Both Xavier Harris and Isiah Childs came to the Montana Grizzlies as running backs.
This fall, their careers will end elsewhere on the field. Childs, who was announced as a team captain on Monday, switched to linebacker, while Harris has been taking most of his snaps this fall at wide receiver.
It remains to be seen how many snaps they’ll play in their new spots. But despite the position changes, both will certainly have a role to play this season for the Griz.
“The biggest challenge, really, is just staying mentally ready and mentally prepared,” Harris said. “But that also comes with trusting my teammates and trusting my coaches, them helping me out with what they know and what they’ve been doing.”
“I was definitely into it,” Childs said. “I know how our defense is on Saturdays. That was the first thing I wanted to be a part of, it’s a part of our culture on the defensive side of the ball. So it wasn’t nothing I was kind of being a Debbie downer about, I was definitely excited to do it.”
The changes were part of the downstream effects of redshirt freshman Eli Gillman’s breakout season a year ago. Gillman won the Jerry Rice Award as the top freshman in the FCS, establishing himself as the team’s No. 1 back.
Nick Ostmo also elected to return for his final year of eligibility. Last year, Gillman and Ostmo combined for 326 carries. Harris had just 46, and Childs 31.
With that rotation solidified – and Arizona transfer Stevie Rocker Jr. also joining the team at running back this off-season – opportunities opened up at other spots for Harris and Childs.
Childs is a former 3-star recruit from Manhattan, Kansas – he played both running back and linebacker in high school and had an offer from Kansas State to play defense – who transferred to Montana after a redshirt year at Akron. He had over 200 rushing yards in each of his first two seasons with the Griz, including a 99-yard, two-touchdown performance at North Dakota State in the playoffs two seasons ago. With Gillman’s emergence, Childs had just 108 rushing yards last season, but he also started to contribute on Montana’s special teams coverage units.
This off-season, the Griz surprisingly named him as their nominee for the special teams spot on the preseason all-conference team, and he was picked as a preseason all-conference player.
He was a backup to returning starter Ryan Tirrell at linebacker on Montana’s first two-deep depth chart, released Tuesday.
“I have to switch from an offensive mindset to a defensive mindset, but me playing linebacker now, I know how a running back works, where they hit the holes and how offensive schemes work with the offensive line,” Childs said. “Physicality is still there. I just think the biggest thing is getting into the playbook right now. I know all my techniques and all the stunts and where the defense is going, and all our blitzes and everything. It’s been nothing but fun.”
Harris switched back and forth between running back and receiver at Oxnard High School in California, where he played with Griz receiver Aaron Fontes. The diminutive, shifty back had an exceptional introduction at Montana, running for 70 yards against Washington in his first-ever college game and finishing his freshman season as the team’s leading rusher.
He wasn’t quite as effective each of the next two seasons, fading behind Ostmo and Gillman on the depth chart, although his spin move on the sideline against Delaware last season was one of the highlights of Montana’s playoff run.
Unlike Childs, Harris might still see some snaps in the backfield this season, but he’s expected to feature mainly at wide receiver. So far in his Griz career, he has 35 catches for 248 yards and one touchdown.
“I had to get back in the lab and work on my receiver footwork,” Harris said. “Get back to my releases and route running, open-field route running. I had to get that back. There’s always still room for improvement, but I feel like I’m catching up.”
The change mirrors the one that both players made when they came to Montana years ago, with uncertainty and uncomfortability in equal measure.
“Coming out here from a sunshine state to not knowing what the weather is going to do this entire state, it’s kind of crazy, you know? The first snowstorm I was ever in, almost five inches deep of snow, it was kind of wild,” Harris said. “It took a while to adapt, and I’m glad I did. Just one day I woke up and I was used to the weather and used to the lifestyle.”
Both adapted just fine to the move, and eventually became stalwarts in the Grizzly running backs room.
Now, they’ll have to show that adaptability again.
“It’s been a really good learning opportunity for me, and I just can’t wait to get on the field and show everybody what I can do,” Childs said. “You know, I’m a football player. At the end of the day, I’m an athlete, and I love playing ball. So if I can get on the field, whether it’s running the ball or going to hit and tackle the ball, I’m going to do it. And I know what I’m capable of doing on the field, especially on the defensive side of the ball, so it’s going to be fun to watch this year.”
