Jacory Harris

Jacory Sherrod Harris (born May 12, 1990) is an American football quarterback who is currently a free agent. Harris started for Miami Northwestern High School during his last two years; he was unbeaten (30-0) and led the team to two state championships. In his senior year, Harris broke the state record for passing touchdowns and won the 2007 High School Football National Championship. He was named Florida's Mr. Football. During his freshman year of college in 2008 with the Miami Hurricanes, he split time with Robert Marve in a two-quarterback system. After the Emerald Bowl in late December, Marve transferred to Purdue, effectively making Harris the undisputed starter for the rest of his career as a Hurricane. He signed with the Philadelphia Eagles as an undrafted free agent in May 2012.

High school
Harris attended high school at Miami Northwestern High School, located in Liberty City, Miami, Florida. He became the starting quarterback for the Northwestern Bulls football team as a junior in 2006. That year he would lead Northwestern to an undefeated season and its third state championship while completing 275-of-425 passes for 3,542 yards, 35 touchdowns and six interceptions. As a senior in 2007, under his leadership, the team went on to another undefeated season and state title, as well as the high school football national championship. During his senior year, he completed 222-of-333 attempts (67% completion rate) for 3,445 yards, with 49 touchdowns and only six interceptions. In total, Harris finished with a 30-0 record as a starting QB in high school. Harris was awarded a Class 6A first team all-state selection, the Mr. Football Award (Florida), and Class 6A Player of the Year. Harris attended the 2007 Elite 11 football camp and was ranked as the seventh best pocket-passer quarterback in the nation.

2008 season
Harris came to University of Miami to compete for the starting quarterback position with former Mr. Florida award winner Robert Marve. Harris and Marve split time as starters, with Marve starting 11 of 13 games. Marve subsequently transferred out of Miami, leaving Harris the full-time starter heading into the 2009 season. During the 2008 season, Harris led Miami on two comeback drives against the Duke Blue Devils and the Virginia Cavaliers. Harris finished the season with 1,195 yards, 12 touchdowns and seven interceptions as the Hurricanes wound up 7-6.

In a July 31, 2009, interview with Dan Le Batard, Harris told the world that he will pick up his Heisman trophy wearing a pink suit and with a "pimp cup" in hand. He also earned himself a new nickname in this interview: Afro Butterfly.

2009 season
During the first game of his sophomore season against #18 Florida State, Harris went 21-of-34 for 386 passing yards (a career high and 10th highest in school history) with two touchdowns and also ran for a score in Miami's 38-34 upset win on the road. Harris took a beating in the slugfest as he managed just 122 of his 386 passing yards after withstanding a tough hit from FSU's blitzing cornerback Greg Reid with 11:45 left to play, which left his right arm numb until his very next drive.

In the second game of the 2009 season versus the Yellow Jackets at home, Harris completed 20-of-25 passes for 270 yards and three touchdowns—and the 20th-ranked Hurricanes snapped a four-game losing streak against No. 14 Georgia Tech with a 33-17 victory on September 17, 2009.

In the third game of the year versus rival Virginia Tech, Harris struggled, throwing for nine completions out of 25 passing attempts, 150 yards, and no touchdowns in a 31-7 blowout loss. The Hurricanes were #9 headed into that game, but dropped to #17 in the polls.

In the fourth game versus the highly favored Oklahoma Sooners, Harris started the game off slowly throwing two interceptions, then finished 19-for-28 with 202 yards passing and three touchdowns. The 21-20 win brought Miami back up to #11 in the polls.

In the fifth game versus Florida A&M on October 10, Harris went 16-for-24 passing for 217 yards and two touchdowns in a 48-16 win. The Hurricanes moved back up to #9 in the AP Poll.

In the sixth game of the season, Harris threw for 293 yards and a touchdown. The Miami Hurricanes went on to beat the UCF Knights, 27-7. Miami moved up one spot in the AP Poll.

In a losing effort in overtime versus the Clemson Tigers, Harris put up 256 passing yards, two touchdowns, and three interceptions. In overtime, after a 20 yard Graig Cooper run, Harris and the Hurricane offense failed to push in the possible game-winning touchdown. The Hurricanes lost 40-37. The loss also put Miami down to #19 in the AP Poll and out of the BCS Standings.

In an ACC matchup against the Wake Forest Demon Deacons, Harris went 22-for-44, 330 yards passing, three touchdowns, and one pick. On a key 4th-and-16 on the Hurricanes final game-winning drive, Harris found Aldarius Johnson on a finger-tip catch which kept the drive alive. Johnson also went to Miami Northwestern High School with Harris. Harris sealed the 28-27 victory for "The U" off a 13 yard touchdown pass to Travis Benjamin. The Hurricanes moved up to #16 in the polls.

Game nine brought a refreshing change for the BCS 17th-ranked Hurricanes, as a tenuous 24-17 halftime lead against the Virginia Cavaliers broke into a dominant second half. Miami outscored Virginia 28-0 to defeat the Cavaliers 52-17. Harris went 18-of-31 with 232 yards, two TD passes, and one interception. The previously-struggling Miami defense was not to blame for the allowed points, however, as two special teams miscues leading to two blocked punts brought 14 points to Virginia. The tide-turning play: a 66-yard punt-return by sophomore WR Thearon Collier that brought seven points for the Hurricanes.

