First Father’s Day for NC State football’s Joshua Harris adds motivation, inspiration
A few weeks before N.C. State football’s 2021 season opener, life changed for Joshua Harris.
Last August, Harris, a defensive lineman for the Wolfpack, and his fiancee, Taylor Carter, welcomed Aylah June Harris to the world. Aylah’s birth, two months ahead of schedule, was a pivotal point in Harris’ maturation process.
“It’s like a switch went off,” Harris told The News & Observer, as Aylah bounced on his knee. “I have somebody that I physically have to take care of. Regardless of anything I go through now, I have her, I have to lock in.”
Sunday will be Harris’ first Father’s Day.
Last year, in the weeks leading up to N.C. State’s opener against South Florida at Carter-Finley Stadium, Harris started his days at Duke University Hospital before heading to N.C. State for school and football practice. Then, he’d return to the hospital in Durham, where Aylah spent her first 11 days in the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU).
“At first I was like, ‘Oh my God,’ ” Harris said. “Just for the first 11 days of her life.”
Heading into the 2022 season, things have settled down for Harris and Carter, who met as teenagers at Person High School in Roxboro.
Harris performed well throughout spring practices and is in position to have his best season since arriving at N.C. State. The defensive tackle says becoming a father has helped him develop on and off the field.
“I feel like she motivated me to do a lot of things,” Harris said.
‘He’s a mature guy’
In three seasons, Harris has played in 19 games with one start.
But with C.J. Clark and Cory Durden out with injuries during spring football, Harris got all the first-team reps at nose guard, something he said probably wouldn’t have happened without a little extra motivation — and a little less weight.
Harris has dropped 51 pounds since arriving on campus, and he credits becoming a father with helping accelerate the maturation process that convinced him he needed to change his body to improve his play on the field.
“I feel like I took advantage of the opportunity and was out there showing that my skills have progressed,” Harris said. “(Aylah) was motivating me to go out there every day and attack it.”
Defensive line coach Charley Wiles noticed a different player during spring practices.
“He’s gone to another level,” Wiles said. “He knows now he has those two eyes looking at him. He has an opportunity over the next three years, and he’s taken full advantage of that.”
The early days of fatherhood — late nights, early mornings, little to no sleep — almost caught up with Harris.
“I was like a walking zombie in here,” Harris, now a redshirt sophomore, said. “At 4:30 a.m. I was up feeding her, and I had to be in the Murphy Center at 6 a.m. She was up every two hours wanting a bottle. But my fiancee was very supportive. She’s a great mom.”
Harris has never missed any football-related events. His spring semester was also one of his best in the classroom since he has been at N.C. State.
“Joshua Harris handles his business on a day-to-day basis,” Wiles said. “He’s a mature guy. He’s a calm, collected guy. He’s responsible, he cares about his teammates. If anybody was ready, Joshua was ready.”
‘I love being a girl dad’
At 6-4, 325 pounds, Harris uses his brute force to stun offensive linemen and ball carriers. But Aylah, at about 20 pounds now, can break him down with one glance and a smile.
“All the time,” Harris said. “I look at her and she’ll get that whiny face and I’m like, ‘That’s really my daughter.’ She’ll bring the soft side out of you.”
When Aylah was born, Harris said he didn’t shed a tear. The way his heart was beating, though, he insists the feeling was “crazier than crying.”
He remembers the first time he held her, the first time he heard her utter the phrase “da-da.” Those two words make a hard day on the practice field melt away when he gets home.
“I love being a girl dad,” Harris said. “I want that dad-and-daughter bond.”
