The Najee Harris Chronicles includes lots of Harbaugh

Great profile on the nations #1 recruit Najee Harris in the San Francisco Chronicle today. Lots of good stuff in there (seems like a great young man), but maybe most interesting is the prominent mention of Jim Harbaugh, not Nick Saban. 

http://projects.sfchronicle.com/2016/najee-harris/?t=c6fc47414d

Notre Dame head coach Brian Kelly stopped by after his team’s game at Stanford last November. Cal’s Sonny Dykes has visited. Assistant coaches from countless schools across the country have shown up to express their intense interest in Harris, a player anointed the No. 1 recruit by a number of prep rating services, including rivals.com, scout.com and maxpreps.com.

And then there’s Michigan head coach Jim Harbaugh.

On one of his two visits this year to Antioch High, the former 49ers coach sat in Principal Louie Rocha’s office, his feet propped on Rocha’s desk and his cap pushed back from his forehead as he chewed on licorice.

When Harris walked into the office, Harbaugh animatedly declared, “You’re a beautiful young man!” The room burst into laughter. He subsequently told Harris he should pursue a career in movies.

“It was kind of funny how he said it,” Antioch head coach John Lucido says. “It made Najee comfortable and kind of broke the ice with everybody.”

One person he is comfortable talking to, and about, is Harbaugh. Harris describes his interactions with the often intense, khaki-clad coach as if he’s found a kindred spirit, the rare coach willing to engage in banter with recruits. That’s a major contrast to a coach such as Alabama’s Nick Saban, whom Harris characterizes as “straight business” and “very strict.”

Harbaugh brought his Michigan staff to Antioch High in June to conduct one of his controversial “satellite camps” for top prep players. About 200 local high school kids went through two hours of drills on the school’s football field. Photos of the event on the Antioch website include one of Harbaugh wearing a jersey of Warriors star Stephen Curry over his Michigan sweatshirt.Even if Harris doesn’t end up in Ann Arbor, he’s become a Harbaugh fan.

“He’s dope,” Harris says. “Everybody thinks he’s weird, but he’s not weird. I like him a lot. He’s a funny dude. He’s cool.”

Right now, college coaches across the country are probably busy parsing those words, wondering if Harbaugh might have the inside track on the nation’s top running back. But it’s clear Harris has not yet decided. He also speaks highly of Alabama’s staff; there’s the USC T-shirt he sports; and he reportedly has a good rapport with one of Cal’s assistants.

This all just feeds the speculation swirling around Harris’ college choice, which he must make by National Letter of Intent Signing Day on Feb. 1. Lucido, his coach, hears The Question — “Where’s Najee going?” — practically every day.

Once, he said, he and Harris were eating at the local Chili’s when Harris left the table to use the restroom. A waitress immediately rushed over to ask The Question.

“I get it all the time,” Lucido said. “I told her he hasn’t made a decision yet.”

Harris constantly hears The Question, too. His answer is firmly noncommital.

“I’m going to Antioch,” he says.