Harold Fannin Jr: The biggest breakout star of the 2024 college football season, catching the attention of fans, coaches, national media, and most importantly, the NFL. 

College football has been a dream of his ever since he was a kid, and now he’s just a kid in a backyard playing the sport he loves.

“[To] play offense and play college football. It was my dream to always play college football since I was young.” 

Fannin Jr. grew up in Canton, Ohio, where he attended Canton McKinley High School and, played football all four years and started varsity as a sophomore.

“Grew up, big family, single mother, I went to Canton McKinley high school all four years, started varsity my sophomore year, ended up my senior year getting a full-ride scholarship here, and now I’m here,” Fannin said.

Despite starring at the tight end position at the college level, Fannin Jr. was a standout defensive back for the Bulldogs, being named first-team all-Ohio his senior season.`

Harold wanted to play offense, and Bowling Green head football coach Scot Loeffler saw the potential in him to shine with the football (purposely) in his hands. 

“I always wanted to play offense when I was younger. I used to play running back a lot, I never really played defense. At the time, I was just doing what the team needed,” said Fannin. “Bowling Green gave me the offer to come play tight end, and I was glad to take it.” 

Fannin Jr. played his final high school season under coach Antonio Hall at McKinley. 

Even Hall was unsure about the transition to tight end at the college level, but he says Fannin Jr. knew what he was doing. 

“I knew he had great hands, I knew he was a really good receiver, I just didn’t know the transition to tight end, how that would be because I didn’t know how truly how big he was going to be able to get,” Hall said. “My biggest concern with him saying he wanted to play tight end was just I didn’t know if he could get big enough to play that position effectively, but he’s proving to everybody that he knew what he was doing.” 

Despite their short overlap, Hall knew what Fannin could do.

“Harold is a very unique individual. He understands things very quickly. He’s probably one of the most talented people I’ve ever seen in my life,” Hall said. “Just seeing the things that God has blessed him to be able to do, and now the rest of the world is starting to see it. I saw it on defense, I saw it on special teams, and obviously on offense. He’s one of those players that only come around every 10 or 20 years.”

Hall is also a guy who has had a tremendous impact on Fannin Jr. throughout his career. 

“He made a big impact, he’d been to college, he played professional, so he was a great mentor,” said Fannin Jr. 

Hall believes that this is just the beginning of something that could be special.

“I think Harold is just now scratching the surface of what his potential truly could be. He’s already doing it in blockbuster fashion. If he just continues to work, to develop, to learn, that combined with the gifts God has given him, he could hopefully be one of those people you’ll be watching for a very long time in some very big games.”

Coach Hall knew that once Fannin Jr. sets his mind on something, the expectations are through the roof. 

“Once he’s motivated to accomplish a task, he’s going to surpass all expectations. He went from a guy who was struggling academically to finishing making all A’s and B’s just because that was a goal he set himself, and he applied it. Same on the football field. Once he sets his mind to doing something or accomplishing something, chances are it’s going to get done.” 

Fannin Jr. is in the midst of a historic season. Heading into the Week 13 Ball State game, he had amassed 1,170 yards on 83 receptions and eight receiving touchdowns…as a tight end.

Along the way, it felt like week after week, Fannin Jr. was setting some records within the program left and right.

One of his largest milestones came in the Kent State game, where Fannin Jr. broke the record for receiving yards in a career by a Bowling Green tight end. Coincidentally, the mark was set by his position coach, Alex Bayer, who totaled 1,543 yards from 2010 to 2013.

“It’s been a fun process. It’s been a long time coming; we all saw it in him, and we all knew that he was a very gifted athlete. To be part of it, and to kind of follow a few weeks ago, when it kind of broke that he was only a couple hundred yards away or whatever, was pretty cool to follow, with someone like him, it wasn’t something we ever talked about or mentioned. It was just, let’s move onto the next week and handle our business,” said Bayer. 

Fannin Jr. and Bayer’s relationship has been stellar since Harold’s arrival, and he says he has been a big help to his success.

“We’ve got a good relationship; he’s a great guy. Like I said with Coach Hall, he’s been to the league, so that helps a lot with what I’m trying to do.”

Bayer, despite getting his record overtaken, has the utmost respect for Fannin Jr. for what he’s become and is just happy to be a part of his journey.

Of course, with some friendly banter along the way as well.

“We’ve joked back and forth a few times about it, especially now that he’s overtaken the record. I think it was a couple of weeks before that; I was tied for the touchdown lead and everything, so it’s been a long time coming. I’m waiting for him to remind me that it took me four years to do it, and it only took him two-and-a-half.”

It only took two and a half years to break the all-time record for yards by a tight end at BG?

Superhuman is the word best used to describe Fannin Jr.

Records aren’t a priority that Fannin Jr. has his mind set on, but he’s chipping away at one that would give him immortality in college football history.

This season, Fannin has made his mark on college football history, shattering Jace Amaro’s regular season tight end receiving, amassing 1,342 receiving yards, and besting Amaro by over 100 yards (1,240).

One of the best parts about Fannin’s historical season is that his best performances came against No. 8 at the time, Penn State, where he had 11 receptions for 137 yards and a touchdown on the opening drive. Along with No. 25 at the time, Texas A&M, where he had eight receptions for 145 yards as well as a 65-yard touchdown.

Bayer says those performances are just another day at the office for Fannin Jr.

“For him to do what he did against Penn State, what he did against Texas A&M. To us, not a surprise, we see it every day at practice. He’s the hardest working kid on that practice field, and that’s why I give him a lot of credit for it” 

“Those are the two games that stand out to me on seeing the potential that, again, we knew he had, but seeing it on the field against those types of opponents and just taking over – for two straight games, he was the best player on the field against two Power Five teams or Power Four teams. So to see that, to see him thrive and the passion he played with was real exciting.” 

Fannin Jr.’s mentality for putting up these kinds of stats so consistently has been just taking it day by day. 

“Just taking it day by day. Just keep improving.”