Ex-Ducks QB wanted to get back home

EUGENE, Ore. – Former Oregon player Chris Harper says it was the distance from Kansas to Oregon that motivated him to leave the Ducks after a season, not getting taken out of a quarterback slot.

Harper left in May to play at Kansas State and be closer to his home in Wichita. He’s also getting another shot at a QB role.

When he left Oregon, Harper didn’t grant interviews about his reasons. Now he tells the Eugene Register-Guard he wasn’t ready to move 1,200 miles from home.

He says he liked new Oregon coach Chip Kelly, who has seen nine players leave, and has no hard feelings about his time in Oregon, where he was moved to receiver.

He says he just wasn’t ready for what he calls such a big jump.