During his first season in Lawrence, the KU football team was off to a 4-0 start and Harris, a 6-foot, 180-pound cornerback, had started at right corner in each of those four games.

The Jayhawks had a week off before the Sunflower Showdown against Kansas State, but instead of lounging around his apartment and taking advantage of the bye week, Harris returned to Bixby thirsting for football.

He spoke to the new group of Bixby High Spartans, some of whom he had played with in the past. He talked schemes with the coaching staff. And, in his head, during Bixby’s 31-19 victory over 10th-ranked Shawnee, Harris found himself contemplating every pass, every chance to support the run, every two-deep zone he saw on the field.

It always has been that way with Harris. From the day he walked up to Bixby High coach Pat McGrew as a ninth-grader claiming that he could “do anything (the coach) needed,” to the day he reached Mt. Oread with the belief that he was good enough to earn a starting spot with the Jayhawks, Harris has used his intelligence to further his football status.

Nick Krug

“Chris was not only an excellent athlete, but he was an excellent student as well,” said Glenda Summerlin, Bixby High’s assistant coordinator of the gifted program, who first met Harris in 2005 when a colleague noticed he was not being challenged in math class and suggested the school bump him up a level to Summerlin’s Algebra II class.

Gifted indeed

During his final two years of high school, Harris was named to the academic state champions team, awarded to teams with the highest collective grade-point average in the state. As a senior in 2006, he was a member of an exclusive group of Bixby High students honored by the city’s Optimist Club as the top students in the school.

Harris’ scholastic achievements were not limited to awards and honors. Summerlin said he was a model student in areas like discipline, attendance and attentiveness. He also frequently showed a great willingness to help others.

“You know how sometimes students learn better when other students go up to the board and try to teach them?” Summerlin said. “Chris was always willing to do that.”

One of just a few members of his family to attend college – mother, Lisa, attended Northeastern Oklahoma A&M and uncle Timmy Gibbs attended Tulsa University – Harris considers academics to be a top priority.

“My mom and my uncle have really been the ones who have stressed academics to me,” Harris said. “And I’m glad they did. Coach isn’t going to bring anybody on who’s not intelligent, who can’t grasp what you’re going to have to run when you get to college. My intelligence just helped me come in and learn the defense as fast as possible.”

Off to a fast start

Starting as a true freshman in the Big 12 is rare. Harris did it 10 times in 13 games last season, and he has started all four games as a sophomore this year.

Throughout his career, his KU teammates have noticed times when Harris made plays with his mind and not just his athleticism. That, they said, is something he crafted in practice.

“When we go one-on-one, we try to make it so it’s just me and him so we can work on different techniques and make each other better,” sophomore wide receiver Dezmon Briscoe said. “He’s smart. He’s real smart when it comes to press coverage and those things.”

McGrew discovered what Briscoe has learned when Harris was just a sophomore in high school. There were times, McGrew said, when Harris would change defenses on the field based on a read he made that others missed. And in the film room, where Harris spent a fair amount of time, it didn’t take long for the cornerback to form a defensive game plan in his head.

“It was instantaneous,” McGrew said. “He’d watch film one time and know immediately what adjustments we needed to make.”

Asked if Harris became this way because the Bixby High coaching staff demanded so much of its players and threw such a heavy defensive playbook at them, McGrew deferred all credit.

“A lot of it had to do with Chris Harris himself,” he said. “He was not only a great athlete, but he was a great field manager, too. He was a general out there. There were a lot of times where we listened to him about things we could do defensively or adjustments he thought we should make. I tell you what, I’d hire him as an assistant coach the second he graduates.”

An NFL future?

Harris has big plans for his football career. Before the start of the season his goals for 2008 included eight interceptions and a Big 12 North title. He has even bigger plans for his life.

McGrew believes that if Harris continues to play the way he has during his first 17 collegiate games, a future in the NFL awaits.

Harris said he would love that. But the social psychology major, who said science is his favorite subject, has plans for a career outside of football just in case. In the KU media guide, next to his lengthy list of academic achievements, sits the following phrase: “Would like to become a lawyer.”

There’s a lot of football left to be played for No. 16 before breaking up passes is replaced with passing the bar. But those who know him best expect Bixby’s new favorite son to excel in both areas.

“If I live to be 99, I’ll probably always remember Chris Harris,” Summerlin said. “Students like Chris are a joy to have. There’s no telling what he’ll do. I just know he’s going to be successful.”