He's A Third-String QB But CJ Harris is Excited to be at Cal

The Ohio U transfer gets high marks for his progress since joining the program

CJ Harris (16) enters Memorial Stadium with teammate Chandler Rogers / Photo by Al Sermeno, KLC fotos

CJ Harris came to Cal from Ohio University knowing he would be No. 3 on the quarterback depth chart. That was no deterrent to his intention to grow as a player.

Asked this week why he came here, Harris said it was the Cal coaching staff and “having two good guys ahead of me.”

Those two are returning starter Fernando Mendoza and North Texas transfer Chandler Rogers, who have been dueling for the No. 1 assignment since last spring.

As of now, there is little chance anyone else will break into that two-man competition.

“To be better, you have to put yourself in competitive situations,” Harris said. “I feel like coming here is going to let me play with better talent, play with better players, and be around a better coaching staff and having that big environment to kind of grow.”

Harris says he has been embraced by others in the quarterback room.

“My teammates have been amazing helping me kind of get in the offense, get in the flow of things being around Berkeley,” he said. “It’s been great.”

First-year quarterbacks coach Sterlin Gilbert, above, said Harris has been a welcome addition, adding experienced depth at the position.

“It’s the world of the portal now — you pick up a guy who’s been a 20-plus games starter, played in the MAC championship game,” said Gilbert, somewhat overstating Harris’ resume. 

In fact, Harris played in 10 games over four seasons at Ohio, earning the starting job late in 2022 after an injury to Kurtis Roarke but then being sidelined by health issues two games into the 2023 season.

Even so, Gilbert said the Bears welcome what the 6-foot-4, 220-pounder offers. "Valuable experience there as a quarterback, and he brings that out here every day.”

Harris gets third-string practice reps — not as many as Mendoza or Rogers — but Gilbert has seen progress.

“It’s encouraging to see where he’s at, the strides he’s made in a short amount of time,” he said. "You just think of an NFL vet quarterback being traded somewhere and bringing the same assets and value to the football team. That’s what CJ’s bringing right now. 

“Really good player. Picked it up sharp and we like the direction he’s headed.”

Harris wasn’t recruited out of high school by the Bears and says he never imagined being here. But this was an opportunity he could not pass up.

“I played a little bit at Ohio but I didn’t start all four years,” he said. “So, getting the chance to come out here and learn and play, was something that was vey enticing.”

Harris is enrolled in a business administration certificate program and hopes to one day become a college athletic director. Cal lists him as a redshirt sophomore, meaning he still has three years of eligibility.

His big break at Ohio came at the expense of starter Roarke, who tore his ACL in November 2022, giving Harris the starting job. He passed for 196 yards and a touchdown and ran for 65 yards and three TDs in his debut, a 38-14 win over Bowling Green.

He was not so productive in Ohio’s 17-7 loss to Toledo in the MAC title game but rebounded to win MVP honors at the 30-27 victory over Wyoming in the Arizona Bowl, passing for 184 yards and two TDs, including a game-winner in overtime.

Harris talks in the video above about his love of history and geography and his first choice as an international vacation destination.