Najee Harris isn’t one to hold back.
Easily among the most outspoken, unvarnished and provocative Alabama football players of the Nick Saban era, the current Pittsburgh Steelers running back was in prime form last week in Birmingham.
Before playing in the celebrity softball game, which took place the day before the Cardinals and Giants played in Rickwood Field, Harris confessed he never played baseball growing up because “it was too soft for me.”
That’s just a taste of the Harris we profiled in AL.com’s Road to the Pros series filmed before the 2021 NFL draft. In it, he talked at length about his relationship with Nick Saban and how things weren’t always smooth.
More than three years after his last game in crimson and a few months after Saban’s retirement, Harris reflected on that decision.
“I’m honest, like he made a comment to me, he made a comment before about it,” Harris said without elaborating. “Of course, it’s surprising but everybody has their time and nothing lasts forever. I’m happy that he could be able to walk away. Some people, you’d be surprised, it might be their time, but it’s too hard to walk away and they end up doing more stuff to affect them.
“It takes a, it takes a grown man, a lot of responsibility to say, you know, this is not what I want to do no more. Something that you love, something that you built, something that you found success in something that, you know, you are going to be the greatest coach of all time in college football and then you chose to walk away.”
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Harris also spoke about the importance of his family’s relationship with Saban’s wife, Terry Saban.
“Miss Terry means a lot to me too,” Harris said. “She helped me, she helped my mom out when she was in the hospital, her giving her flowers. That means a lot to me. So for Miss Terry to do that and for Saban to retire, man, I I hope they the best.
“I’m still gonna, whatever events they have, I’m gonna try to go to it, show my support to them. But, I never forget that, you know, what, what they taught me and what they did for me.”
That led to a question about what comes next for Alabama, its new coach Kalen DeBoer and all of the moves that occurred in the transitional phase in the Crimson Tide coaching suite.
So, what kind of message does Harris have for DeBoer?
“I’m pretty sure he knows that he has really, really big shoes to fill,” Harris said. “So, you know for me coming from where I’m at, there’s nothing really much I can tell him that he don’t already know or don’t already see.”
But …
There’s probably going to be a learning curve when navigating the adversity when it inevitably comes.
“You know, with him losing a game it’s gonna mean a lot,” Harris said. “One game is gonna mean a lot, you know what I mean? Even him winning close games is gonna mean a lot but, just, he’s got to keep his chin up. I mean, always, always know what you’re there for, what the mission is, what they got you for, what you are.”
Harris is familiar with DeBoer’s credentials and the fact his Washington Huskies played Michigan in last season’s national title game.
“He’s a winning coach,” Harris said. “You can’t take that from him.”
But …
“Him not having no SEC experience, you could say something like that,” Harris said. “But everybody has to elevate, everybody wants to do something more. Saban was the epitome. You know what I mean? He’s got everything, he won everything.
“Now it’s time for a new face to come in there and, and hold that together to hold that standard and that’s what you want to see. You know, there’s gonna be a lot of criticism and a lot of stuff but you just keep your head high.”
Though some of the turmoil in his Alabama career (2017-2020), Harris stuck it out. He’s one of the first-round picks who had a four-year career in Tuscaloosa.
A couple potential first-night selections exited in the wake of Saban’s retirement.
What does Harris have to say to them?
“And for the guys who are transferring, I don’t really have anything to say,” Harris said. “You have to get in where you fit in. For some people, it’s not there. Some people have success there and some people have success somewhere other than Alabama. I don’t have anything bad to say them other than good luck.”
Michael Casagrande is a reporter for the Alabama Media Group. Follow him on Twitter @ByCasagrande or on Facebook.
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