Will Harris Up For Challenge As Florida's DB Coach: 'That's What I'm About'

Consider Will Harris up for the challenge of replenishing confidence in Florida's secondary. Don't just take his word for it.

Photo: Will Harris; Credit: University of Washington Athletics 

GAINESVILLE, Fla. -- Billy Napier's message during the December Early Signing Period was clear. 

At the time, Florida had just signed 17 high school prospects from the class of 2024, although much attention was being placed on the eight recent Gator commits who opted to sign elsewhere.

Napier, behind the lectern on Dec. 20, declared his admiration for those who stuck. Those who weren't deterred by the results of Florida's 2023 season. Those who, in Napier's opinion, were dedicated to righting the Gator football ship.

"This group that we're here to talk about today and celebrate today decided, 'Hey, you know what, I believe in what's happening there,'" Napier vocalized. "'I'm up for the challenge.'"

Napier's memo resonated with his team. It struck a chord with new Gators defensive backs coach Will Harris, in particular.

"We've all been talking about that," Harris admitted in an exclusive interview with All Gators. "That's what I'm about."

For Harris, taking a challenge head-on isn't something new. 

The blossoming of Harris' career in the field is well-documented. A former safety for Pete Carroll at Southern California, Harris trained athletes in Los Angeles before a reference from rapper and actor, Snoop Dogg, secured his debut assistant coaching role at Division II Northwestern Oklahoma State in 2013.

Within three years, Harris became a Division I position coach at San Jose State. Within seven, he was overseeing an entire Power 5 secondary at Washington. He'd even coordinated an FBS defense by the decade-mark of his coaching career, at Georgia Southern, before earning an assistant gig in the NFL with the Chargers in 2023. 

When the proverbial writing was stained onto the wall in L.A. this past season, Harris' search for another challenge led him to Gainesville. 

He was up for one with Napier, to whom he was connected through now-former Chargers defensive coordinator Derrick Ansley, who once coached with Napier at Alabama.

"That's [one] reason why I took the job, just doing my research on him and knowing for a fact that we're gonna get this thing turned around," Harris expressed about his pairing with Napier and Florida. "I just kept telling myself and my family, like, how special that would be when we get it done."

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The job entails Harris supervising the entire secondary of coordinator Austin Armstrong's Florida defense, one that improved marginally against the pass in 2023 compared to 2022 but entered the 2024 offseason in need of a facelift nonetheless. 

Harris takes the unit over from dismissed assistant Corey Raymond and returns to the all-encompassing coaching capacity he last held at Washington, following less than one season in which he worked primarily with the Chargers' cornerbacks. 

"I told coach Napier I wanted it," Harris said of the responsibility. 

"When I was at Washington, I had the whole entire back end. I believe communication breeds understanding, we're all going to meet together and connect on the same level." 

He was thoroughly conditioned for the function at the Power 5 level over the final two years of Chris Petersen's tenure with the Huskies. 

Washington's head coach from 2014-19, Petersen brought Harris on from San Jose State in 2018 to serve as a derivative defensive backs coach alongside Jimmy Lake, who directed the secondary while coordinating UW's defense. 

The duo of Lake and Harris led one of the fiercest secondaries in the FBS in 2018 with eventual second-round NFL Draft picks Byron Murphy Jr. and Taylor Rapp, among others, fielding crucial roles in the Huskies' run to a Rose Bowl appearance. The cornerback and safety lent a hand in creating 10 turnovers that year, six interceptions and four fumbles either forced or recovered.

Opposing quarterbacks threw for only 12 touchdowns and averaged only 5.8 yards per attempt against Washington in 2018, tied for seventh and eighth-fewest allowed among FBS squads in those respective categories. UW finished No. 25 in the country in passing yards allowed per game, 190.1.

Petersen voluntarily exited the profession one year later, three removed from a College Football Playoff appearance and after 14 as a college head coach.

Having engineered another well-respected passing defense again in 2019 — the UW secondary tallied 12 interceptions, more than the entire team produced in 2018 — Lake was promoted to Petersen's post, and Harris was elevated in position to primary defensive backs coach, following the two's recent successes.

"He was good already and growing by leaps and bounds," Petersen described Harris, who was seven years into coaching at the time of Washington's staffing shift, to All Gators. "When I stepped away, there was no doubt that he was going to run the room himself." 

The room reached even greater statistical heights with Harris in charge. 

Will Harris (middle) with Washington's secondary in 2021 / University of Washington Athletics

It stood atop the Pac-12 for allowing 6.3 passing yards per attempt and 185 yards per game over four matchups in the COVID-19 pandemic-abbreviated 2020 season, and maintained those spots with even better results on a full schedule the next year, giving up only 5.4 yards per attempt and 142.9 yards per game through the air in 2021. 

Those marks also ranked No. 1 in the FBS. 

