Former STJ, Auburn star settling in as assistant
Jalen Harris is working with his alma mater, St. James this summer with hopes of possibly getting a shot at playing in the NFL later this year. (Tim Gayle)
By TIM GAYLE
Jalen Harris had some time on his hands between now and the time players report for National Football League training camps, so the former St. James and Auburn standout thought about helping out the Trojans in football workouts this summer.
As he spent more and more time with the Trojans, he discovered how much he loved coaching.
“I was looking for something to get into right now, especially with this pandemic, and I thought coaching would be a great opportunity for me,” Harris said. “I’ve been working out and I’m still in that football mode. I love helping kids. My ultimate goal is to be an athletic director one day and this is a good start. Whatever I can do to help out, I told Coach (Jimmy) Perry that’s what I want to do. And I love it more and more every day. I realize that coaching may be for me.”
Harris is working with Perry with the offensive and defensive linemen, along with coaching players at his high school position, handling tight ends and wingbacks.
“Jalen approached me about it,” Perry said. “He knows everything we do. That’s the perfect assistant coach because he has playing experience, playing for me, and now he’s getting experience as a coach. He knows what to do, he’s young – the players relate to him really well because he’s closer to their age than I am, of course – so it’s a win-win deal.
“He’s doing a great job. He’s going to be a great coach for somebody one day. He’s already a great coach for us. But this will jump-start his career and maybe open some doors.”
Harris isn’t the only former player serving as a community coach this fall. Cory Wright and Jackson Hammock, a pair of former Trojans currently enrolled in Auburn, will help coach St. James this fall. Wright will work with the receivers and Hammock will work with the secondary.
And while Harris had plans to sign a free-agent contract following the NFL draft in the spring, the coronavirus pandemic put a halt to the way business is handled in the National Football League.
“It’s definitely put a stop on a lot of things,” Harris said. “A lot of guys weren’t given opportunities that might have been presented to them without the pandemic. Unfortunately, I was one of those guys on the short end of the stick.
“During the pre-draft process, I talked to the Falcons, the Bills and the Rams a lot. The Falcons aren’t going to take anybody else. I know the Bills and the Rams, they are, and I’ve been keeping in touch with the Rams. Right now, there’s really not much I can do but wait.”
NFL teams plan to hold training camp for everyone – veterans, rookies and free agents – in late July and Harris is holding out hope he can get a shot at making an NFL roster.
“If football doesn’t work out, I do have a job that I’ve accepted, selling insurance,” Harris said. “Just getting my feet wet. That’s what I will be doing, along with helping out St. James in football and basketball. I’ve applied to a lot of places. What I keep hearing is ‘you’ve got a great resume, you’re a really impressive kid,’ but I don’t have any work experience. At the end of the day, I need some work experience and I’d love to get some through coaching and selling some insurance.”
Harris majored in marketing and communication at Auburn, but decided to move to another school as a graduate transfer after catching just four passes in four years with the Tigers. At Colorado, he made an early splash as his first catch went for a touchdown and his second was a career-long reception. Two weeks later, he had four receptions against Air Force when he ruptured his Achilles’ tendon, limiting him to one catch the remainder of the season.
“It was a good experience for me, I loved it out there,” Harris said. “I was able to get my master’s (degree in education) and I’m blessed with that. That was one of my proudest moments. Football was just icing on the cake.
“I got hurt against Air Force, my Achilles’ and my ankle. I never healed throughout the season. I tried to play through it for a while. By the end of the year, I wasn’t the same. I had to rehab it.”
He went to James Andrews in Birmingham for work on his ankle as he continued training between January and March. Luckily, he was able to participate in Auburn’s Pro Day, one of the final showcases before the pandemic shut down the sports world.
“I did well,” he said. “At Pro Day, I was able to receive. I’ve got on tape five years of blocking for them to break down and look at. But at Pro Day, I caught every pass, ran every route. I did a great job catching the ball at Pro Day and I think I earned some money for myself. Just with this pandemic, it just didn’t fall my way.”
In the meantime, he’s learning he has a knack for coaching high school athletes at every position.
“The thing is, especially going to a school like Auburn where I did a lot of blocking, I was right with the D-line every day, so everything I’m telling these kids is what I’ve been hearing every D-line coach tell the D-line to beat me in a block,” he said. “I’m just trying to get them the best they can be with the knowledge that I’ve gained over the years. Sitting in meetings, hearing the coach critique the D-line or the special teams guy or whatever it is, I’ve been there and I’ve done it and I’ve seen it.
“I’ve been coaching with Coach Perry with the O-line and the D-line and helping out with tight ends and wings; really, everywhere I can. I was pretty good catching the ball so I’ve been helping receivers. I’ve also been helping kids on the weekends, training them as well. I might try to start something like that on the side as well.”