Sunday Chat is a weekly feature appearing in The Blade’s print and digital platforms each Sunday.
Josh Harris electrified Bowling Green State University fans with his play on the football field more than two decades ago.
The BGSU hall of famer and dual-threat quarterback is certainly grateful for what he was able to accomplish individually and from a team aspect from 2000 to 2003, and he’s been enjoying the product the Falcons have been putting on the field lately.
Harris, one of the best signal callers to ever come through BGSU, has gotten to see his son, Jacob, appear in nearly every game this season for the Falcons. The elder Harris is hoping for big things down the road for his son, a 6-foot-4, 245-pound redshirt freshman tight end who has a pair of catches for five yards this season.
When Harris was sporting the orange and brown jerseys more than 20 years ago, the Falcons were flying high. Harris, a 2016 BGSU hall of fame inductee, led the Falcons to a 20-6 record in his two full seasons as a starter; the Falcons went 6-1 against BCS schools, including a 28-24 victory over Northwestern in the 2003 Motor City Bowl in which Harris was named MVP in his final collegiate game.
Harris’ name is scattered all over the BGSU record books. His 43 career rushing touchdowns are still a school record, and his 55 career passing touchdowns rank fifth.
He finished his BGSU career with 7,503 passing yards and 2,473 rushing yards (first in program history for a quarterback) before being selected by the Baltimore Ravens in the sixth round of the 2004 NFL draft. The Westerville, Ohio, native also spent time with the Cleveland Browns and New York Giants.
The Blade caught up with Harris to talk about BGSU and college football.
The Blade: How exciting has it been seeing Jacob out on the field and contributing for BGSU?
Harris: “It’s been a good time. He’s worked his butt off to put himself in a position to be able to contribute. Of course, we love this game. We have a ton of love and respect for the university, so it’s great to see him get a chance to go out there and do what he loves.”
The Blade: Obviously there’s a lot of athleticism and talent in your family between you and your wife, Tami (Ohio State University track and field hall of famer). With Jacob, is there a characteristic that you see in him that you had during your playing days?
Harris: “He’s highly competitive. I don’t know if he’s as competitive as I was because I was pretty competitive. But he’s probably more athletic than I was, especially at his size. I think that he’s kind of his own guy. He’s a highly skilled player. He’s not even in his athletic peak yet. He probably has another 12 months before he really even hits his athletic peak, if you can believe that or not. But I think maybe six months, nine months, maybe 12 months, he’s going to be doing pretty good.”
The Blade: BGSU’s football program has made a lot of strides these last few years after some tough seasons. Any thoughts on the current state of the program and the direction that it’s heading?
Harris: “It’s interesting because coach [Scot] Loeffler told us it was going to be like this. He laid out the plan and he’s executed it almost exactly how he said. It’s something that we all had to survive through because he rebuilt the program. He rebuilt the program in a new era of college football, and they’ve done it without hammering the portal. Of course, they have some portal guys, some guys that have been major contributors. But if you look at guys that are on the team with major roles right now, they were also recruited to Bowling Green as high schoolers. So he’s rebuilt the program in a healthy way, especially if he can continue to keep guys home. I’m proud of where the program is at. They’re perfectly positioned to compete for a MAC championship this year. They’ve got to win the right games, and hopefully, they’re able to make enough plays on the right evenings to do that. We’re still working on it. We play great against good teams, and we don’t play as great when we’re not playing against a team with as much talent. So I think that may be the final piece to really kind of solidify this team as not just a contender, but someone who’s predicted to actually win the MAC.”
The Blade: Looking back at your Bowling Green career, to have all the individual and team success that you had, is there anything that stands out the most to you from your time in northwest Ohio?
Harris: “My first year was not great, but we had three really, really good seasons. I appreciate the university for the opportunity, appreciate the coaching staffs for the opportunity and for the time investment and energy investment. I appreciate my teammates because we just had a bunch of guys that just did their job. That made us super competitive. We’ve got highly competitive guys that were lunch pail kind of guys. They just did their job. So we played a great brand of football, a brand of football that is relatable in any era, if you ask me. You don’t really understand how amazing it was what we were doing until now. From a numbers standpoint, we went 6-1 against BCS schools. That’s unheard of for Mid-American Conference teams. So I just really appreciate everything and the opportunity we had to play a game we love.”
The Blade: Obviously, college football has changed so drastically recently with NIL and how active the transfer portal is. Have you ever thought about what it would have been like if you played in this era and how you would’ve approached it?
Harris: “I haven’t thought much about it. What I do know is, I knew where I was going. I knew I was going to the NFL. You’ve got some guys that are chasing bags of money in college, and it’s not always best. There’s not enough data for me to say what I would’ve done or how I would’ve played it out, but I know that I really enjoyed my teammates. I’m a loyal guy, so I don’t know that I would have left. Certainly not for a bag of money, but if there’s a chance that I could have maybe left if there was going to be a situation that put me in a better position for my future employer, which in my brain, from the day I walked onto campus was the NFL. You want to position yourself best for that opportunity at the next level, not necessarily position yourself best to have a great four to six year college experience. That’s kind of my opinion on it. I do love the portal because it is a game changer for some people, and it’s a huge distraction for other people. With everything, you take the good with the bad. … You’ve got to get the information and make the best decision you can possible.”
First Published November 3, 2024, 2:00 p.m.
