SAN ANTONIO — On the doorstep of his 54th and final game in UTSA white, orange and blue, some would argue that Roadrunners quarterback Frank Harris has earned legend status.
His Roadrunners close out the season Tuesday night at the Frisco Bowl against the Marshall Thundering Herd. You can imagine the Hollywood ending now: Harris closing out an extended UTSA career with the program's firs-ever bowl win, the lone box he and the Roadrunners have yet to check in the program's 13-year history.
Frank and Jared Johnston, the former Clemens High School head coach who mentored him, sat down with KENS 5 to discuss Frank's seven years with UTSA. As Johnston puts it, Traylor called him within just a few days of his hiring out of Gilmer High School to find out about his new quarterback.
"He said, 'Tell me about Frank Harris,'" Johnston said. "I said, 'He's gonna change your life.'"
According to Harris, Johnston himself approached him about potentially playing for the young Roadrunners program one day at Buffaloes practice.
"(He) said, 'I think you'd be a perfect fit at UTSA. He said I could be the mayor of San Antonio."
Harris admits he initially wasn't sold on the idea, at which point Johnston threw up his hands with a smile on his face. But he warmed to it with time, even saying it eventually arrived to the point where he wouldn't plan on talking to another school if they came knocking and asked him to play a different position.
The schools did come knocking. Major ones, from the Big 12 and Power Five conferences.
All the while, Johnston reaffirmed his belief to Harris that the young footballer can success as a quarterback—no matter where he went.
"He had my back through it all," Harris said. "Everything worked out for a reason, and I wound up at UTSA."
'Keep with the belief'
Harris battled through several injuries in both high school and college. But it was the toe injury early in the season that confirmed to his high school coach that Harris will always overcome.
"They tried to get him in the cart," Johnston said, laughing. "He was waving off the cart, walked off, and I was like, 'That's my boy! He's not getting on any cart!'"
Johnston even gave Harris a prediction about his future: So long as the now-24-year-old reached this stage in his football career and was relatively healthy, he would be dominating.
"I said, 'You will be able to do things at UTSA that nobody has ever done before,'" he said. "'You have to just have to keep with the belief and keep working.'"
Harris told KENS 5 he even made a promise to Traylor: That the quarterback would help his new coach more than his new coach would help the young quarterback.
"'Don't get too mad about it,'" Harris recalls saying. "'I might take a sack for 30 yards running around, but he might break out of it, too.'"
Frank said Coach just let him play football.
Given his accolades – 19th on the all-time FBS career list with 14,007 total yards; 120 total touchdowns; conference MVP honors last year – it's hard to argue that.
The results speak for themselves.
"I told Coach Traylor that there would be times that you would say, 'What are you doing? No! No! No! Go! Go! Go! Great call!"
Coach Johnston said he always watches the games on TV, or sometimes in person when possible. Being in the vicinity of awestruck spectators watching Harris' game has come to be part of the terrain.
"People would always say, 'Can you believe what he just did?' I'd say, 'What are you talking about man?'" Johnston said. "There will never be another Frank Harris at Clemens. There will never be another Frank Harris at UTSA."
Even now, years later, Harris acknowledges the path he took to get here.
"I had to play someplace to get to UTSA," he said. "It just so happens that was at Clemens. If I hadn't had success at Clemens, then I never would have been at UTSA."
The Roadrunners kick off the Frisco Bowl at 8 p.m. Tuesday against the Marshall Thundering Herd.
"It is going to (be) emotional at the end of the game, because we just don't know what the future will hold," said Frank. "I'm excited for it."
Visit Vinnie's X page at @vvinzetta to hear more stories shared by Johnston and Harris.
>MORE SPORTS COVERAGE: