Last name comes with a target for Eagle QB Davis Harsin. But he’s not running from it

The name jumps off the roster.

Davis Harsin, the son of former Boise State and Auburn football coach Bryan Harsin, knows it. All his life, everyone’s eyes turned to him whenever he stepped on a football field.

But Davis Harsin won’t run away from it either.

“There’s definitely a bullseye on my back, and it’s something that I’ve embraced,” Harsin said Friday in between games at the Famous Idaho Potato Bowl 7-on-7 Tournament. “I used to not embrace it. But it’s something that I’ve embraced now, and I wouldn’t have it any other way.

“Pressure makes diamonds.”

The three-star quarterback brings that bullseye with him back to Eagle High, returning to his former school in January after Auburn fired Bryan Harsin. He enters the fall as the Mustangs’ projected starter, but Eagle coach James Cluphf said sophomore Austin Ramsey will get snaps too.

Davis Harsin made quite a name for himself last fall in Alabama, leading Auburn High to the state championship game in the state’s largest division as part of a dual-quarterback system. But Davis Harsin said he was eager to return to his home state and to his friends in Eagle, where he lived between second and ninth grades when his father led Boise State.

“I grew up with these guys, so I know a whole bunch of them,” Davis Harsin said. “There’s still some new faces I’m developing relationships with. But just working back in with these guys and being back in my hometown, it’s exciting.”

Senior Makeo Sneddon said the feeling is mutual.

“It’s funny, because sophomore and junior year, we were all hoping he’d come back for his senior year,” Sneddon said. “When it actually happened, we were all super hyped about it.”

Eagle coach James Cluphf said the Mustangs kept an eye on Davis Harsin growing up. He attended their youth camps and quickly stood out thanks to his skills, not only his last name.

Coming into a new team as a senior poses a challenge for any high school athlete. But Cluphf said that chemistry and those connections developed throughout youth teams, middle school and Eagle’s freshmen squad allowed Davis Harsin to quickly slide right back into the team.

“He’s done a great job of being in the quarterback position and being a great leader in the weight room,” Cluphf said. “He’s the kid who put in the work first to show he was willing to do the work. Once that was established, he became more vocal and started leading the team.”

Bryan Harsin recently told ESPN he plans to spend the fall enjoying his role as a father, enjoying the ups and downs of the season from the stands instead of the sidelines. Davis Harsin said he’s taken advantage of the extra time to pick his father’s brain. That includes some X’s and O’s. But he said they’ve focused more on off-the-field issues and how to respond to adversity.

Those lessons will come in handy as Davis Harsin chases his dream — rising up through the coaching ranks to lead an NFL team.

“That’s my dream job,” he said. “I want to be around football the rest of my life.”

First comes one last season in a high school uniform. Davis Harsin enters the season with a pair of FCS offers under his belt from Idaho State and Arkansas Pine Bluff. But after falling just shy of a state title last year, he enters the season at Eagle with one goal in mind.

“We’ve got a lot of talent on this team,” Davis Harsin said. “I don’t want to make this a ‘me show.’ I want to make this a ‘we show’ and bring home a state ring.

“I don’t really care about the personal accolades at this point. I want to make it a ‘we show’ and win a state ring with my guys.”

MERIDIAN WINS 7-ON-7 TOURNAMENT

The Warriors edged Capital 28-26 in the championship game of the Famous Idaho Potato Bowl 7-on-7 Tournament on Saturday, topping a 20-team field and winning the tournament for the first time in program history.

Mountain View took home first-place in the lineman challenge for the second time in three years. And Kuna won the tug-of-war contest.

High school football practices begin Aug. 7 with the first games scheduled for Aug. 18.