Harris and the rest of the Miami Hurricanes went up to Chapel Hill to take on the North Carolina Tar Heels. Harris went 28-for-50, 319 yards, one touchdown and four interceptions in a disappointing performance. The Hurricanes lost 33-24 and went from #14 to #21 and out of contention for the ACC Championship and a BCS bowl game bid.

In the final game at home for the Hurricanes against the Duke Blue Devils on November 21, Harris went 25-for-43, 348 yards passing, two touchdowns, and one interception. The Hurricanes exploded in the 2nd half by scoring three unanswered TDs. Linebacker Darryl Sharpton sealed the win with a 73 yard interception return. Miami won the game, 34-16.

As a sophomore, Harris led Miami to a 9-4 record and a #19 ranking from the AP poll while having his finest season ever by throwing for 3,352 yards, 24 touchdowns, and a pass efficiency rating of 140.09.

2010 season
For the University of Miami, the 2010 season turned out to be a year of complete turmoil as the 13th-ranked Hurricanes had to face a brutal schedule that included monster games in September such as their September 11 matchup with preseason nationally ranked No. 2 Ohio State. Quarterback depth wound up being a detriment as the slender 6-4 Harris would have to handle the load at that position without the services of his former teammate Robert Marve who had transferred to Purdue two seasons before.

As a junior, Harris managed to start the first eight games of the year before a concussion sidelined him for three games forcing untested true freshman Stephen Morris to pick up the slack. The Miami Hurricanes finished with a disappointing record of 7-6 as their head coach, Randy Shannon, was fired near the season's end on November 27, 2010.

Harris opened that season with a solid performance going 12-of-15 passing for 210 yards and three touchdowns as the Hurricanes defeated Florida A&M, 45-0, on September 2. He shined in Miami's 31-3 win over Pittsburgh on September 23 by completing 21-of-32 passes for 248 yards and two touchdowns.

Harris had a fine outing in Miami's 28-13 road win on October 16 over Duke as the Hurricanes' signal caller was 17-of-34 passing for 224 yards with a touchdown pass and another score off a 13-yard run. Harris enjoyed more success a week later as Miami fell behind 10-7 in the 2nd quarter at home against the North Carolina Tarheels. He was resilient in this 30-10 comeback win by directing the 'Canes to 23 unanswered points as Harris completed 21-of-32 passes for 217 yards and three touchdowns in the contest.

2011 season
On August 25, 2011, Harris was ruled ineligible to play the first game of the 2011 season for his involvement with the Nevin Shapiro scandal. Quarterback Stephen Morris started the season opener, a loss to Maryland on September 5, 2011. Harris did return after the suspension and threw two touchdown passes along with two interceptions in a 24-6 win against Ohio State. In Harris's final collegiate game, he threw four interceptions in a 24-17 loss to Boston College. Despite Miami being eligible for a bowl game with a 6-6 record, the university forfeited their bowl bid after having to deal with all that came from the fallout of the Nevin Shapiro scandal.

Harris ended his senior season completing 195-of-300 passes (65.0 percent) for 2,486 yards, 20 touchdowns, and nine interceptions. For his career at Miami, he had 8,826 passing yards, 70 touchdowns, and a pass efficiency rating of 135.0.

Some of Harris’s finer performances during his senior season included the games that were played against Kansas State, Virginia Tech, North Carolina, Virginia, Duke, and Florida State. Many of those games were hard fought as new head coach Al Golden's Hurricanes just came up short in several of them.

Harris threw for 271 yards on September 24, 2011 against the nationally ranked No. 15 Kansas St. Wildcats in a losing effort, 28-24, as he completed 21-of-31 passes for two touchdowns. Harris was stopped short of the goal line on a quarterback sneak as the game clock expired.

On October 8, Harris went toe-to-toe with 17th-ranked Virginia Tech as the Hurricanes came up short, 38-35. Harris was 13-for-21 passing the ball for 267 yards with three touchdowns which included a 77 yard touchdown pass to wide receiver Travis Benjamin against the Hokies.

Harris really came alive against a 5-1 North Carolina Tarheel team on October 15 as the Hurricanes jumped out to a 27-10 halftime lead only to survive two Tarheel touchdowns in the fourth quarter to claim a 30-24 victory in Chapel Hill, N.C. The senior quarterback completed 20-of-30 passes for 267 yards with three touchdowns in this contest. Harris’s success against teams in the state of North Carolina carried over as on November 5, he had a field day against the Duke Blue Devils by completing 14-of-20 passes for 202 yards and three touchdowns. He also had 22 yards on four rushes as Miami coasted past Duke, 49-14.

And finally, in a 28-21 loss to Virginia (the Cavaliers finished 8-5 in 2011), Harris put up solid numbers going 21-of-30 for a season best 311 passing yards and three touchdowns that included one of those going for 51 yards to wide receiver Tommy Streeter in the third quarter. The dual threat quarterback also rushed six times for 22 yards in this October 27 matchup with the Cavaliers. The November 12 loss to ACC rival Florida St. had Harris playing heads-up football as Miami came up short, 23-19. He went 20-for-31 passing the ball for 225 yards with one touchdown. Harris also rushed six times for 31 yards against the 23rd-ranked Seminoles.

Professional career
Harris was not drafted in the 2012 NFL Draft. After the draft, he received an invitation to the Miami Dolphins' training camp. He signed with the Philadelphia Eagles on May 11, 2012, but was waived on May 21.