Will Harris is the Gators’ new secondary coach. (Photo via Los Angeles Chargers)
The first of what are thought to be several moves this offseason for the Florida Gators has been completed.
Will Harris, an assistant secondary coach for the NFL’s Los Angeles Chargers, replaces Corey Raymond, the former heralded LSU defensive backs coach that Florida took away when Billy Napier first arrived.
Though young, Harris has proven himself rather quickly in the profession. He played cornerback at USC towards the end of the Pete Carroll dynasty from 2006-09, and after a brief career in the NFL and then the CFL, jumped into coaching. He got his start at the Division II level at Northwestern Oklahoma State in 2013, and then bounced around two other D-II schools before getting his first major break in 2016.
San Jose State added Will Harris to their staff in 2016, where he coached the secondary for two years. By that point, his stock had grown, and Chris Peterson hired him to coach the Washington Huskies’ defensive backs. He stayed there for four years, and is credited with helping develop an impressive array of Washington DBs during that time.
Highlighting the Washington resume of Will Harris is the fact that he recruited, signed, and developed Trent McDuffie (now with the Kansas City Chiefs) and Kyler Gordon (now with the Chicago Bears) into high NFL Draft picks. McDuffie was taken in the first round of the 2022 NFL Draft at #21 overall; Gordon went a few picks later, early in round two, at #39 overall.
But his resume in Seattle is much more impressive than just two players. At various different stages of their careers, he also helped develop three other top-three-round NFL Draft selections: cornerback Elijah Molden (late third round pick), cornerback Byron Murphy Jr. (first pick of the second round) and safety Taylor Rapp (late second round pick).
After four years with the Huskies, Will Harris moved across the country to become the defensive coordinator for Georgia Southern in 2022. Objectively speaking, that didn’t go very well. The Eagles finished third-worst in the entire FBS with 496.2 yards per game allowed in 2022. However, true to form, GSU was far better against the pass than against the run that year.
The following year, Harris went back to what he knew, taking a job with the Los Angeles Chargers as an assistant secondary coach. This also hasn’t gone especially well. The Chargers currently have the second-worst pass defense in the entire league.
But all things considered, this has to be considered a strong hire for Florida. Will Harris clearly proved to be excellent at the job Florida has hired him to do at his last college stop at Washington, and the fact that he’s young and successful is almost always a boon on the recruiting trail.
And besides, it’s not like the secondary could actually be any worse than it was last year… could it?
