HOUSTON — Everywhere you look around Husky Stadium there seems to be a new energy.
Head coach Braxton Harris took over the Houston Christian University program in December of last year.
“The main important thing we had to get done is we had to set a foundation of who we're going to be as a football program,” Harris said.
Harris was most recently at Campbell University in North Carolina. He’s only the second head coach in HCU history and is hoping to usher in a new era.
“We want to be persistent, we want to be unrelenting in what we're trying to be able to overcome,” Harris said.
And the coach, who’s a Mexia native, is also hoping to open doors recruiting-wise and bring his “power spread,” fast-paced, explosive offense.
“I coached Texas high school football, played Texas high school football, numerous coaches, and our staff have done the same path. And so the thing that that we get in that as we get to relationships," he said.
But he’s also walked into a program that already has home-grown talent on its roster like former North Shore Mustang, junior Ismael Fuller whose decision to stay in the program is a testament to what he said he’s seen culture change since Harris took over.
“The biggest changes -- as a team, we truly believe, like, I know it sounds cliche to say, we have shirts that say 'believe,' but you can see, like I said, he's putting action to it," Fuller said.
Something Bellaire High School alum All-American linebacker junior Rodney Dansby – who says that “belief” in this program – is changing the narrative.
“He came in with actions. He didn't just tell us words his actions follow what he was saying. And he got us all to believe not buy in because when you buy anything, always buy out. He got us all to believe in what he was doing,” Dansby said.
The Huskies hope this is the dawn of a new era.
The start of the season is right around the corner. HCU is getting ready to take on Arkansas Baptist at Husky Stadium on Sept. 2.