Saturdays are for the football boys!

On gamedays, rest assured that the stands of Jordan-Hare Stadium will be packed with fans cheering on the Auburn football team. However, with that comes an immense amount of pressure on the team and its players to win. With classes, assignments, practices, and pressure, have you ever wondered how the players handle it all? I definitely have. Luckily, Marcus Harris, #50 for the Auburn Tigers and the highest graded rushing defensive lineman in the country, was willing to sit down with me and answer some of my questions.

Q: What made you want to play football for Auburn?

A: The family environment at Auburn. I grew up around the area cause I'm from Montgomery, AL. I actually didn’t go to Auburn straight out of high school, I transferred from Kansas, but being at Auburn meant the most to me. I always used to look at the football team and want to be where they are one day.

Q: What was the recruiting process like for you?

A: It was kind of stressful. Coming out of Kansas, I had a lot of schools that wanted me to come like Tennessee, Florida, Texas A&M, but at the end of the day I loved the family environment at Auburn and it was close to home. Plus, I knew people who played here, like Marlon Davidson and Danny Thomas. So, I kind of got a first-hand view of it before I came here from them because they let me know everything about the program and the environment. Recruitment was kind of frustrating because so many schools want you but at the end of the day, you can only choose one. It was a tough decision, but I feel like I made the right one. It was a good decision.

Q: How do you juggle your classes on top of games and practices?

A: That's the hardest thing for student-athletes. In high school, you have class all day and then practice at the end of it all, but in college, some days you may have more classes, meetings, tutoring sessions, and so many different things. Having a set schedule is the only way I feel like I can get through with everything. Without a set schedule, I would be lost and late to everything. I have routines set up for game weeks and I’m good as long as I stick with them.

Q: What does your routine look like?

A: It depends on the day. Today, I had weights from 8 to 9. After weights, I had to check in at breakfast around 9:15. Then, I had a class at 10 and a lab from 11 to 12:50. I had to check into lunch right after at around 1:15. At around 1:45, I went to the football facility to get ready for practice. We had meetings starting at 2:20 and those got out around 3:40. Then we started practice which lasted from 4 to 6:30. After that, we checked in for dinner then got a massage. It’s kind of cool, they have massages set up for us sometimes after practices. I got home around 8 and then I worked on my homework.

Q: How do you prioritize your mental health during Football season?

A: Just by remembering who I’m doing it for– family, friends. They give me the push to keep going every day. Just knowing that I’m doing this for my mom, my sisters, my brother, and my future family. And having great teammates and friends around you, and my classmates too. I’m happy to be in the classes I’m in. The main thing, I feel like, to get through everything, is to just be happy and be yourself and you’ll get through anything.

Q: What is the most challenging part of training?

A: Just the consistency. Every day is the same grind, but some days you’re not going to have the energy to be around everybody. If you’re having a bad day and you come into training with the wrong mindset, you’re not going to get better. Especially compared to someone who is keeping that positive mindset and getting better. In this league, you have to be on top of that, or else someone is going to get better than you. So, yeah, just staying consistent with that.

Q: What is your biggest motivator on and off the field?

A: I feel like my biggest motivator has been my family, particularly my mom. My whole life, she’s shown me how to do everything. My dad wasn’t really in my life so she has had to be both the mom and dad to me. She did the best she could to raise me to be a young, respectful man and show me the key principles of being a good human being, no matter if you’re a girl, boy, or what color. Seeing her do that by herself, while also going to school and graduating from college with a bachelor’s and two master’s degrees when I was young made me want to be like her. I wanted to follow in her footsteps. She laid a great foundation for me and my siblings to follow. She’s my biggest motivation.

Q: Do you have any pre-game rituals?

A: I don’t have any pre-game rituals; I just listen to music. I actually do look at pictures of my family, like I said, to add some motivation and remind me what I do it for. I like to read a scripture from the Bible to give me that confidence that God is with me as well as my family. The verses are different every time. I have a Bible app, or a good friend of mine in the NFL, Danny Thomas sends our group chat a scripture every day. So, I either read what he sends or something from the Bible app. Just keeping my spiritual side intact because a lot of times during gamedays, people are just locked in on football. They don’t bring their spirit or any peace with them. That peace can make people more calm and settle them into the environment because we have so much stuff to worry about on gamedays– fans who are both with and against us. I just think that that peace keeps me grinding. God is with me everywhere, so just finding spiritual peace and listening to music before the games.

Q: What is your favorite memory from Auburn?

A: My first time in Jordan-Hare, I would say is my favorite. That has to be my favorite– my first time playing in Jordan-Hare. I just looked into the stands and it didn’t feel real that I was surrounded by so many people who were rooting for me and my success. It just felt so surreal, like a movie, because that’s what I’d always dreamed of.

Q: We’ve seen Hugh Freeze’s ability as a coach, but how is he as a mentor for you and the other players?

A: I feel like that is his most underrated quality. People see the on-the-field stuff and see him doing interviews, but they don’t actually see him in person every day. Just the vibe he brings to the team– he’s always positive, never negative. No matter the outcome of the game, he’s always positive and encourages us to be the best versions of ourselves. He's not one of those coaches who doesn’t care about his players or doesn’t care outside of football what we have going on. He’s one of the coaches who cares about what is going on off the field too because he understands that in order to play well on the field, your home life has to be good and you need to feel comfortable to come here and play football. That part of him is one that I think is very undervalued– his relationship skills and people skills. I feel like he can kind of relate to everyone on the team, even though everyone is different and comes from different walks of life, he still finds a way to relate to and engage with us.

Q: What is the most important lesson you have learned while at Auburn?

A: Never get satisfied. Two years ago, when I started here, we started off pretty strong in the football season and got a big head. When we lost to Texas A&M, that was the first game where we knew we weren’t going to be in the SEC Championship anymore. After that loss, it kind of hurt and gave us a wake-up call that we weren’t where we wanted to be. We got too complacent the weeks before. I feel like that’s the biggest lesson I learned– never get too comfortable and always seek improvement.

Q: What is something you want fans to know about you?

A: I love staying connected with my classmates and people I may not get to see on a regular basis. I’m not a shy type of person, but I feel like when people see me, they are scared to talk to me because I’m mean or something, but I love interacting with my classmates, especially the class we are in. When people see me on the football field, they just see me as intimidating, but I’m a very happy guy and I love friendships and meeting new people.

Q: How do you feel about the rest of this football season?

A: I feel like it’s gonna go great. I can feel the team coming closer and trying the figure out the problems and working to solve the problems, not letting them linger on into other games or for the rest of the season. We all know what we need to work on as a team, and I think we are coming closer after those few losses. We’re learning how to deal with adversity throughout the season and, hopefully, in the next game, we will know what to do in those situations. I can’t wait to see how these next few games turn out.

Thank you again to Marcus Harris for taking the time to meet with me and answer my questions! Don’t forget to cheer him and the rest of the Auburn Tigers on this weekend, and…

Be well, Auburn.