Harris, Malzahn share passions for FCA, football
HOT SPRINGS VILLAGE — From the late, legendary Dallas Cowboys coach Tom Landry to nationally known Arkansas State coach Gus Malzahn, the Cliff Harris Golf Classic has grown into a major fundraiser for Fellowship of Christian Athletes. And one man has been around to see them all.
Harris, a six- time Pro Bowl and five- time All- Pro safety with the Cowboys during the 1970s, was on hand Saturday for the four- man scramble at Magellan Golf Course. The classic culminated a weekend of ceremonies that included a banquet Friday keynoted by Malzahn at Hot Springs Convention Center.
“I didn’t realize until last night, when I got choked up, the significance of it,” Harris said. “This ... tournament was really initiated by Tom Landry, my coach, and to see the size that it has grown to today and to see what the city of Hot Springs has done to support the FCA has just been incredible.
“It was overwhelming to me to see the enormous crowd. I think we had close to 700 people there, and having Gus Malzahn there at the same time with the same philosophy as coach Landry did about winning, he’s a winner no doubt but he also wants to influence young people’s lives in the right way.”
Harris and Malzahn share similar passions toward FCA and football. Malzahn, the 2010 Broyles Award winner as of-
fensive coordinator at national champion Auburn before taking over as Red Wolves head coach last fall, said he was excited to spend time with Harris, a boyhood idol inducted into the Cowboys Ring of Honor in 2004.
“It’s a pretty big deal for me,” Malzahn said. “Growing up a big Dallas Cowboys fan and getting a chance to hang out with him, it’s been a lot of fun.”
Harris has a second golf tournament in his name, one in the Dallas- Fort Worth area supporting Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation. Harris said the one benefiting FCA holds a special place in his heart because he grew up in Hot Springs.
“To have coach Landry start this golf tournament, it’s an honor for me because it’s in my hometown,” Harris said. “I grew up in Hot Springs and moved ( to Des Arc) my senior year, but this is my hometown. To have him here and have him start that, that was a blessing from God. For me to come back up here and renew old acquaintances and give back to some place where my heart is is something that is very important to me.”
Harris realizes Malzahn’s significance, a high- profile coach with plenty of success in the Arkansas high- school ranks taking over a program that went 10- 3 last season. Hugh Freeze, now the head man at Ole Miss, led the most successful season the Red Wolves have experienced since moving to Division I’s Football Bowl Subdivision in 1992.
“It’s just incredible, and one of the things Gus is talking about is recruiting in the state of Ar- kansas,” Harris said. “The state, from the season that we had up at the University of Arkansas, I don’t think we’ve ever seen where both of the major schools have been so successful.”
A Ouachita Baptist product who went undrafted, Harris remains a prominent figure in Arkansas college football. He said he’s in favor of OBU and almost all of the state’s NCAA Division II schools forming the Great American Conference with three schools from Oklahoma.
“I’m really happy that Ouachita has created a new conference that is more like the old ( Arkansas Intercollegiate Conference),” Harris said. “I was really happy it’s more localized because it’s going to mean better rivalry for Ouachita and all of the schools that were a part of the old AIC. I’m so pleased to see this new Great American Conference. I think it’s going to revive competition here.”
And with Fayetteville his birthplace and son Matt playing safety for the Razorbacks from 2005- 09, Harris remains connected to the University of Arkansas. He said he’s confident the team will be able to overcome the tumultuous times that surrounded Bobby Petrino’s firing earlier this month.
“I think it will be a transitional time, a transitional year, but they’ve got a lot of great players coming back, and I’m looking for a recovery,” Harris said. “It will be difficult. I don’t know the new coach, John L. Smith ... but I know they’re making a good choice. They thought through that.
“It’s a difficult thing and I hate to see that for the univer- sity, but that’s the way life is. You have difficult times and you overcome them. As much support as given to the University of Arkansas in this state, they’re going to do well.”
And as long as FCA continues to guide youth through difficult times, Harris will continue to support the program, he said.