Arizona added kicker and punter Ryan Harris as a transfer from Washington State on Monday night. Harris was a walk-on at Washington State in 2024 after spending two seasons at San Diego Mesa College.
Harris redshirted in his first season at Washington State in 2024 after playing in three games. In 2025, Harris averaged 40.7 on 52 punts with 21 fair catches forced, 15 punts of 50 yards or longer and three touchbacks. Harris averaged 62.63 yards on kickoffs with a 61.54 touchback percentage.
Arizona kicker Ian Wagner was first nationally in 2025, averaging 65.00 yards per kickoff and fourth with 87.32 touchback percentage. Harris will almost certainly replace 2025 redshirt senior Wagner on kickoffs in 2026.
Arizona's Michael Salgado-Medina will return as the place kicker in 2026. Australian punter Chase Ridley flipped to Arizona from West Virginia, where he had signed during the Early Signing Period in December.
SIGNED ✍️ @rryanharriss pic.twitter.com/pTKtcboQFH
— Arizona Football (@ArizonaFBall) January 13, 2026
Prior to Washington State
Harris began his career at Boise State in 2022, where he did not play. At San Diego Mesa College in 2023, Harris averaged 38.9 yards on 55 punts with 23 inside the 20 and 19 fair catches forced. Harris made two out of seven field goal attempts and all 14 extra point attempts for San Diego Mesa.
Salgado-Medina made 19 of 31 field goals during the 2025 season and often struggled. The 61.2 on field goals by Salgado-Medina in 2025 was outside of the top 100 nationally. Harris should be challenged by Ridley as the punter and he could compete with Salgado-Medina to be the place kicker.
At the very least, expect Harris to be the kickoff specialist for Arizona in 2026. Replacing Wagner could be the bigger job for Harris than stepping in for graduated Isaac Lovison as the punter. Lovison averaged 42.6 yards per punt with 17 fair catches forced, 13 punts inside the 20 and six for 50 or more yards.