Brian Kelly gives glowing review of cornerback Denver Harris

The LSU football secondary got embarrassed by Florida State in week one. Nothing seemed to work, and the Seminole wide receivers did just about whatever they liked. Something needed to change in week two, so coach Brian Kelly turned to one of their top offseason additions of 2023: cornerback Denver Harris. While he wasn’t perfect by any means, he showed potential, and Kelly had some exciting things to say about him ahead of the Tigers’ Mississippi State matchup.

Cornerback Denver Harris is slowly earning the trust of this coaching staff

One of the biggest concerns regarding the pickup of cornerback Denver Harris was his character. There’s no denying his talent, but it was a matter of whether he could stay out of his own way.

For coach Brian Kelly, it seemed worth the risk, and he liked what he saw from the former five-star recruit. In his freshman season, when he was able to stay on the field for Texas A&M, he was excellent.

Through five games, he recorded 14 tackles and three pass deflections. However, after facing several instances off the field, he entered the transfer portal, and LSU football took a chance on him.

Now, heading into week three vs. Mississippi State, he’s getting much closer to staying on the field consistently. Still, he’s not quite there, and he’ll need to continue working for that trust. Here’s what coach Brian Kelly had to say about the star corner following the Tigers’ week two victory:

“He’s making progress; there’s a lot of work to be done, but I’m not gonna put a guy on the field unless he is committed to our process. He is not there yet, but I don’t know if there’s any one guy I can say on our program who’s got it down yet. But he is committed to it. So, if you’re committed to it, we’re gonna work with you. It’s the guys that are not committed to it, the guys that don’t want to do the little things the right way, that we’re gonna let you figure it out. And we’ll let you figure it out watching. He tried that – he didn’t like watching. So, he’s doing a good job.”

Harris has shown a willingness to learn and be coached

Coach Brian Kelly faced many questions following his decision to take cornerback Denver Harris out of the transfer portal. There was no guarantee regarding his commitment, and plenty of fans had concerns.

Then, the concerns were amplified when word got out that the star corner was working with third-string in the fall. All of a sudden, the Tiger secondary appeared to be falling apart.

However, it turns out that wasn’t necessarily the whole story. LSU football cornerback Denver Harris was willing to stick with the process and continue to be coached. Now, heading into week three vs. Mississippi State, he could be on his way to his second start in as many weeks. 

“I liked his demeanor. He didn’t lose his cool in some instances where, you know, he got his helmet pulled off a couple times, he was being held. I think he’s growing,” head coach Brian Kelly said about the new addition cornerback. “He’s learning our coverages. He’s a press corner, and we don’t just play press. We play press, and we play bail, and we play off, and we play press-to-off. And so there’s a lot of different things that he’s learning. He was just strictly a press corner.” When you came off the bus, he pressed you. And this is new to him, but he’s learning, and he wants to get better at it every day. So, listen, I’m a coach. I want a captive audience; I want guys that want to be coached. And the great part about it is he wants to be coached.”

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