Aug. 2, 2005

By Tom Shanahan, San Diego Hall of Champions (http://www.sdhoc.com/main )

Evan Harney's first college baseball season in 2002 at UC Irvine was washed out by a back injury. As he prepared for his second school year that would hopefully lead to his first season on the field, the back had healed, but he didn't feel right.

Something was tugging him back to football, the other sport he played at Fallbrook High as a running back when the Warriors won the 2000 CIF San Diego Section Division I title at Qualcomm Stadium.

"I missed the physical aspect of football," Harney said. "I love the feeling of carrying the football. That feeling never left me while I was playing baseball."

Against the advice of people who said he was foolish to walk away from a baseball scholarship at UC Irvine, a respected West Coast Division I program, Harney left the Anteaters to enroll at USD in 2003 and play Division I-AA football without a scholarship.

"I couldn't have done it without my parents backing me up 100 percent," said Harney of Dr. Brian and Cathy Harney. "Things couldn't have turned out better for me."

After two seasons as the Toreros' featured back, Harney is preparing for his senior season as USD's all-timer leader in carries (588), yards (2,809) and touchdowns (35). The 6-foot-1, 220-pounder plays for a former NFL quarterback and NFL assistant coach that considers Harney a Division I-A college football talent deserving of an NFL opportunity.

"Evan Harney is a back who could play at any level of college football," says USD head coach Jim Harbaugh, the former Chargers quarterback (1999-2000) who opens his second season with the Toreros in 2005.

As a fourth-year junior last season, Harney carried 303 times for 1,388 yards and 18 touchdowns in 11 games. He was named the Mid-Major Division I-AA Offensive Player of the Year and also earned Academic All-American honors. The football identity is new for Harney. Coming out of high school, Harney and Donny Lucy were football/baseball players better known for baseball. Harney, an outfielder, had committed in the fall of his senior year to Irvine, while Lucy, now playing in the Chicago White Sox farm system, had also committed early to play baseball at Stanford.

But then-Fallbrook football coach Randy Blankenship had touted Harney as a Division I-A football talent despite the lack of recruiting interest. "He wanted me to lower my shoulder and explode through holes," Harney said. "He said I could be a Division I running back. That is something I've always carried with me."

Harney explained he was still growing into his body as a senior in high school. A growth spurt of four inches to 6-1 had cost him flexibility to play with the physicality that college recruiters said was lacking from his game.

But by the summer of 2002, after playing baseball in the California Coastal Collegiate summer league, Harney worked out with his old speed coach in Fallbrook and some Fallbrook football players. He felt his speed and flexibility had improved. That's when the football strings started tugging at his heart.

Harney returned to Irvine in the fall, but he never played baseball again. He obtained his release from Irvine - he also played a little rugby on the side in Newport Beach - before enrolling at USD in the fall of 2003. He gained 1,421 yards with 17 touchdowns despite a midseason coaching change that led to Harbaugh being hired in 2004.

"I couldn't run as hard in high school as I can now," Harney said. "I've really focused on learning to lower my shoulders, and I think I have more dimensions to my running game."

The NCAA label at USD may not be Division I-A, but Harney feels he's lived up to the potential Blankenship saw in him five years ago. "When I decided to play football again, I wanted to go somewhere where I could make an impact," Harney said. "I always felt I could play at a Division I-A school, but I wanted to go somewhere I could play right away. I made a great decision. I'm blessed to be playing for Coach Harbaugh, and we feel we're a Division I program no matter what way you cut it."

Contact Tom Shanahan at toms@sdhoc.com