Bretsch, Harney named captains of USD football team

Two Fallbrook High School graduates are among the captains of the University of San Diego football team.

The USD players selected defensive back Phil Bretsch as one of their captains and selected injured running back Evan Harney as an honorary captain. USD has three team captains in 2005; the third is wide receiver Nick Garton, who attended Dana Hills High School in Dana Point.

“They’re just the most quality people you’d ever want to be around,” said USD head coach Jim Harbaugh. “Our team recognizes that.”

The USD players voted for the team captains. “I’m pretty much speechless about it. It’s an unbelievable honor. Something that you can only dream about,” Bretsch said.

“I thought it was such a huge honor to select me as honorary captain. It means so much that the team still views me in that way,” Harney said.

Harney is recovering from a non-football injury and will not play in 2005, although USD will likely petition the National Collegiate Athletic Association for a sixth year of eligibility, which is often granted in cases of an injury, for Harney. The NCAA allows players four seasons of eligibility, but eligibility is limited to a five-year period which begins when the student-athlete is first enrolled as a full-time college student. Harney spent two years at the University of California, Irvine, where he did not play football, before transferring to USD in 2003.

Harney and Bretsch both graduated from Fallbrook High School in 2001. Bretsch began his collegiate career at the University of California, San Diego, which does not have a football team, before joining the USD squad in 2003.

Bretsch played baseball at UCSD. When he joined the Toreros as a transfer, he was hoping to be accepted by the football team. He worked hard and utilized actions instead of words. “It’s kind of reassuring me that I’m doing the right thing,” Bretsch said of being selected captain.

“It feels good to know that my teammates trust me and accept me,” Bretsch said. “It’s such a great feeling.”

The vote for Bretsch as a captain may have been a near-formality since that position is usually reserved for a senior and the USD defense has only two senior starters. The other senior starter is Fallbrook High School graduate Adam Burke, who spent two years at Palomar College and spent 2004 with the USD offense before being switched to cornerback for 2005.

However, the honor doesn’t automatically go to a senior. “It was pretty evident who they wanted to be their captain,” Harbaugh said of Bretsch’s selection.

“Phil is a tremendous football player and he’s just a wonderful person and a hard worker,” Harbaugh said. “He’s just a wonderful player, wonderful person.”

Bretsch and Harney have been close friends since before they were USD teammates. “That he was able to be a captain with me is pretty cool,” Bretsch said of Harney’s selection. “I thought that was pretty awesome.”

Although Harney cannot play this season, he is helping to coach USD’s running backs.

“They just do things right,” Harbaugh said of Bretsch, Harney and Garton. “The parents did the work raising those three.”