{"id":45469,"date":"2022-08-07T09:00:36","date_gmt":"2022-08-07T13:00:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/?p=45469"},"modified":"2025-09-13T16:20:49","modified_gmt":"2025-09-13T20:20:49","slug":"45469-wake-forest-safety-brendon-harris-is-expected-to-add-some-spark","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/2022\/08\/07\/45469-wake-forest-safety-brendon-harris-is-expected-to-add-some-spark\/","title":{"rendered":"Wake Forest Safety Brendon Harris Is Expected To Add Some Spark"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>There are not a lot of questions when it comes to the Wake Forest offense this year. Most of the firepower returns and the scoreboard lights should get a healthy workout each game. But the defense\u2026well there is the defense. Last year it was one of the worst in the country against the run and lacked the general aggressiveness needed for long-term success in the ACC. There is new defensive coordinator <strong>Brad Lambert<\/strong> and a new scheme for the defense. That is expected to add some assertiveness. And while there is <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/2022\/08\/02\/45419-wake-forest-kicking-off-fall-camp\/\" target=\"_self\">a wealth of experience returning<\/a>, there is also the rare Demon Deacon transfer portal intake. New Wake Forest safety <strong>Brendon Harris<\/strong> is expected to add some spark after coming over from the SEC.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.sports-reference.com\/cfb\/players\/brendon-harris-1.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Harris<\/a> is a grad transfer from Vanderbilt. While he is entering his fifth year in college football, because of the 2020 Covid allowances from the NCAA, he technically has two years of eligibility remaining, including the 2022 season.<\/p>\n<h3>Getting His Start In Nashville<\/h3>\n<p>He was a four-star recruit, per the 247Sports composite, coming out of Chattanooga, Tennessee in the class of 2018. He was one of the highest-rated recruits in then-head coach <strong>Derek Mason\u2019s<\/strong> tenure at Vanderbilt. Mason beat out Florida, Clemson, Auburn, and Tennessee among others, for Harris\u2019 defensive back services. Mason, and his well-known vest, were dismissed from Vandy after the 2020 season. Harris played his fourth year at Vanderbilt for <strong>Clark Lea<\/strong>. He got his undergrad degree in Medicine, Health, and Society at Vandy as he finished his days in Nashville.<\/p>\n<p>Now he leaps from one elite academic institution to another to complete his football and educational journey. And he is expected to bring some big game experience to the Wake defensive secondary.<\/p>\n<p><a id=\"fb6KIVlQT4BrF4a6bxPXAg\" class=\"gie-single\" style=\"color: #a7a7a7; text-decoration: none; font-weight: normal !important; border: none; display: inline-block;\" href=\"http:\/\/www.gettyimages.com\/detail\/1186583345\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Embed from Getty Images<\/a><script>window.gie=window.gie||function(c){(gie.q=gie.q||[]).push(c)};gie(function(){gie.widgets.load({id:'fb6KIVlQT4BrF4a6bxPXAg',sig:'f-Y4PVHMtQZQrAnKC-hMXnI7mjEvIvqMiJjp7sQr2i4=',w:'594px',h:'396px',items:'1186583345',caption: true ,tld:'com',is360: false })});<\/script><script src='\/\/embed-cdn.gettyimages.com\/widgets.js' charset='utf-8' async><\/script><\/p>\n<p>In his time in Nashville, Harris had 82 total tackles and four pass deflections. In his freshman year at Vanderbilt, the Commodores were 6-7 overall and beat the likes of Arkansas, Ole Miss, and Tennessee in conference play. They lost to Baylor in the Texas Bowl. Vandy was a more typical 5-28 in the three years after that.<\/p>\n<h3>Making The Move<\/h3>\n<p>Harris said the academic transition has been easy. \u201cIt\u2019s been a breeze,\u201d he said this week. &#8220;Since high school, [at Baylor School in Chattanooga], I have been adjusting to the higher standard of education. It\u2019s really important to me. So, I attack it the same way I attack football, with everything I\u2019ve got.\u201d At Wake Forest, he is in the master\u2019s Liberal Arts Study Program, which the school touts as a cross-sectional, interrelated program. Harris said it is a continuation of many of the research-style classes he took as an undergrad at Vanderbilt.<\/p>\n<p>He said he left Vanderbilt, first making sure he had his degree, looking for a new opportunity. \u201cFor me, it was just looking for a change, and new opportunity, and a new team so I could get in a new environment and grow in a different way.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><a id=\"VFQJWSm3TLhzsyBMvQjkxg\" class=\"gie-single\" style=\"color: #a7a7a7; text-decoration: none; font-weight: normal !important; border: none; display: inline-block;\" href=\"http:\/\/www.gettyimages.com\/detail\/1180806518\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Embed from Getty Images<\/a><script>window.gie=window.gie||function(c){(gie.q=gie.q||[]).push(c)};gie(function(){gie.widgets.load({id:'VFQJWSm3TLhzsyBMvQjkxg',sig:'QoMLWi1lNXoRKDxXg4L_C2iRc2kLGlytCme6bSkq76s=',w:'594px',h:'396px',items:'1180806518',caption: true ,tld:'com',is360: false })});<\/script><script src='\/\/embed-cdn.gettyimages.com\/widgets.js' charset='utf-8' async><\/script><\/p>\n<p>There is also the adjustment of going to school in Nashville, with a population of about 700,000 to being in Winston-Salem with a population of under 250,000. The nightlife and entertainment options are significantly different. Harris says that is not a factor for him. \u201cMy ultimate goal is to get to the NFL, so I am here to work on football and attack academics and just be productive in those areas.