Tag: damien harris

Former Bill Belichick draft pick boldly disagrees with fit as UNC head coach

Former Patriots RB Damien Harris comments on Bill Belichick’s potential fit as North Carolina head coach

Former New England Patriots running back Damien Harris shared a bold, yet fair, assessment of Bill Belichick’s fit as the possible next head coach for North Carolina.

Harris, who was drafted by the Patriots in the third round in 2019, prefaced his comments by showing the six-time Super Bowl-winning head coach a ton of respect. But he ultimately called Belichick a “control freak” who would have to adapt to the ever-changing environment as a college football coach.

“I mean this in the most respectful way possible. Bill is a control freak. Bill has to have absolute control,” Harris said on The Athletic’s “Until Saturday” podcast. “…When he was in New England, he was the head coach. He was essentially our GM. He wore a lot of hats. On college football, it doesn’t really work that way. Another thing I point at is at the end of Bill’s tenure in New England, I think the ultimate reason why the two sides parted ways was because Bill did not really evolve with the times of the NFL.

“And if he didn’t evolve at a position where he had been coaching for over 40 years, I mean, he takes a year or two off, and then you think that he’s going to be able to come to the college world where it’s nothing but survive and adapt every single day? …It just doesn’t really seem like it would be a perfect fit.”

Harris did note that he understood North Carolina’s position in the matter. It would be hard to turn down a coach with Belichick’s incredible resume.

The conversation of fit is fair to question considering Belichick has more of an old-school approach. Would that same coaching style translate to the collegiate level with young men fresh out of high school?

It’ll be a huge adjustment for all parties involved. With that said, there isn’t a coach more qualified for a job than Belichick. If he’s available and the financial part of the equation checks out, it’s hard to envision any school turning him down.

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Damien Harris explains why expanded College Football Playoff is bad for Notre Dame

Do you agree with this?

In losing to Northern Illinois, Notre Dame has forced everyone to reopen the conversations that were being had about them.

One angle that has to be looked at is how the loss pertains to the Irish’s current standing for the [autotag]College Football Playoff[/autotag].

By any Notre Dame season standard, a loss like this is an awful one. Under the old four-team playoff, this certainly would have disqualified the Irish from consideration.

But with the playoff now at 12 teams, that very issue has come back to the forefront. Damien Harris discussed why this is in the latest episode “Until Saturday”, a podcast hosted by The Athletic:

While Harris makes some good points, most college football fans seemed tired of too few teams getting the chance to play for a national championship. And for all we know, the Irish will steamroll over everyone else to the point where this loss will be irrelevant to the committee’s final decision. So let’s just see what happens from here.

Contact/Follow us @IrishWireND on X (formerly Twitter) and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Notre Dame news, notes and opinions.

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Former Alabama running back Damien Harris to join college football pregame show

The former Alabama running back recently retired from the NFL.

A former star running back with the Alabama Crimson Tide, Damien Harris will be part of a weekly pregame show with CBS Sports HQ throughout the 2024 college football season.

Harris, who recently announced his retirement from the NFL, was previously set to join the Crimson Tide Sports Network as a sideline analyst for the 2024 season, but will now reportedly join CBS Sports as an analyst.

Harris’ prior role as Crimson Tide Sports Network sideline analyst will now reportedly be filled by former Alabama defensive lineman Damion Square.

A former Alabama running back, Harris spent four seasons with the Crimson Tide from 2015-18, winning two national championships with the program. Over that span, Harris would amass a combined 3,070 rushing yards and 23 touchdowns over 56 games from 2015-18, while also adding 407 yards and two scores in the receiving game.

After Alabama, Harris was selected in the third round of the 2019 NFL draft by the New England Patriots, and went on to play five seasons in the league, a majority of which were with the Patriots, prior to retiring this past spring.

Across his 44 career games with the Patriots and Buffalo Bills, Harris had a combined 2,188 rushing yards and 21 touchdowns from 2019-23, along with catching 42 passes for 297 yards.

Ex-Patriots RB Damien Harris candidly blamed Bill Belichick’s mismanagement for Mac Jones’ failure with the team

Bill Belichick really screwed up the end of his Patriots tenure.

The last few years were rather painful for the New England Patriots. Former New England running back Damien Harris is putting much of the blame on legendary ex-coach Bill Belichick, especially regarding the foibles of former first-round bust Mac Jones.

During a recent episode of The Athletic Football Show, Harris discussed what went wrong during the late stages of the Patriots’ Belichick era. He didn’t mince his words, blaming Belichick, who amassed a questionable offensive staff after Jones’ rookie success in 2021. Hoo boy, that’s not necessarily a novel insight, but it remains wild to hear from someone like Harris who was actually there.

