornerbacks.

Harris understands that and it’s why he’s become one of the leaders for Kansas, which plays on the road against Iowa State tomorrow at 11:30.

Harris has spent the Jayhawks’ bye week encouraging the other cornerbacks and working on drills with them before and after practice. He knows they need to improve and figures he can help expedite the process. Harris wants them to feel comfortable coming to him with problems. He wants them to know he understands how tough it is to be a freshman cornerback.

“You’re not just going to dominate,” Harris said. “Especially in the Big 12, it’s not just going to happen.”

But it did for Harris. Maybe he didn’t exactly dominate, but he certainly didn’t struggle during his freshman season.

He won the Big 12 Defensive Newcomer of the Year award. Sporting News named him an honorable mention Freshman All-American. He intercepted a pass in Kansas’ 24-21 victory against Virginia Tech in the Orange Bowl.

All those accomplishments are great. But Harris has new goals for this season. He wants to continue to be a reliable player while establishing himself as a leader.

“From high school, I’m used to it,” Harris said. “Just being one year away doesn’t make you not the leader of the secondary.”

* * * * *

He’s too small.

That’s what Bixby High School football coach Pat McGrew kept hearing from college coaches two years ago when he tried to get recruiters interested in Harris.

They didn’t listen when McGrew said Harris was a leader on one of the best high school football teams in Oklahoma.

At cornerback, Harris would call the defensive plays on the field and align everyone.

Not just defensive backs. He would make sure the defensive linemen and linebackers understood their adjustments and were in the right spot.

“He was awesome,” McGrew said. “He was like a coach.”

But recruiters couldn’t get over how short he was. Kansas lists Harris at six feet. Coaches shied away from him because they were worried about how he would match up with taller receivers.

Except for Kansas. McGrew said the Jayhawks were the one team that consistently showed interest in Harris. Kansas coaches traveled to Bixby to watch him play a number of times and kept in close contact.

The Jayhawks were the first team to offer Harris a scholarship. McGrew said everything changed after that.

“Everyone started going after him,” McGrew said. “And he said, ‘no, Kansas was the one that liked me from the beginning and they’re the ones who respected me.’ He respected them and took the scholarship.”

Harris received offers from Tulsa, Wyoming, Colorado State and Iowa State, but knew he wanted to come to Kansas.

McGrew knew the Jayhawks were swiping a great player out of Oklahoma.

“When he’s out there on the field, he’s playing hard and making sure everyone else is,” McGrew said. “That’s what you look for.”

* * * * *

Even McGrew was surprised by what happened next.

Harris arrived on campus before the 2007 season for practice with the mindset that he could play right away. McGrew wasn’t so sure. As good as he knew Harris was, McGrew thought cornerback was one of the hardest positions to play in college right out of high school.

The difficulty didn’t deter Harris. After then-junior cornerback Kendrick Harper got hurt before the season began, a starting position opened up in the secondary.

“I was going to compete with whoever,” Harris said. “I didn’t care who was at the corner position, I was going to compete.”

Harris won the job and started alongside All-American Aqib Talib at cornerback at the beginning of the season. Naturally, quarterbacks threw toward Harris and away from Talib.

The strategy didn’t work. In the first eight games Harris started, only Kansas State’s Josh Freeman threw for more than 200 yards. Harris was one of the key cogs in a pass defense that ranked among the top in the nation.

“He’s just done a phenomenal job,” Mangino said in an interview last year. “To come in here and essentially win the corner position. The way he did it — he showed a lot of enthusiasm, courage and football aptitude for a freshman.”

* * * * *

Mangino isn’t normally that pleased with freshmen cornerbacks.

Take the Sam Houston game this season for example — Mangino said he could cover receivers better than his freshmen cornerbacks. Mangino may have criticized their performance, but Harris has defended it.

Harris maintains that the three freshmen who played all have great potential. He said getting burnt by the Bearkat receivers could serve as an invaluable lesson.

“They can learn from the experience,” Harris said, “and take that with them in their career.”

Much like he did during his high school career, Harris is trying to spread his leadership beyond the defensive backfield. He said during the bye-week he was also more vocal with the front seven.

“I tell them the more pressure y’all get, the more picks we get,” Harris said. “Basically, we just try to work together on that. The more coverage we get, the more sacks they get.”

Although the silver chain with a No. 16 pendant dangling from his neck and the sparkling studded earrings may suggest otherwise, Harris is modest. He says he’s just one leader on a defense full of them. His teammates are more likely to expound on his leadership.

“He’s a very good leader to our team,” Harper said.

Harper is Harris’ roommate. Harper missed the Jayhawks’ last three games after he suffered a head injury during the first game of the season against FIU.

Of course, Harper has eagerly wanted to get back on the field. Harris said his roommate has been frustrated and wished he had an extra year of eligibility.

But Harris has kept Harper’s spirits high. Harper, who is expected to play against Iowa State, said Harris was always telling him to work through it and get back on the field.

“He’s always smiling,” Harper said. “He never has a bad day. He’s a great guy to be around.”

— — Edited by Jennifer Torline

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