From State to UNC, Harris' Move Was About What's Best for Himself

CHAPEL HILL – If you ask Jakeen Harris about going from wearing NC State red to North Carolina blue, don’t expect anything but a straight-up response from the former Wolfpack safety.

Rivalry be-damned, transferring from State to UNC was a move made about him. Plain and simple. That’s why going from one to the other doesn’t really hit with Harris like it does many fans, media, and maybe some other players.

“Nothing really,” Harris recently said when asked what he felt the first time he put on some UNC gear.

And that’s it. A brief smile, yes, but Harris becoming a Tar Heel was all about himself. And it’s not so strange in the fast-changing world of college football.

“We’re just at a time where you’ve got to do what you’ve got to do to get where you want to go,” he said.

And with that, UNC was a move Harris and his family certainly discussed. Carolina’s coaches reached out to him as soon as he entered the portal. But they wanted him to tread carefully given the rivalry factor.

If Harris was going to do the once-unthinkable, he had to make sure it was the absolute right move.

“I was talking to my parents, so maybe a couple of weeks trying to weigh my options,” he said. “It was nothing like really quick, I had to think about it. They called me day one, and they wanted me to just think about it, (because) you know with the rivalry.”

It isn’t difficult to understand why Carolina was interested. Harris is highly experienced, having played 48 games for the Wolfpack, starting 22 times. He has 166 career tackles, four interceptions, and 11 PBUs.

But he had to want Carolina, too. His perception of the program while at State may or may not have been laced with hate. If so, he didn’t come close to hinting that way. He respected the Tar Heels, says they are always talented and send guys to the NFL, which is where he wants to play a year from now.

And then there is Mack Brown, UNC’s legendary head coach who is a master at building relationships.

“Meeting with Coach Brown and (defensive backs) Coach (Charlton) Warren,” Harris said. “It was just a great relationship. I just felt like this was the right move to make from all my decisions.”

In fact, even though Brown has been on the recruiting trail for much of the time since Harris arrived in Chapel Hill, he has quickly warmed up to the Hall of Famer. It’s just different with him.

“He’s always loving on us,” Harris said, smiling. “He’s a great guy. I love him already.”

Harris also loves the Carolina campus as opposed to State’s over in Raleigh.

NCSU has grown so much with its Centennial Campus, and other parts that have sprawled up, that Harris often had to drive to different classes. At UNC, the grad school student can just walk everywhere.

His injured pec is 100 percent healthy now. Harris is doing full workouts with his new teammates, and is preparing for one more season in college. And he will do it wearing Jordan Brand gear, the baby blue of UNC, and as a rival of the school from which he owns a degree and still maintains a good standing with so many of his Wolfpack buddies.

But this new-age move isn’t underlined with rivalry fuel, it is completely about Harris and his future.

“I gotta go,” Harris said, referencing when he made the decision to go from State to UNC. “It’s about me sometimes.”