More from The Athletic Football Show:

“What happened in New England to Mac Jones was because of the fact you took away an offensive coordinator who coached him to be a Pro Bowler [Josh McDaniels] and almost coached us to winning our division with a rookie quarterback in his first year,” Harris started to explain.

“And then you take — whenever Josh McDaniels left [after the 2021 season] — Matt Patricia, who has coached defenses his entire life, and Joe Judge, who has been a special teams coach, coached receivers at some point. And then you just throw them in there and be like, ‘Hey, coach this kid up. He’s a first=round pick, but as long as you teach him what I say, everything will be fine,’ and [expletive] wasn’t fine.”

Well, that’s certainly a pointed criticism of Belichick’s mismanagement, and it’s hard to argue with. A young quarterback like Jones not only needs consistency with his coaches, but his coaches have to know what they’re talking about, too. That didn’t appear to be the case in New England.

With that said, some of this analysis probably absolves Jones too much. Considering how atrocious he looked in both 2022 and 2023, I’m not entirely convinced things would’ve turned out markedly better with a more experienced offensive staff. Sometimes, a bad quarterback is just a bad quarterback, no matter how you slice it.

Harris also seemed to partly echo these sentiments, particularly given Belichick’s successful precedent with the Patriots over two decades.

Via The Athletic Football Show:

“He [Belichick] needs full-on control. That’s just the kind of guy Bill Belichick is,” Harris said. “But at the same time, can you blame him? Because in the 20 years where he had full control, he had a lot of success. So you can’t blame him.”

The good thing for the Patriots is that all of this madness is over now.

Jerod Mayo is the head coach, Drake Maye is the quarterback, and none of what happened at the end of Belichick’s run in New England diminishes the tremendous success he enjoyed for years beforehand.

Ex-Patriot blames Bill Belichick for Mac Jones failing in New England

Former Patriot says Bill Belichick was “stuck in his ways”

There is enough blame to go around for the current state of the New England Patriots, but when it comes to the failed development of quarterback Mac Jones, former Patriots running back Damien Harris laid the blame at the feet of coach Bill Belichick.

Jones was a rookie Pro Bowler under previous Patriots offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels. However, once McDaniels left for the head coaching job with the Las Vegas Raiders, Jones and the entire offense went off a cliff.

Belichick never hired a suitable replacement. Instead, he simply chose to lean on longtime disciples Matt Patricia and Joe Judge.

In one of the biggest head-scratching moves of the Belichick era, Patricia was handed the reins as the new offensive play-caller, despite being a defensive coach. And Judge, who was a special teams coach, was suddenly morphed into the Patriots new quarterbacks coach.

“What happened to Mac Jones in New England was not because of Mac Jones,” said Harris, when appearing on “The Athletic Football Show.” “What happened in New England to Mac Jones was because of the fact you took away an offensive coordinator, who coached him to be a Pro-Bowler and almost coached us to winning our division with a rookie quarterback in his first year.

“And then whenever Josh McDaniels left, then you take Matt Patricia, who’s coached defense his entire life, Joe Judge, who’s been a special teams coach, coached receivers at some point, and then you just throw them in there and say, ‘Hey, coach this kid up. He’s a first round pick, but as long as you teach him what I say, everything is gonna be fine.’ And the [expletive] wasn’t fine.”

Jones was benched multiple times for Bailey Zappe at quarterback. The Patriots attempted to save face by hiring Bill O’Brien in 2023, but by that time, the damage had already been done.

The former first-round pick’s confidence had been shaken beyond recognition. It didn’t help matters that the offensive line was still in shambles, and the receiving corps was one of the worst in the league. Few quarterbacks, if any, could have been successful in the situation Jones faced in New England.

He finished his final year with the team with 2,120 passing yards, 10 touchdowns and 12 interceptions.

“Mac Jones is in Jacksonville. They’re on to Drake Maye. It’s like the breath of Mac Jones in New England—it came and went,” said Harris. “It shouldn’t have the way that it went, and the only reason that it did was because Bill Belichick, being stuck in his ways, was very much so, ‘As long as I am here. As long as I am, along with Robert Kraft, the top dog at this organization, no matter who, no matter where, what position, where they coach, whatever—we will have success.'”

The success never came for the Patriots. Quite the contrary, Belichick’s questionable decisions in the end created the path for his own exit from New England.

Patriots owner Robert Kraft and Belichick parted ways after 24 years together, following a 4-13 finish to the 2023 season. The team moved to hire Jerod Mayo as the new head coach and Eliot Wolf as the top personnel executive.

In a way, that ugly record helped the new regime by netting them the No. 3 overall pick of the 2024 NFL draft, where they selected quarterback Drake Maye.

A final gift from the man that led them to six Super Bowls.

