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Coming from an NFL pedigree is always a bonus, and it seems to instill a level of seriousness in high school-aged prospects.
Such is the case for 2022 St. Louis (MO) Lutheran of St. Charles County four-star running back Arlen Harris Jr.
Harris’ father, Arlen Sr., attended Virginia and Hofstra before playing with the St. Louis Rams and Detroit Lions. Now he’s coaching high school football in Missouri. Having grown up a Michigan fan, among other schools, it’s been somewhat surreal for the younger Harris to be in the position to be courted by the Wolverines.
“Michigan has always been one of my dad’s dream schools as a kid. It kinda comes from the bloodline,” Harris told WolverinesWire. “You could say it’s a fun experience me going through this process, the same process he went through and the different schools he liked when he was younger. Just seeing how they recruit me if they are – just stuff like that.”
And Michigan has been in the thick of Harris’ recruitment, along with Stanford, Iowa, Missouri and Penn State.
When Sept. 1 rolled around and college coaches were able to start initiating contact, Harris didn’t know what to expect. But if there was something of a calming presence, it was getting to hear from Jim and Jay Harbaugh.
“I was a little nervous just going into it. Just a different atmosphere,” Harris said. “I could say for some schools, it wasn’t that different. Especially for Michigan. Michigan was a big one for me. They explained from the beginning of the recruitment of me they’re not gonna be a school that falls through the lines and is mediocre about how they feel about me. They’re going to follow all the way through and they’re gonna keep that going. So that’s one thing that I greatly appreciate.
“Like I said, I was a little nervous. But everything went great. I was glad that I got to talk to Coach Jim Harbaugh. That was big for me. I could probably say there was a couple other big ones, but that was good.”
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On Tuesday, the messages Harris received from the Harbaughs was via text, but when he got his offer back in April 2020, he was invited to FaceTime with the father-son coaching duo — which he had to initiate, of course, given NCAA rules — which indicated the seriousness of Michigan’s pursuit of him.
Since, he’s developed a strong relationship with running backs coach Jay Harbaugh, who’s already taken something of a mentor role in Harris’ life.
“It’s amazing – I love Coach Jay,” Harris said. “He’s a realist to me. It’s amazing to be able to talk to him and just learn from him. I’ve had different opportunities to see his teachings. We’ve been able to FaceTime, we’ve recently been texting. On Snapchat, he’ll send me different clips of running backs doing different things, explaining what they’re doing, what their assignment is. What they could do better, what they could do right – just stuff like that.
“I have a really strong connection with Coach Harbaugh. He’s definitely one of my favorites.”
The best part of the relationship is that Harbaugh is already making Harris a better player.
Those clips mixed with the remote coaching is already making an impact for Harris — who avidly wants to improve his game, not one to rest on his laurels.
In 2019, Harris carried the ball 168 times, rushing for 1,763 yards and 32 touchdowns. But, he realizes that it’s just the tip of the iceberg for him, given that he has so much room to improve.
“I can implement that a lot,” Harris said of Harbaugh’s tips. “I’m a big film watcher. I could say I’m pretty critical of my mistakes and things I do right when I watch film. The fact that he could show me different angles to look at different things and open my mind up to a whole different world is amazing. And I could definitely use that on the field all the time. If I get in those situations, get back to what he’s showing me and teaching me and I could implement that onto the field.”
Future plans
Harris hopes that he’ll be able to narrow down his college choices and be able to come to a decision after his junior season concludes or early into 2021.
Rated a four-star and the No. 156 player in the country, according to 247Sports, Harris also has offers from Florida, LSU, Kentucky, Michigan State and Nebraska.
But what’s important to him about finding a school at the next level? For one thing, Harris doesn’t want to find somewhere he can just coast on or off the field.
And his description of hopeful destination matches up nicely with what we hear future Michigan commitments saying.
“I would say a big thing for me is being challenged on and off the field,” Harris told WolverinesWire. “Michigan definitely brings that to the table. That’s why they’re a top school for me. I want to be able to work just as hard on the field and do that off. Just a balanced challenge for me. Obviously, I want to be at a place that feels like home and makes me feel wanted and not just a part of a program, a business or a team – but a family. I think those are some of the things I desire in a college team.”
Of course, all running backs are different. You can even see that on the current Michigan team with the variety of runners.
So what type of back is Harris — or, more importantly, what does he aspire to be?
“I’d definitely say I’m more of a versatile back – I like to say ‘complete back,’ that’s one of my main goals I try to achieve is being complete. Us running backs, we can’t get by having one main strength, so I try to implement that into my performance. I gotta be fast, I gotta be strong, I’ve gotta be able to block, I’ve gotta be smart, I’ve gotta be able to catch and all those things. And I just try to perfect it out on the field.
“One of the backs I can relate to is maybe Saquon Barkley, I would say probably a little bit of LeVeon Bell – his patience is one of the things that I like to appreciate.”
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