Damien Harris rushed for 46 touchdowns last season for Madison Southern (Berea, Ky.).
Leading into the announcement of the American Family Insurance ALL-USA preseason football team later this month, we’re profiling some of the likely candidates for that team. Today’s candidate is Madison Southern (Berea, Ky.) senior running back Damien Harris.
Damien Harris wasn’t born when Bo Jackson last ran the ball for the Oakland Raiders, but the classic shot of Jackson, in football pads, with a baseball bat across his wide shoulders, adorns Harris’ Twitter wall.
“He loves the game,” Madison Southern coach Jon Clark said. “He understands the game pretty well. In the old days, a featured running back is what made a football team. Now, it’s the featured quarterback. But Damien has some of the ability of the featured running backs of old. He has watched a lot of film and knows Bo Jackson’s running style and Earl Campbell’s running style.”
At 5-11 and 210 pounds, Harris has the ability to overpower a lot of tacklers. With 4.5 speed, he can also run around them. Those abilities and his field vision are what sets him apart, Clark said.
“Obviously, you have great size and power with a unique combination of speed,” Clark said. “You’re going to find a back who is faster but they’re all 170 pounds. He has incredible vision. He finds creases I don’t even find until I see the film later.”
Harris has run for 5,257 yards and 90 touchdowns in high school career, numbers that are hard to ignore, even coming from Berea, population 14,000.
“It’s a complete package with him of size, speed, and vision,” said 247Sports national football analyst JC Shurburtt. “That’s what makes a good running back. My prediction now is he’s going to Ohio State. The most coveted back among the Big 10 programs is from the state of Kentucky. I guess that’s ironic with Kentucky now recruiting Ohio. The big boys are trying to take the No. 1 player from them, but Kentucky’s Mark Stoops has closed well.”
After running out of the power-I last season, Madison Southern will use the spread this season. That may mean fewer carries for Harris, but not necessarily fewer opportunities to cause damage.
“In college, you have a system you recruit players for,” Clark said. “In high school, you have to mold your system to our talent. His sophomore year, we were not that good, so we ran the triple option to be an equalizer. Last year, to use him better, we were a power-I team. This year, our quarterback is a lot better, so we’re going to the spread. Damien will be running a lot more inside-outside. We have a lot more weapons around him. He’s also a great receiver and in the past, we didn’t have the ability to use that, but now we do.”
Super stats: Last season, as a junior, he ran for 2,621 yards and 42 touchdowns.
Rankings: No. 1 2015 high school running back by Rivals, Scout and ESPN and No. 2 by 247Sports.
On film: At 5-11 and 210, he is capable of running over or past most defenders. Makes good choices on his cuts and follows his blockers well.
Undecided: He initially committed to Michigan in July of 2013 but backed out of that decision in January. Last week, he said that Alabama, Florida, Kentucky Ohio State and Texas A&M are in his final five.
Others’ take: “It’s a complete package with him: size; speed; and vision. A lot of times running back production is relative. Being from Kentucky, you might look at him with a bit of skepticism, but when he goes to combines, everything checks out. He runs a 4.4 or 4.5. You know his production is not a reflection simply of his competitive level.” – 247Sports recruiting analyst JC Shurburtt.