From the first day of practice last spring, the team felt the presence of the new coach.
“Things were run right, it was a business-type atmosphere and we were definitely held to a high standard—which we needed,” redshirt senior nose tackle Babatunde Oshinowo says about the earliest days on the field with Walt Harris, who was named head coach in December.
When players made mistakes, says senior cornerback T.J. Rushing, “you could tell by the way he marched up to the huddle at the end of practice—and by the look on his face.” There were consequences for errors, including “bear crawls” from one end of the field to the other on hands and knees.
But the varsity squad, which is coming off three losing seasons, loves Harris the Disciplinarian, Rushing adds. They know that as a kid he beat polio and went on to play defensive back at University of the Pacific. And when they look at the guy who took over a losing program at Pittsburgh and led the Panthers to six bowl games in eight seasons, the players see postseason play in their own future. “From Day One, Coach told us he’s a winner—and we’re all winners, or we wouldn’t be here,” Rushing says. “He’s a real confident coach.”
Harris will stick with the 3-4 zone blitz defense his predecessor, Buddy Teevens, launched last year. He likes the three linemen-four linebacker setup that keeps opponents guessing about who’s going to be the fourth rusher. As he masters the West Coast offense—a sophisticated, short passing game—Harris can walk down the hall to confer with the man who developed it, Bill Walsh: “I am his disciple.”
As it welcomes its third head coach in five years, the Cardinal returns 10 starters on offense, including two quarterbacks who will compete for the starting position: redshirt senior Trent Edwards and redshirt sophomore T.C. Ostrander. Veteran receivers include juniors Evan Moore and Mark Bradford and redshirt senior Justin McCullum. Redshirt senior running back J.R. Lemon, who led the team last year with 440 yards rushing and six touchdowns, will be a key player in the attack.
The defense lacks depth but is led by redshirt senior outside linebacker Jon Alston, who had 10 sacks last season. Senior end Julian Jenkins and Oshinowo anchor the line, and may get assistance from a nationally touted freshman class, including end Matt Kopa, outside linebacker Will Powers and tackle Ekom Udofia, brother of junior linebacker Udeme Udofia.
Harris comes to the Farm with a 63-68 record as a head coach and more than 30 years’ experience, including a 1992-94 stint as quarterbacks coach for the New York Jets. He will continue to coach quarterbacks on the Farm: “It keeps me close to the players, and just being head coach would be really boring for me.”
Harris also will serve as offensive coordinator and call plays from the sideline. “Basically the buck will stop with me,” he says. And there won’t be a lot of antics or screaming. “Most of the time I’m very calm on the sideline. You can’t be real emotional and make good decisions.”
But get him on the practice field, and Harris easily slips back into his collegiate cleats. The coach sometimes runs the ball himself, “just to show the guys, ‘This is what we want.’” He says it’s his job to come up with winning game plans, and the players’ responsibility to trust in them. “Being a good team takes discipline, especially in the fourth quarter,” Harris adds, mindful that five games were lost last season by a combined 22 points. “When you’re tired and beat up and worn out, you’ve got to keep doing what you’ve been coached to do.”
After opening at Navy, the Cardinal will face some mid-level teams on the road, and some of its toughest opponents at home. But on Harris’s clipboard, every game counts. “You can really make a mistake by going through your schedule and saying, ‘We can beat these guys, and try not to lose to those guys,’” he says. “I think you’ve got to come ready to play every game. We have to be as excited about playing [UC]-Davis as we are about USC.”