Former Bills RB Damien Harris retires from NFL at 27

Former #Bills RB Damien Harris retires from NFL at 27:

Damien Harris was a free agent of the Buffalo Bills having played for the team in 2023.

He has officially left the Bills… but football in general as well.

Harris, 27, has died to retire from the NFL.

Harris made the announce via social media post on Instagram:

https://www.instagram.com/p/C49NCdzR2yx/?img_index=1

Harris played the first four seasons of his career with the New England Patriots prior to signing with the Bills last offseason. He was drafted out of Alabama in the third round of the 2019 NFL draft.

In his lone season in Buffalo, Harris had 23 carries for 94 yards and a rushing touchdown. However, Harris suffered a sprained neck during the Bills’ Week 6 win over the New York Giants.

Harris left the field in an ambulance and that went down as his final play in his NFL career.

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Former Bills and Patriots RB Damein Harris announces retirement from the NFL

Former Alabama RB Damien Harris issues statement announcing NFL retirement

It’s both a happy and sad day as former Alabama running back [autotag]Damien Harris[/autotag] has announced his retirement from the NFL after five seasons. Harris was drafted in the third round of the 2019 NFL draft (No. 87 overall) to the New England Patriots where he spent the first four years of his career before signing a one-year deal with the Buffalo Bills ahead of the 2023 season.

Granted they call it the Not For Long League, but five years is a good run for a back in the NFL. Harris started 34 of 44 career games and posted 2,188 career yards, 21 touchdowns and a career 4.6 yards per carry. He only appeared in one Playoff game with the Patriots back in 2021 where he had just nine carries for 30 yards.

During his time with Alabama though, he was a really special player and leader as he helped bring two national titles back to Tuscaloosa. Harris was never the only true feature back as he had to split time with Bo Scarbrough and Josh Jacobs over the years, but was always incredibly reliable when No. 34 was called. I would not be shocked to see Harris working for ESPN or something of that nature in the near future as he is a very strong and fun personality.

Contact/Follow us @RollTideWire on Twitter, and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Alabama news, notes and opinion. You can also follow Sam Murphy on Twitter @SamMurphy02.

Former Patriots RB Damien Harris announces retirement from NFL

Damien Harris announced he’s retiring from the NFL

After five NFL seasons, Damien Harris is officially retiring from football.

The former New England Patriots running back announced the news on Instagram on Monday night.

Harris wrote:

For the past 20 years, playing the game of football has been one of the greatest privileges in my life. Getting to represent the name on the back of my jersey on and off the field, getting to compete at the highest level with and against the best competitors while winning championships, and being coached by the two greatest head coaches of all time in Nick Saban and Bill Belichick are all just a small part of what God has done in my life with the game of football.

https://www.instagram.com/p/C49NCdzR2yx/?img_index=1

Harris won two national titles with the Alabama Crimson Tide and was named to the Second-Team All-SEC in 2018. He was taken with the 87th pick in the third round of the 2019 NFL draft by the Patriots.

After spending his first four seasons in New England, Harris joined the AFC East rival Buffalo Bills in 2023. He played in only six games before a nasty neck injury cut his season short.

At only 27 years old, Harris’ decision to walk away is likely him prioritizing his own health over the game of football. What a career it’s been for a player that competed under Saban and Belichick, along with being present for Tom Brady’s final year in New England.

Harris finished his NFL career with 472 rushes for 2,188 yards and 21 touchdowns. Yet, stats pale in comparison to the impact he left on former teammates, coaches and fans

It wasn’t a long NFL career, but it was a substantial one.

Ranking 2024’s top 12 free-agent running backs

Top 12 running backs of the 2024 offseason

Given what they gave Miles Sanders last year, the Carolina Panthers probably won’t be sifting through the open market for a big-name running back this spring.

But just in case you were curious, here are the top 12 free-agent rushers for the offseason:

5 Bills free agents who could follow Ken Dorsey to Browns

Could any of Dorsey’s former players in Buffalo join him in Cleveland?

Could Damien Harris or Gabe Davis follow their old offensive coordinator Ken Dorsey to the Cleveland Browns in free agency?

The Browns have massive needs at both wide receiver and running back. Outside of Amari Cooper and glimpses from Elijah Moore, Cleveland needs to overhaul the backend of that room. The running back room is no different as none of Jerome Ford, Kareem Hunt, nor Pierre Strong stepped up to the challenge after the season-ending injury to Nick Chubb.

While the 2024 NFL draft is always a massive possibility to improve both rooms, free agency is another (more expensive) pathway toward improving the roster. Could the Browns and new offensive coordinator Dorsey look to pull any of his former players away from Buffalo when the new league year starts?

Here are five Buffalo offensive players who will be free agents at positions of need the Browns could look to reunite with Dorsey in free agency.