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Junior cornerback eager to improve

By Jayson Jenks

Tuesday, August 25, 2009

Junior cornerback Chris Harris picks up his phone and dials his mom, Lisa, every day. She made sure to point out that fact from her home in Bixby, Okla. Chris and Lisa are close. Really close, she said.

Recently, the phone calls have been positive. Kansas is eager to prove it can capture a Big 12 North championship, and Harris is once again significantly — and comfortably — contributing on the defense.

But last year, well, last year, Lisa said, the talks were tougher. That sometimes it was hard for Chris to swallow his mid-season demotion from a starting spot.

So Chris did what many do when things aren’t going quite as expected — he called home.

“We were just telling him to work hard, to work so hard that there is not a reason for you not to be out there,” Lisa said. “I mean, the coaches can’t say you didn’t give it all you had. And then everything started getting better.”

Let’s be clear: It’s not that Harris switched positions entering this season. He’s still playing as the Jayhawks’ nickel back — the fifth defensive back on the team.

But Harris and Lisa said he’s more confident and prepared this year. Plus the Jayhawks will likely use Harris more this season as they face a schedule loaded with spread offenses.

“I think he feels like he needs to come back and prove to the fans that he can play,” Lisa said.

Players are demoted and promoted on a regular basis in college football. But last season, Harris struggled to grasp why, after a solid freshman season, he was playing worse as a sophomore.

Harris, the former Big 12 Defensive Newcomer of the Year and key component during Kansas’ run to the Orange Bowl championship in 2007 struggled in coverage last season.

He played the final six games of the season shuffling in and out as the nickel back.

“Last year coaches talked about playing with fear, and I just played with so much fear,” Harris said. “I wasn’t playing like I usually do. I’ve worked so hard to get back to where I was.

“This is probably the most confident I’ve been playing. Compared to last year when I played with so much fear, I trust my abilities and I trust the work that I did.”

Before any of that could happen — before Harris restored order within himself — he wrestled with the realization that he was no longer a starter. And who wouldn’t?

Harris was one of the best players on his high school team, an All-State defensive back who made an immediate impact at Kansas. Then came the struggles.

“Anytime you get moved from the starting lineup it takes a toll on you,” senior defensive back Justin Thornton said. “What really matters is how you bounce back. And he’s done a great job bouncing back and doing everything he can to be the best player he can be.”

During Kansas’ camp this offseason, Harris and Thornton roomed together and were able to relate.

Both players experienced setbacks — Harris with his performance, Thornton withoff-field disciplinary issues — but both players shared common ground.

“With the things that we go through, we’re out here on the grind,” Thornton said. “This is tough, and it’s always good to have someone who knows what you’re going through and what position you’re in to talk about it and help you through it.”

But there’s another side to the story. Maybe after turning in a solid season as a freshman, Harris became somewhat lackadaisical as a sophomore.

“He may have relaxed at a point in time because he was so young and experienced so much success that it took something like that to make him hungry again and to become that great player he can be,” senior safety Darrell Stuckey said. “And we’re pretty excited about the mentality he has right now, and he’s one of the better players on our defense.”

The common belief this season, the one Stuckey, Thornton and, yes, Lisa Harris share, is simple: Chris Harris is ready to turn things around.

They said he’s ready to show that last season was a fluke and that a season like 2007 was more what people should expect.

Lisa talks to Chris every day, and she said she knows.

“He’s ready,” Lisa said. “I think he’s ready to make a strong comeback.”

— — Edited by Nick Gerik

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