Najee Harris once admitted how he was building a special relationship with coach Mike Tomlin a year after he signed his $13,100,000 rookie deal with the Steelers. He revealed that he was spending a lot of time at Tomlin’s house which is really special for him since not a lot of coaches go the extra mile to build special relations with players.
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The RB was drafted by the Pittsburgh Steelers as a 24th overall pick in the 2021 NFL Draft. He saw a huge surge in his fanbase after his move to the Steelers. He signed a huge four-year rookie contract and what surprised him the most was how influential Coach T was being a players’ coach.
Najee Harris In Spending a Lot Of Time At Coach Mike Tomlin’s House
In 2022, Najee Harris sat for an interview with Jenna Harner of WPXI to talk about his extraordinary relationship with Coach Tomlin. He revealed that Coach T would invite him out of the blue whenever he would cook just to build a relationship. He even revealed how he would talk to his players to build relationships since it is more than just football.
“I go over there to his house a lot,” Harris said. “Thanksgiving, anytime he’s cooking he always invites me over there. Mike T, he wants to build a relationship and you should know that it’s more than football here.”
Najee Harris is a whole lot more than just a running back for the Steelers.
When I sat down with @ohthatsNajee22, he told me he's been forced to grow up quickly. But when it comes to who he is as a person, it's thanks, largely in part to the people most important to him. pic.twitter.com/I08y4Htrdj
— Jenna Harner (@JennaHarner11) September 23, 2022
“I think he really takes his time out of the day to even do that,” he added, “do small things like come down and talk to the players in the locker room, joke around. You see him on [Instagram] Live dancing a lot. Just talking to us on the field, before stretches, after stretching, all types of stuff like that. I think that plays a big role.”
Although there could be a criticism of Coach T’s approach to connecting with younger players, but that seems to be working inside the locker room. It’s not always one sees a head coach participating in players’ IG lives after wins but that is something that Tomlin does.
Coach Tomlin Feels Confident In Harris This Season
Now that Najee has entered his third year in the NFL, Coach T is still confident that the running back has lived up to his first-round-pick reputation. He emphasized the RB’s back-to-back 1,000-yard seasons and how he has delivered the expectations has been phenomenal.
He was also impressed by how dedicated Harris is to his craft, which he displayed when he picked up a toe injury but didn’t miss even a single game for the team. However, it will be seen how well Harris does this season now that the Steelers have lost their season opener to the 49ers.
