Former Alabama running back Damien Harris didn’t plan to retire from the NFL at age 27. A tricky neck injury forced him out of the league before his time — only two years removed from a 15-touchdown season with the New England Patriots. When his career ended, the broadcast world beckoned.
“Retirement definitely wasn’t on my bingo card as early as it was,” Harris said, “but having the ability to transition out of the game and get right in front of the camera and be able to break down the game of football and connect with fans, talk to people, it was really a no-brainer. I just feel like I have really good insight and really good ability to connect with people.”
Harris, a dominant running back at Alabama, teamed with Bo Scarbrough, Josh Jacobs and Najee Harris to produce some of the deepest backfields in Crimson Tide history. He won two national championships with the Tide and earned All-SEC honors in 2018 before declaring for the 2019 NFL Draft.
Now he will handle a different kind of depth on “College Football Pregame,” which debuts this weekend on CBS Sports HQ. The new show — available on CBSSports.com, the CBS Sports app and over-the-top devices — streams from 9 a.m. to 12 p.m. ET on Saturday mornings as a means of previewing the day’s college football action. Fellow former college stars Danny Kanell, Cardale Jones and Beanie Wells will be featured alongside Harris and a bevy of CBS Sports analysts.
College football has changed dramatically in the more than five years since Harris left, but his connections in the sport remain strong. Harris hopes to bring an inside perspective to the experience of being a college football player.
“They want to hear from the guys that played and the guys that lived it,” Harris said. “I just want to bring that experience to a great panel of talented people and people who really know what they’re doing. I just hope that I can bring that expertise and enhance the show as much as possible.”
Harris’ entrance to the broadcast world ironically comes at the same time as his legendary former coach is making the same transition. Nick Saban shocked the college football world by retiring after the 2023 season. Harris was at Top Golf when he got the news. Minutes before being notified of the decision, he was debating with a former teammate whether Saban would ever retire.
Alabama opted to go off board and hire Washington coach Kalen DeBoer, who had never coached in the south. Still, DeBoer is 104-12 across three head coaching stops, including an eye-popping 25-3 record at Washington. DeBoer makes his Alabama debut on Saturday against Western Kentucky in Week 1.
“I’m definitely excited to see him bring his winning culture to a place where the standard is winning,” Harris said of the Crimson Tide’s new coach. “He’s been in other places, and everywhere he’s been, he’s won. I don’t know that he had the same pressure to win, but I definitely think with his background, with his record of winning, that’ll match the standard that is Alabama.”
“College Football Pregame” this Saturday will set the stage for a CBS Sports doubleheader of Ohio State vs. Akron at 3:30 p.m. and UCLA at Hawaii at 7:30 p.m.
