Harris embracing bigger role as leader, contributor for Georgia Tech
Kevin Harris is going into his fourth season with Georgia Tech, and after becoming a steady contributor as a junior in 2023, he appears ready to make an even bigger jump for his senior campaign in 2024.
But don’t take our word for it. Just listen to what Georgia Tech defensive end/outside linebackers coach Kyle Pope, who previously recruited Harris while on staff at Alabama, had to say about what he’s seen from Harris in the past several months since Pope came to take the job with the Jackets.
“Man, Kevin is doing great,” said Pope. “He's stepped up. The biggest thing for him is to step up and show up every day, and he's taken on that challenge. It's been great. He's another guy that has brought leadership to the room, and he's a guy that I'm very, very excited about. He's showing us some things on the field that is going to help us to be able to go able to go out and perform this season."
Harris played in all 13 games last season as a rotational player and finished 27 total tackles, two tackles-for-loss and one sack. That production was a big step up from his limited snaps in both 2021 and 2022, and Harris said he has his sights set on carving an even bigger role on the field and off the field with the Jackets in 2024.
"My goal is to be the best player I can for this team and to lead us to a championship. I also want to win the ACC. I want to have plenty of sacks, TFLs, everything that that encompasses,” said Harris. “For goals, one of the goals is the NFL. I also want to see more guys get drafted out of Georgia Tech. I think we have too much talent here for guys not to be getting drafted and getting more looks. And I think that starts with winning. It starts up front, and I think that feeds all throughout the building when we're doing what we need to do up front. So that's one of my goals to make sure we're going down the right path. We've seen it done, how to get the stuff done. We've just got to do it. We've got to find a way to make this thing get and up and go. That's the goal."
Harris said he believes this year’s defensive line group is the best he’s been a part of since coming to Georgia Tech and that they set the tone for the rest of the team with the way they go about their business. He added that Pope’s coaching style and personality has fit in perfectly since joining the staff.
“(The depth), it's definitely going to open up a lot of things. This is the best D-line that we've had,” said Harris. “I think that just goes to show how hard these guys have been working. The work that we've put in on the field, off the field, just trying to be a better team, a better foundation for the rest of our team. We take it on ourselves, the D-line, just the intensity of practice and all that stuff starts with us up front. I think we've got to really lean back into that and just continue to do that so we can keep on climbing and being ready for adversity and showing the right characteristics of a mean defensive line. I think that's who we are.
“Coach Pope, he's still the same guy every day. He's hard on us, and I enjoy the energy that he brings to the room. And I feel like that drives us every day. We drive ourselves, but Coach Pope, we see him down, we know we can get on him and vice-versa. It's a two-way street. We've got to keep each other accountable, and I think we've been doing good at doing that."
Part of that improved depth and talent is the addition of transfers Romello Height from USC and Jordan van den Berg from Penn St. as well as the return of Sylvain Yondjouen, who is back after missing all but a few snaps of the 2023 season due to an injury in the opening game vs. Louisville. Harris said part of his improvement can be attributed to having Yondjouen back on the practice field as he said his friend is an inspiration and makes the rest of the group dig even deeper to be better when he’s around.
“I think it's very inspiring just watching him stay in good spirits and the type of person he is every day. It never changes. We come in and you see him doing what he does, you have to take a look in the mirror every day to make sure that you're giving it all you've got because we've got guys like that all over the building just pushing it no matter what, no matter how they're feeling,” said Harris. “It's good for the young guys to see, and it's good for the older guys to see too. We have no excuses here. We just keep on going. I'm very proud of him. He's like one of my best friends, and I can't wait to see him reach that level where he's just balling and doing what he used to do. I can't wait to see that version of Sylvain back. He's an inspiration. I don't any other way to put it. So yeah, he's my guy. Great leader."
As Georgia Tech prepares for its season opener on Aug. 24 against Florida State in the Aer Lingus College Football Classic in Dublin, Ireland at noon. Harris said he is made it a conscious effort to be more of a leader through his words and actions because he knows it is definitely something he needed when he was a younger player in the program.
"They've definitely put a lot on my plate as far as being a leader just because I've been here and seen the downs, seen the ups,” said Harris. “I've known people in this building. I know what the thing's supposed to look like. We have a bunch of young guys who need to have that leadership in order to keep this thing going well after I'm gone. The one thing I want for this team is to continue to keep getting better year after year, staying consistent. As far as me being a leader, yes, I take it on myself every day. I take everything personal as far as that. I'm embracing it. I enjoy my job. I enjoy coming here every day. This is what drives me every day, being in the building with the guys that I'm with and pouring into them wherever I can because I know I needed that when I was younger. I think that makes all the difference as far as development. Sometimes it's not the coaches that make things click sometimes. It's looking at the guys around you to see how things are done. I think that's what we're doing here very well."