Great Falls native Reed Harris is preparing for his sophomore season with Boston College after a strong showing in his first year on the football field. Last season, Harris appeared in all 13 games, starting 11 of them, and recorded 486 receiving yards and four touchdowns. He averaged 28.6 yards per reception.
Harris, who transitioned from playing quarterback at Great Falls High to wide receiver at Boston College, aims to continue improving as he enters another season in the Atlantic Coast Conference. “I think it’s just going to be, how bad do I want it? (…) How bad do I want to put in the effort to attack every practice and every game? I just need to be able to take that next step, and it starts right now. I have to put in the work every single day,” said Harris.
His efforts were highlighted last year by a notable 28-yard touchdown catch against Pitt during a home victory on Nov. 30. Other significant plays included touchdown receptions of 72, 67 and 18 yards among his 17 catches last season. Hall of Fame wide receiver and television analyst Randy Moss acknowledged Harris as part of his “You Got Mossed” segment featuring impressive plays.
Boston College coach Bill O’Brien praised Harris’ development over the past year: “Reed Harris is one of the most improved players on our team. He’s come a long way, made a lot of big plays. Very proud of him. He’s got a great future. He’s been awesome for us.”
Harris had previously shown promise as a pass-catcher during his senior high school season when he tallied 553 receiving yards and three touchdowns after switching from quarterback—where he threw for more than 1,500 yards and scored twelve times the previous year.
Initially adjusting to limited experience at receiver during his first year at Boston College, Harris appeared in four games while redshirting under NCAA rules. “It was hard at first (…) At that time there were a bunch of older guys that I could just watch and learn from, and so freshman year was really an experimental year for me (…). And then going into (last) year, I had an idea of what I wanted to do. I knew I wanted to play receiver and at that point it was just about working on my footwork, working on my hands, trying to catch the ball better, get bigger, faster, stronger (…). But now that I’ve got three summers under my belt here, I feel like going into this season I’m fully comfortable and everything’s going smooth. I’m confident in my spot on the depth chart, everything like that,” said Harris.
Born in Minnesota but raised primarily on his family’s farm near Conrad before relocating to Great Falls for high school athletics, Harris described adapting from rural Montana life to urban Boston: “Coming here as a freshman in college and seeing skyscrapers and thousands of people, it was a completely different world, trying to adapt (…) Everybody’s a little more worried about themselves, people are trying get from place to place faster. But now it’s just like I’m back home. I can call Boston home.”
Looking forward to Boston College’s season opener against Fordham following last year’s Pinstripe Bowl appearance by the Eagles (7-6 record), Harris emphasized his commitment: “I’m not scared to stick my nose in and go run block when I need to (…), but at the same time you have to be able to make plays down the field whether its in the short game or long game (…) I’ll go dig out a safety any day,but for me its just being able to complete those deep balls, stay consistent,having great hands and just produce for the offense.”
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