Waiting to bust it out

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This article was published 05/07/2016 (3361 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Upon meeting Andrew Harris prior to the B.C. Lions 2008 training camp, Jacques Chapdelaine asked himself the same question he does whenever he evaluates potential talent: can he perform in the clutch?

Chapdelaine, the Lions’ receivers coach at the time, knew Harris, then in his early 20s and at 5-11 and 200 pounds, was big enough and possessed the kind of speed to play at the professional level. What he wanted to know was whether he could shine when the lights were brightest.

“Everyone can see the measurables,” Chapdelaine, now the receivers’ coach for the Montreal Alouettes, said in a phone interview. “To be able to perform under pressure, to have the confidence to know that you’re going to be called upon to be that guy, that’s a skill that really cannot be coached. Andrew showed he could be that guy.”

Harris would spend the next eight seasons with B.C. He started on the practice roster, then with special teams, while also playing receiver. He’d eventually be named the team’s starting running back midway through the 2011 season, showing off his versatility en route to becoming one of the CFL’s top running backs.

With the Lions, Harris was explosive on the ground. He caught balls over the middle for big gains. He knew when to pick up the blitz and when to shed his defender for a quick outlet pass.

By the time he left B.C., signing as a free-agent with his hometown Winnipeg Blue Bombers in February, Harris had racked up 4,259 yards on the ground and 2,639 through the air.

At 29, Harris is still considered one of the premier backs in the league. Last season, he finished second in rushing with 1,039 yards but it’s his ability to catch the ball out of the backfield that is just as, if not more, appealing for a Bombers team looking to keep quarterback Drew Willy on his feet. He finished 2015 with 484 receiving yards. Three times he’s finished with more than 500 yards, including in 2012 when he had a career-best 718.

“I take pride in being that kind of versatile back,” Harris said earlier this week prior to Winnipeg’s Week 3 match against the Tiger-Cats in Hamilton. “Ultimately I’m a running back and having a run game is important, but so, too, is having a receiving running back and one that can block is important, as well.”

It’s still too early to determine where Harris best fits into the Bombers’ offence. In the Bombers loss to Calgary last week, Harris touched the ball 17 times — eight carries for 13 yards and nine receptions for 87. In the Week 1 against Montreal, it was Harris’ ground game that shined brightest, as he rumbled for 80 yards on 13 carries while adding 40 yards in the air.

“Andrew just has to understand that touches will come to him,” said Paul LaPolice, the Bombers’ offensive co-ordinator.

LaPolice has more than 20 years of coaching experience, spending the better part of the last 15 years in the CFL. He said he hasn’t seen many players like Harris, his best comparison being to that of running back Wes Cates, who he won a Grey Cup with in Saskatchewan.

“One thing that I appreciate about Andrew besides his abilities is he’s great in the meeting rooms,” said LaPolice. “He is great at blitz pickups, he’s great at understanding protections and then when he touches the ball in his hand he can make people miss. And he also has the ability to catch.”

Harris said catching the ball has always come naturally. But, he added, it wasn’t until he was able to better refine those skills, through practice, did it really begin to pay off on the field.

‘One thing that I appreciate about Andrew besides his abilities is he’s great in the meeting rooms. He is great at blitz pickups, he’s great at understanding protections and then when he touches the ball in his hand he can make people miss. And he also has the ability to catch’– offensive co-ordinator Paul LaPolice

Beginning with Chapdelaine, Harris would spend hours doing a series of what he called distraction drills.

His favourite included one where Harris would put his knees on a medicine ball, often with one eye closed or a hand in his face, one after one he’d be fired a ball, sometimes hundreds. The drills, said Harris, helped with his hand position and timing.

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With the Bombers, Harris works with Avon Cobourne, who was also a versatile back in the CFL (winning two Grey Cups with Montreal in 2008 and 2009). Together, they focus on those same little things, while also running routes and blocking.

“You really need to understand how the ball is coming into you, when to use your body when not to use your body, when to attack it at the highest point,” said Harris.

“There’s a bunch of different techniques and things you can do. It’s not just as easy as catching the football and playing big in games like people think.”

jeff.hamilton@freepress.mb.ca

twitter: @jeffkhamilton

Jeff Hamilton
Multimedia producer

Jeff Hamilton is a sports and investigative reporter. Jeff joined the Free Press newsroom in April 2015, and has been covering the local sports scene since graduating from Carleton University’s journalism program in 2012. Read more about Jeff.

Every piece of reporting Jeff produces is reviewed by an editing team before it is posted online or published in print — part of the Free Press‘s tradition, since 1872, of producing reliable independent journalism. Read more about Free Press’s history and mandate, and learn how our newsroom operates.