Inside: Ex-Antioch HS star RB has been patient as ’Bama backup
Ex-Antioch High star RB has been patient in backup role with Alabama
SAN JOSE >> To anyone who followed the prep career of Antioch High running back Najee Harris, it was never a question of if but when.
When a player who ran for nearly 8,000 yards in high school would scamper into the open field on national television. When one of the greatest high school talents in Bay Area history would seize the national spotlight. When Harris would develop into the next marquee tailback at Alabama.
When No. 1 Alabama meets No. 2 Clemson in the College Football Playoff national championship game Monday at Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara, Harris will be at the ready for the Crimson Tide. He just won’t be the lead actor, as everyone back home — including Harris — envisioned.
“I was homesick my whole freshman year,” Harris said. “I’m still a little homesick to be honest with you.”
The sophomore running back entered Alabama as the No. 1 recruit in the Class of 2017, but spent most of his freshman year on the sidelines. Harris erupted for 64 yards on six carries in a comeback win over Georgia in last year’s National
Championship game, but his freshman season didn’t follow a Hollywood script.
In fact, the adjustment from being the Bay Area’s premier prep star to a thirdstring running back was as difficult as moving from Northern California to Tuscaloosa, Alabama.
“I’m a West Coast dude, so we ain’t got that much humidity, I mean none really,” Harris said. “That was tough over there my first year. I was passing out — well not passing out but I was on the ground, man.”
Harris was healthy but homesick. Ready to play but relegated to a supporting role.
Harris’ mother, Tianna Hicks, decided she would move to wherever Harris enrolled in school before he even made his college decision. He says having her close by in Birmingham wasn’t necessary, but Harris knows how much it’s
helped.
“I tell her, you don’t have to be down here with me, I’m grown enough to be on
my own,” Harris said. “She wants to be close to me, but it helps a lot. It’s a place I can go when I’m tired and
everything. It helps a lot when she’s there.”
When Alabama’s offense takes the field for the first
time Monday night, a Harris will line up in the backfield. It won’t be Najee, but instead Damien Harris,
the Crimson Tide’s lead back who has amassed 819 yards this season. Najee’s 7.5 yards per carry average actually bests Damien’s 5.9 mark, but head coach Nick Saban insists on rotating his tailbacks to reduce wear and tear.
“Najee has played really, really well for us all year long,” Saban said. “He’s a very talented guy. He’s a hard worker. And I always like to have — we always like to have two or three guys at that position that can play. I think it keeps everybody fresh.”
Harris says he loves representing the Bay Area down in Alabama, but he admits it’s been a challenge to wait his turn. If Saban rewards Harris with another chance to shine in this year’s title game, it won’t surprise the Antioch product if he thrives in the moment, just as he did a year ago.
“I know what I can do when I get in the game,” Harris said.
Those who followed Harris during his prep days haven’t forgotten, either.