\u201d<\/p>\n<h3>The Differences<\/h3>\n<p>He said there is a difference between his most recent year at Vanderbilt to the current state of affairs at Wake Forest, and it is a football difference. \u201cThings are different here. The guys are held to a higher standard here,\u201d he told the media Friday. \u201cThere\u2019s a lot more player-to-player accountability.\u201d Asked for a specific example of the difference between the two football programs, Harris provided the following case in point. \u201cOne of the first things I noticed was on a Saturday, we had optional recovery. Almost 80 or 90 guys were in there, [in the workout room]. It just surprised me.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>He also said the work as a unit is something different for him. \u201cAfter we lift, the safeties, as a group, we get together, catch balls, stretch out together, get hand work in together.\u201d He said there is a group drive towards getting better.<\/p>\n<p>He credits safeties coach <strong>James Adams<\/strong> with instilling that work ethic among the defensive backs. \u201cHe\u2019s very positive. He hounds us and stays on us, but it\u2019s out of love,\u201d Harris said. \u201cHe wants us to have a great effort and great attitude every day.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Adams says Harris brings an immediate bump to the defensive secondary because of his experience. \u201cHe\u2019s another guy who has been on the big stage,\u201d Adams told us. \u201cThe beauty of our group last year was that they were young, but they all played.\u201d That includes playing in the ACC championship game and the Gator Bowl. \u201cSo Brendon comes in and he has had a similar experience. When you go down and you play LSU or you go to Alabama, he\u2019s been on the biggest stages in college football.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Adams said that kind of experience brings familiarity to his new group. \u201cFor him to join our fold, it\u2019s like he\u2019s been here since the beginning. It\u2019s not really new to him.\u201d<\/p>\n<h3>The Work Ethic Factor<\/h3>\n<p>Harris\u2019 adaptation to his new football life at Wake Forest has also caught the attention of head coach<strong> Dave Clawson<\/strong>. \u201cHe\u2019s played football in a very good league, at a very high level and he was productive,\u201d Clawson said Friday. \u201cI\u2019m just really impressed that he\u2019s just come in here and he just works. He doesn\u2019t talk a lot. He knows he\u2019s new. He\u2019s trying to fit in and help our team. I\u2019m really impressed with him.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Harris has apparently already meshed well with the work ethic he found at Wake Forest. \u201cHe\u2019s a guy, that already, we\u2019re having to run out of the building,\u201d Adams said, making the correlation to a football version of the basketball gym rat. \u201cHe\u2019s in there in the morning. And he\u2019s in there in the afternoon. Or if he\u2019s not there in the afternoon, he\u2019s in there midday and in the evening, watching film and starting to game plan for opponents. \u201c<\/p>\n<p>Speaking of planning for opponents; yes every player tells you he looks at the season one game at a time, but we would be kidding ourselves if Harris has not given a little attention to week two of Wake Forest\u2019s schedule\u2026in Nashville\u2026against Vanderbilt. \u201cIt\u2019ll mean a little something, yeah,\u201d he admitted.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>There are not a lot of questions when it comes to the Wake Forest offense this year. Most of the firepower returns and the scoreboard lights should get a healthy workout each game. But the defense\u2026well there is the defense. Last year it was one of the worst in the country against the run and [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1534,"featured_media":45471,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[7,2,35580],"tags":[4817,1135,128,8854,96,1249],"class_list":["post-45469","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-acc","category-featured","category-vanderbilt-commodores","tag-acc-football","tag-dave-clawson","tag-derek-mason","tag-james-adams","tag-vanderbilt-commodores","tag-wake-forest-demon-deacons"],"modified_by":"Michael Kovacs, ADMIN","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/45469","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1534"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=45469"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/45469\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":79658,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/45469\/revisions\/79658"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/45471"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=45469"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=45469"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=45469"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}