Breaking down Denver Harris' situation at LSU in light of Brian Kelly's comments

During LSU’s practices over the past week or so, Denver Harris has been noticeably absent. The Texas A&M transfer was a key piece of the Tigers’ transfer portal class this year, and Brian Kelly said he’s dealing with “personal matters” and could have a chance to re-join the team this weekend.

The situation is the latest turn for Harris, who made headlines last season as a freshman with the Aggies. He was one of multiple players to be suspended for the game against Miami and eventually missed the last half of the year due to suspension. After the season, Harris hit the portal.

Although he didn’t appear to run into any issues at LSU over the spring and summer, the fall became a different story, according to The Bengal Tiger beat reporter Shea Dixon. The Tigers took multiple cornerbacks in the portal, with Harris coming in as the highest-ranked of the group. However, as camp went along, things started to change.

“I’ve been covering this beat since the early 2000s, and not for any of Les [Miles] or any of Coach O have we ever been given access to practice, fall camp, like we have with Brian Kelly now,” Dixon told Andy Staples on Andy Staples On3. “That’s allowed us to watch almost the entirety of every single practice. We’ve gotten to see Denver Harris out there, and he started out the first week, running second team. And it kind of felt like okay, they’re dangling the carrot and they’re motivating him and they want him to take charge.

“Well, in very short order, he was third team and with guys who were walk-ons and in a room where you already lost one of your transfers, JK Johnson, to injury during fall camp. Now, you’re down to two transfers in Duce Chestnut and Zy Alexander. Those two get every first-team rep, and now Denver’s third team? We just saw things in practice with the media being there of kind of piping back at the coaches or whatever it might be to where you’re like, ‘Oh man, this isn’t what you normally see and you’re not seeing that from anywhere else.'”

More on Denver Harris, aftermath of the fight at LSU practice

Harris was a key piece of Texas A&M’s highly touted recruiting class, coming in as a five-star recruit and the No. 23-ranked player in the nation from the 2023 cycle, according to the On3 Industry Ranking, a weighted average that utilizes all four major recruiting media companies. After entering the transfer portal, he checked in as the No. 13 player to hit the open market, per the On3 Transfer Portal Rankings.

Last week, there was a fight during LSU’s practice. Harris was involved and it apparently spilled over after practice wrapped up. Since then, Dixon said Harris hasn’t been on the field since and wasn’t in the team photo.

While the door appears open for Harris’ return, it’s worth noting he’s not the first Texas A&M transfer to deal with issues after transferring to another SEC school. Smoke Bouie transferred to Georgia, but was dismissed from the team. Chris Marshall headed to Ole Miss and was also removed from the roster. All three arrived in College Station as highly ranked recruits.

Although Harris hasn’t been dismissed, Dixon said Kelly indicated he’d have to be careful.

“We haven’t seen him in about a week, and he was not the team photo, and then Brian Kelly came out and said he’s not with us right now. He’s handling personal stuff,” Dixon said. “If he can get together, maybe as soon as this weekend, we’ll invite him back.

“But as of right now, they are moving forward without him daily at practice. … But also you’re sitting here after news like Bouie and after news like Chris Marshall, and you’re not all that surprised that there in a situation where it was described from the start, from Brian Kelly, as saying we knew this is a risk to take a kid who was just suspended for half the season. If he doesn’t fall in line with X, Y and Z here, we won’t have the patience for it either. And I think that, what, two weeks out from the season, it seems we’ve hit that kind of line in the road.”