When the season began for the Oregon football team, the secondary was considered the most proven squad on the defensive side of the ball.
If Oregon was going to be good defensively it was going to start with the defensive backs, their coverage of opposing receivers as well as their ability to fill gaps and make tackles against the run.
Walter Thurmond III and Jairus Byrd were the cornerstones of this heralded group, with three-year starter Patrick Chung at rover as the foundation. All were proven quantities as starters at their positions. The only position in doubt was at free safety, where projected starter Ryan DePalo was still coming back from a knee injury suffered during spring practices.
The starting free safety role fell into the hands of junior college transfer Matt Harper. Harper had played a prominent role on special teams and was on the field in several of the defense’s dime packages last season as a junior, but had yet to prove himself to coaches as a viable starter. While his physical abilities and knack for flying to the ball were never in doubt, his ability to take on the role of starting free safety – reading the opposing offense and helping to align his teammates accordingly, all while getting himself in the right position to make a play – was an area for concern for Oregon coaches.

Fast forward to the present, halfway through the season, and Harper has emerged as one of the most dangerous defensive weapons in the Pac-10. In fact, he may be the most dangerous. His 11 tackles per game leads the conference and ranks No. 10 in the nation.
“Matt has really come a long way. I think his confidence has grown quite a bit,” said Oregon secondary coach John Neal. “His mistake factor is very, very low and his production is extremely high. We’re really fortunate that he came through in that position when he did. His production has been outstanding.”
One person who had no doubts about Harper’s ability to start was Chung, Harper’s wingman in the defensive backfield.
“I had full confidence even before he stepped on the field,” said Chung. “Everybody said ‘he’s light’ and all this but I knew he was going to step it up.”
Harper and Chung seem perfectly suited to play together. They hang out at each others’ houses during the week and both said they enjoy the other’s company on and off the field.
Though Chung is more relaxed and loose with the media, he said that Harper is the one that keeps the him loose on the field.
“He’s funny. It keeps the laughter going during the game,” said Chung. “Every time I look at him he’s laughing about something so it just keeps it fun out there.”
Harper, who seems more soft-spoken and reserved when dealing with the media, said that’s just how he likes to compete.
“I like to have everybody laughing to make sure we’re having fun on the field,” said Harper. “That’s just my personality.”
What could possibly be funny when you’re out on the field engaging in high-speed collisions with other top-tier athletes?
“We talk about each others’ heads,” said Harper. “I say his head’s big, he says my head’s big, stuff like that.”
Despite the level of success Harper has enjoyed to this point he remains humble, and is quick to deflect credit for his league-leading numbers to Oregon’s defensive scheme.
“Our type of defense has allowed the secondary to make a lot of plays, so it’s pretty much a team thing,” he said. Then a touch of pride kicks in and the playful side appears with a smirk, “And I’m the type of player that likes to get around the ball a lot, so I would think that that has a lot to do with it.”
Neal said that not only does the scheme allow for Harper to make all those tackles, it’s crucial to the entire defense that he does.
“That position allows you to do that and sometimes it forces you to do that,” said Neal. “And if he’s not making those plays then our defense won’t be good enough to win. Right now he’s playing winning defense.”
Neal said that aside from his nose for the ball and physical talent he was recruited for, Harper’s work ethic gave the coaches confidence in him to be able to handle the starting role.
During practice Tuesday, Neal was talking to the defensive backs as they ran through their drills. He stopped them to single out Harper as the only one of the group that, in his mind, has achieved ‘elite’ status. A high compliment considering the talent Oregon possesses in that area.
“He plays at one speed. Through conditioning, through all of our drills, all those other types of things he always, always goes the hardest,” said Neal after practice. “I told the rest of them, ‘Don’t pretend unless you can contend with Matt, in everything he does.’
“The hardest thing for us to do as coaches is to get our guys to play hard, and when you finally see a guy that gets that part of it he can be a catalyst for other players to rise up to his level of work. And that’s toughness to, that’s what he’s got,” said Neal.
Harper said that everything he does, including his work ethic, comes from the examples set by his father, Willie Harper, who played ten years at defensive end for the San Francisco 49ers, and his brothers and sisters, who are all athletes as well.
“Everybody’s an athlete. I have older brothers that I look up to that were playing when I was younger,” said Harper. “I always wanted to look up to them and do what they did, so basically it’s everybody. My dad, all my brothers, my whole family.”
Matt Harper is the seventh of nine children born to Willie and Roxane Harper. The seven boys and two girls range in age from 15 to 41 years old. Harper holds fond memories of growing up as part of a large family.
“Being around my brothers and sisters when I was younger was fun. People were always around the house, if it wasn’t them it was friends or cousins,” he said. “So having a big family, I like it a lot. I had a lot of people to look up to and a lot of people to tell me what was good and what was wrong and what not to do and stuff like that.”
Of the many influences and role models around Harper as a child, one of the most impactful was his oldest brother Terrel. “He was the one telling me what to do, telling me what was good for me,” said Harper of his older brother. “And sometimes he would even help me, back in my Pop Warner days, he would help me with how to do things right on the football field.”
But no one can influence a child the way a father can, and Harper’s father is no exception. Willie Harper comes to every game and though he played defensive end and Matt Harper plays safety, he still has advice for his son after the games.
“Sometimes after the games he’ll tell me what I did wrong, what I need to work on,” said Harper. “Like say if I miss a tackle he’ll tell me ‘You could have slowed down and tackled him this way’ and how to make my coverage better and stuff like that.”
And who better to give advice than a man who reached the game’s highest level. Harper said he talks to his dad all the time about the process of getting to the NFL. “I always think about going to the NFL,” he said. “It’s everybody’s dream.”
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