Former Miami Hurricanes QB Jacory Harris shares thoughts on Cam Ward, quarterback room after viewing practice

Former Hurricanes quarterback Jacory Harris arrived at the University of Miami in 2008 as part of a highly touted No. 3- ranked recruiting class. But things never came together for that group, and in Harris’ four years the team was 29-22 and he threw for 70 touchdowns with 48 INTs and 8,826 yards with five rushing TDs.

“We had the talent, all the guys, it just didn’t happen,” Harris said on the Momentum Podcast. “For whatever reason still to this day I think about it – I don’t know what the reason was.”

Now Harris hopes to see his alma mater turn the corner after only one 10-win season in the last 20 years. Harris attended Miami’s first spring practice and says “it was one of the best day one’s I’ve seen from camps, just being a part of it. Looking at the guys – everybody looked like they are on the same page, and that’s surprising to come in Day 1 and practice not sloppy. That’s a good sign, showing (Mario) Cristobal and his staff have everything going smoothly.”

A lot of the hopes for a big season rest on Washington State arrival Cam Ward and the Miami QB room. Harris says he’s impressed by what he’s seen from Ward.

“Every time that I looked and I’ll be standing mid-conversation talking to some of the coaches, I’ll look up and I’ll be like `Good ball!’” Harris said. “And every time it was Cam Ward. Every time. I’m like, `Okay, you want to see the guy in action, what he can do.’ Him showing his presence, being poised, a leader – he really orchestrated things out there.”

Harris also was impressed by the other QBs, saying “That’s a good quarterback room.”

“I’m pretty sure just based on how things work now with the transfer portal that Cam is going to be the guy, but behind him is not that much of a drop-off,” Harris said. “Another person that looked good was Reese (Poffenbarger). He was throwing, I kind of forgot he’d come over – seeing him start throwing the ball and also Jacurri (Brown). Jacurri has shown a lot of improvement, too. He threw a dime, a go route. He threw that thing line drive, hit the dude right in stride. Jacurri is just a specimen, has muscle. That’s who I would have wanted to look like. And there’s another kid, Judd Anderson, a freshman. This dude is huge, he is huge. He’s taller than Jacurri and has some weight, size on him.

“The room is deep, they have a lot of good guys.”

Harris says given the schedule that he can see Miami with a big year – “there are certain teams you shouldn’t lose to, the schedule they have a lot of teams they should not lose to.”

“They have all the top recruits from around the nation, South Florida, have to just put it all together. You have to have guys that want it more than what you may think they want it. Like Cam, talking to him after practice, asks me go upstairs to the film room. … Listen to a guy that’s hungry, thinking along those lines, it’s like `Okay, I like this kid.’ I see the extra work Jacurri and Reese (also) put in. And it’s not all physical, you sit there and listen to them talk, that’s how you know when a quarterback is prepared, when a quarterback knows what he’s doing because then you watch it translate.”

Harris first met Ward when he visited the school as the QB was working toward making a decision. Harris says he was impressed immediately by Ward’s maturity and how the QB looked at it “as a business trip.”

Harris says he knew immediately that “This kid will be perfect for this city. … You ball here, you set your name up for a lifetime.”

A final takeaway from Harris?

“Don’t want to say too much and get the fans all hyped up,” Harris said. “Once the ball gets rolling I think it’ll be a good year.”