The Florida Gators have named Chargers assistant coach Will Harris the new secondary coach, as reported by Zach Abolverdi of On3.
Harris previously served as the assistant secondary coach for the Los Angeles Chargers during the 2023 NFL season. Before he joined the Chargers coaching staff in April, Harris spent several seasons coaching at the collegiate level.
Harris served as the defensive coordinator and secondary coach at Georgia Southern last year. The Eagles had a top-20 red zone defense, nabbed 11 interceptions and compiled 65 pass breakups in Harris’s lone season with the team.
Most notably, Harris coached at Washington for four seasons from 2018 to 2021. He started as a defensive assistant coach in 2018 before moving into a new role as assistant defensive backs coach in his second year.
Harris spent his final two seasons in Seattle as the defensive backs coach. He helped the Huskies make a jump from 56th in the nation in pass defense in 2019 to 13th in 2020.
He coached the duo of two current NFL cornerbacks, Trent McDuffie and Kyler Gordon, in 2021.
Under Harris’s coaching at Washington, McDuffie and Gordon earned All-Pac 12 honors, and were the only pair of cornerbacks to earn an 85+ grade from Pro Football Focus among Power 5 schools that season.
In 2021, the Huskies led the nation in fewest passing yards allowed with just 1,720 yards given up. They also only allowed six touchdown passes, which also led the country. The team also grabbed 10 interceptions that season.
Harris also spent two seasons coaching at San Jose State before Washington.
His hire comes amidst the Gators parting ways with former secondary coach Corey Raymond Nov. 27.
Contact Jackson Reyes at jacksonreyes@alligator.org. Follow him on Twitter @JacksnReyes.
Jackson Reyes is a UF journalism senior and The Alligator's Fall 2023 Sports Editor. He previously served as Digital Managing Editor and was a reporter and assistant editor on the sports desk. In his free time, he enjoys collecting records, long walks on the beach and watching Bo Nix.