Washington's ability to halt an opposing air attack was a significant silver lining in a season that ended in Lake's dismissal following a sideline incident with a UW player. Accordingly, Harris departed from the program and earned the opportunity to call defensive plays at Georgia Southern. 

Four Husky defensive backs — Elijah Molden (2021, third round), Keith Taylor (2021, fifth round), Trent McDuffie (2022, first round) and Kyler Gordon (2022, second round) — were selected in the NFL Draft after multiple years of development under Harris. 

"We talk to this day about being together, what we did there, how much we miss it," Gordon, now a starting cornerback for the Chicago Bears, told All Gators. "He keeps up with all the guys in our class that we had together."

The rapport Harris built with his defensive backs enabled the group's success.

"I just describe him as such a player's coach. He knows how to be the hard-ass if he needs to, but he also knows how to understand you and hear you out and make things make sense," Gordon said, noting Harris quickly learned Washington's defensive scheme upon his hiring and that he would likely do the same with Florida's.

"He attacked it every day, his main thing was just getting better ... everyone looked to him for answers to questions. He was able to create an understanding and I feel like that just made everything so much better for every single player."

Harris' ability to connect with his pupils predates his coaching progression at Washington. If anything, it was a quality that stood out to Petersen in his hiring of the up-and-coming assistant in 2018. 

He garnered similar respect as a young instructor at his previous stops, taking a hands-on approach to teaching defensive back techniques.

"He'll put the cleats on and he'll demo exactly what he wants from you," Jermaine Kelly, who played under Harris at San Jose State before his 2018 seventh-round NFL Draft selection, explained to All Gators. "As a player, that's what you want to see. A lot of these coaches just tell you what to do, but they can't demonstrate it. With Will, he brings that fire of, 'Here, this is how I want it.'"

It's a method of training Harris continues to apply, more than a decade after he hung up the rest of his pads. 

"I've done that every place I've been," Harris said. "I think for them, they all can kind of respect it and be like, 'Alright, well coach is about doing it this way and being aggressive.' I enjoy that part of it, and they and they love that too." 

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Harris credits Petersen for laying out his "five-star" coaching blueprint, which hones in on an affinity for teaching, critiquing, demanding, connecting with and building the confidence of his players to maximize their talents.

"I think you've got to be more skilled in those areas of connecting and building trust to have any shot to help develop guys," Petersen said.

Like Petersen, Harris emphasizes the latter two qualities in his position of leadership: creating robust relationships with his students and strengthening their self-assurance, which he believes go hand-in-hand. 

"When you connect with someone on a certain level, that's when the special things happen. That's when, as people will say, he'll run to the wall for you and you'll run through a wall for him," said Harris.

"And ... you've got to be able to build the confidence so they can go out there and execute at a high level. I got this from Chris Petersen as well, I believe confidence is cash. The more confidence you have, the more cash you've got." 

Harris strives to replenish the confidence of Florida's secondary as it welcomes seven new scholarship contributors and aims to build upon a season in which it gave up nearly 10 fewer yards through the air per game than it did the year prior. 

Still, Florida was a bottom-half team in the conference by the metric, giving up 226.7 passing yards each week on average. The Gators' three interceptions in 2023 were the fewest produced by any SEC squad; the 8.3 yards opposing quarterbacks equaled per throwing attempt against UF were the most. 

Having played his college ball when Joe Haden, Major Wright, Ahmad Black, Janoris Jenkins and Reggie Nelson roamed the gridiron of The Swamp, Harris understands what Florida's secondary can be and has accepted the challenge of restoring its eminence. 

"I made sure the first meeting I had with our guys, 'Hey, it's a standard, and I'm not lowering the standards for nobody,' " Harris recalled. "Because I know what this place has been."

As Napier's Signing Day message did for Harris, Harris' memo about the standard has resonated with Florida's defensive backs, and those interested in bolstering the unit. 

Starting cornerback Jason Marshall Jr. has since announced a return for his senior season to play alongside a trio of high-potential underclass corners, Devin Moore, Ja'Keem Jackson and Dijon Johnson. Prized Alabama freshman transfer Jameer Grimsley notably offers the group upside after joining the program in mid-January. 

Three sophomores — incumbent starters at safety, 2023 Freshman All-American Jordan Castell paired with Bryce Thornton, and rising contributor at STAR nickel corner, Sharif Denson — couple with graduate transfer acquisitions Trikweze Bridges, DJ Douglas and Asa Turner to patch up the back end of the defense in 2024. 

Each transfer joined UF after Harris' hiring. 

"You've seen the blueprint, and you know how to get it done, you've just got to go get it done with the right people," said Harris. "And so obviously, I saw that with coach Napier and I believe in him, and I have full confidence." 

Napier has placed the same level of confidence in Harris to help fix Florida's passing defense.

Those who have benefitted from Harris' coaching before believe Napier granted the challenge to the right person. 

"He's gonna light a fire under those guys," Kelly said, referencing Florida's defensive backs. "They're gonna want to go in and compete and be their best selves." 

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