Rahjai Harris helping steer the Pirate ship as he returns to form after knee surgery
Harris suffered season ending injury week five last fall
GREENVILLE, N.C. (WITN) - ECU football is a little over a week away from the start of the season. The heart of the team is different this year, but players and coaches agree, the beat starts with Rahjai Harris. After missing much of last season number 47 is feeling like himself again.
“Once I started dialing back in to football, I really just stopped stressing and let God work,” says ECU junior running back Rahjai Harris.
Junior running back Rahjai Harris went down week five last season at South Florida with a knee injury that required surgery.
“At first it was kind of like dang, what am I going to do,” says Harris, “I had to really find myself again outside of football.”
The mental side of not being able to play, and seeing his teammates win the Birmingham Bowl, has been converted to fuel now.
“Rahjai Harris looks as good as he has ever looked,” says ECU head coach Mike Houston.
“The best feeling ever honestly. The first day of camp I went out there and I wasn’t even thinking of my knee. I wasn’t thinking about nothing but just ball,” says Harris, “The team been behind me, the coaches been behind me.”
As Coach Houston has said, players lead their crew. Harris has grabbed the wheel of the Pirate ship with ‘No Quarter’ flags waving.
“He is a leader on this team and in this program,” says Houston, “What he says carries a lot of weight.”
“It is to the point now I done did a lot here, I’ve been in a lot of close games, I did what I had to do,” says Harris, “So, now I feel like I am that role model for the younger guys and for the older guys.”
Leading the team, and a room full of Pirates’ running backs who will be expected to carry a heavy load of the offense this season.
“I’m glad we got good depth there,” says ECU Offensive Coordinator Donnie Kirkpatrick, “We don’t want to overdo Rahjai early in the year. We are not going to try to win the conference championship at Michigan.”
“Javious Bond man, I know you been hearing him, but he’s going to be special and I mean this year. This year, next year, the year after that man he’s special. He’s a special dude on the field but he also special off the field,” says Harris, “Got Marlon Gunn, Kamarro, Gerald Green guys like that. We got a lot of weapons, we got a lot of people that is going to play in that backfield this year that’s going to help us.”
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