Roy High School alum — who was once uncertain about the ‘military thing’ — has become the Falcons' ‘Swiss Army knife’
There’s an adrenaline-fueled Deseret News photo of Cade Harris scoring a two-point conversion in Roy High’s 2020 win over northern Utah rival Davis High.
Donning the Royals’ familiar gold, black and white colors, Harris raises the football while belting out a joyful holler as he scampers across real estate he knows well: the end zone.
That old photo captures a “Harris-Does-It-Again” moment that Air Force Academy fans know well going into the 2025 college football season
Last season, the South Weber native/offensive “Swiss Army knife” — (“Swiss Air Force knife”?) — scored multiple touchdowns for the Falcons through the air and on the ground.
But there’s a can’t-miss detail from that Roy High photo that Air Force fans won’t recognize: A cascade of golden tresses jutting out the back of his helmet.
“Those pictures of me with my long hair are still kind of my ‘party pics,’” Harris told the Deseret News, laughing. “People don’t realize that I had some good locks.”
While the future Air Force officer now sports the cropped haircut of an academy cadet, the joy that Harris brings to the game hasn’t changed since his All-State playing days at Roy High.
“Even as a youngster, Cade was just electric,” remembered longtime Utah prep football coach Fred Fernandes, who coached Harris at Roy.
“He could do just about anything you wanted him to do on the football field.”
One final football season — then full-time military duties
There’s magic in the days leading up to a football season — at any level. Anything seems possible. Every team has an unsullied record. And every player is certain this season will be his best season.
If you count his Little League and Roy High days prior to joining the Falcons, Harris has enjoyed plenty of preseason magic.
But this year’s different.
Harris is a senior — and it’s likely the final time he will be preparing for football season, at least as a player. He will soon graduate, be commissioned a second lieutenant in the U.S. Air Force and begin his full-time military career as a logistics readiness officer.
“It is a surreal feeling knowing that this might be the last season I ever put on a helmet and shoulder pads,” he said. “But I’m approaching it in the same way as I would every other season. I’m doing everything I can to make sure I can be successful — and for our team to be successful.
“I’m trying not to get too wrapped up in the moment that this could be the last one.”
As one of the veterans in the Falcons’ attack, Harris will be relied upon to produce between the lines — and to be a leader at an institution created to forge leaders who can win battles.
“Especially here at the academy, you want to leave the program better than it was when you came into it,” Harris said.
“You’re trying to create a culture and an environment for the younger guys so they know the expectations — and can then take it and run with it for the future.”
The Falcons were a young bunch last season, and it showed early.
After winning their 2024 opener against Merrimack, Air Force dropped its next seven games — including painful losses to service academy rivals Navy and Army.
But the Falcons rallied, winning their final four games.
Harris is confident last year’s season-ending momentum will carry Air Force through the upcoming campaign.
This year’s contests against the fellow service academies are already circled on the Air Force Academy calendar in permanent ink, said Harris. “We want to get those Army and Navy games back — and get the Commander-in-Chief’s Trophy back here where it belongs.”
Claiming a Mountain West Conference title and a bowl game are also at the top of Harris’ goal list — along with a victory in front of his family and hometown friends when the Falcons play Utah State in Logan on Sept. 13.
“I just want to win,” said Harris, matter-of-factly.
An undersized guy — unafraid to play big
Harris is a self-described “South Weber kid” who grew up hunting, fishing, skiing and playing whatever sport was in season.
But football was his first love — and he was anxious to play high school ball for a Utah coaching legend, Fernandes.
“My time at Roy really shaped me into the player that I am today,” he said. “As a young freshman and sophomore, we had a lot of great older guys that took me under their wings and showed me the ropes and what hard work really looks like.”
Roy High’s football mentality? Always outwork the other guy.
“A lot of who I am today, my work ethic,” explained Harris, “came from my parents (Christopher and Stacie Harris), who taught me how to work — and then from that Roy High culture.”
Standing 5 feet, 8 inches, Harris knows he’s likely going to be facing larger defenders on almost any Division I football field. But being undersized offers Harris one more reason to put in the work — and put on the muscle.
“Even though he’s of small stature, Cade is so well-built that you could ask him to stick his nose in on a down block, and he’d get it done,” remembered Fernandes.
An unexpected landing at the Air Force Academy
Harris was wrapping up his high school football career at Roy in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, which disrupted his college recruitment opportunities. Many of the scholarships that would have typically been claimed by an elite player such as Harris were suddenly unavailable.
His buddy and high school teammate Jaxson Dart — who is now a rookie quarterback with the NFL’s New York Giants — had an uncle who was a team doctor at the Air Force Academy.
Dart’s uncle had watched Harris play at Roy High and thought the gritty young athlete would be a good fit for the Falcons.
But initially, Harris wasn’t too enthused about attending a service academy.
“I just didn’t know if I wanted to do the whole military thing,” he recalled.
So he reached out to every Mountain West Conference school — except the Air Force Academy.
In the end, the Falcons found him.
Harris ultimately accepted admission into the Air Force Academy, chopped off his locks and, in 2021, reported for I-Day for the demanding Basic Cadet Training required of all incoming freshmen.
The life of a student-athlete at a U.S. service academy is far different than that of a typical college athlete. Beyond meeting the demands of D1 competition, football players at the Air Force Academy are expected to perform military duties even while tackling rigorous academics.
“I came into the academy pretty blind; I didn’t really know what was going to happen or what I was getting myself into,” Harris recalled.
But like any savvy wide receiver, he adjusted and engaged the circumstances in front of him.
“It’s been super valuable just to get away from home — and then to have to figure out things on my own without having a crutch to help with every little thing.”
Strength found in his Latter-day Saint faith — and a fellow Roy High alum
Harris is focused tightly on the fast-approaching football season prior to his graduation and commissioning. But he’s got plenty to look forward to, post-academy.
Next year, Harris plans to marry fellow Roy High graduate Kenna Conley.
“We didn’t start dating until my freshman year here at the academy — then I got here and realized what I was missing,” he said, laughing.
Harris also finds strength in his Latter-day Saint beliefs.
“My faith,” he said, “is the most important thing in my life. … I credit everything I have today to God.”
Harris echoes a quote he learned from former Boise State All-American running back Ashton Jeanty: “I’m a Christian, cleverly disguised as a football player.”
Traditionally, there’s a fairly large Latter-day Saint community at the Air Force Academy. There are three Young Single Adult congregations on campus this year.
“I’m actually the Sunday school president for my ward right now,” added Harris, “so it’s been fun.”
Category: General Sports
