UT San Antonio Quarterback Frank Harris during the Earl Campbell Tyler Rose Award ceremony, on Wednesday January 11, 2023, at Willow Brook Country Club in Tyler. (Michael Cavazos/News-Journal Photo)

Earl Campbell Tyler Rose Award finalist Frank Harris has played a pivotal role in the gradual rise of UTSA’s football program since he arrived on campus in 2017, and is expected to lead the Roadrunners’ move from Conference USA to the American Athletic Conference in 2023.

The event, which is named for the former John Tyler Lion, Texas Longhorn, Houston Oiler and New Orleans Saint football player Earl Campbell, hosted its 10th annual ceremony at Willow Brook Country Club on Wednesday night, and recognized the quarterback Harris, Heisman finalist and TCU quarterback Max Duggan, Texas running back Bijan Robinson, and Kansas State running back Deuce Vaughn as the state’s top NCAA Division I offensive players and 2022 award finalists.

“He’s a really great player,” Harris said of Earl Campbell. “I didn’t grow up watching him, but I definitely watched the highlights. If he’s not the best, he’s one of the best running backs to ever play the game, so it’s definitely an honor to be up here.”

Harris was a standout at the San Antonio area-based Schertz Clemens High School, and has played for two head football coaches during his college career, but has really excelled in his UTSA role since East Texas native and former Gilmer athletic director and head football coach Jeff Traylor took over the program before the 2020 season.

Traylor’s impact has been felt across UTSA’s program. That has affected players like Harris, who jumped on the scene with 3,177 passing yards, 566 rushing yards, 27 passing yards, and six rushing touchdowns in 2021, and followed that up with 4,059 passing yards, 600 rushing yards, 32 passing touchdowns, and nine rushing touchdowns in 2022.

“He did a great job of coming here and changing the whole culture,” Harris said of the impact that Coach Traylor has had on UTSA’s football program. “He’s a players’ coach. We definitely respect him, and he treats us very well. It’s easy to play for a guy like that. He just lets us have fun and be ourselves.”

Harris is preparing for an impressive seventh season with UTSA football. He experienced the back-to-back losing seasons that wrapped up former head coach Frank Wilson’s program tenure, and the three straight winning seasons and bowl appearances, and the 2021 and 2022 Conference USA championships that kicked off Traylor’s run.

“Just trusting the process,” Harris said of how far UTSA has come during his collegiate career. “It’s been a crazy journey. Starting off, we weren’t doing so hot. The back-to-back conference championships mean a lot.”

Considering a stretch of success like that, and the leader that Harris has become, there’s plenty to look forward to as UTSA makes its presence known in its first season as an American Athletic Conference member.

“First year in a new conference, that’s pretty surreal,” Harris said of the road ahead. “We gotta go out there and keep playing with a chip on our shoulders. Hopefully, we can get another conference championship. That would be pretty cool. At the end of the day, we want to get a bowl game [win]. That’s something that we definitely gotta achieve.”