Colts Defensive Coordinator Candidates: Chris Harris

Tennessee Titans DB Coach Chris Harris seems to be a prime candidate for the Indianapolis Colts' vacant defensive coordinator job.

Tennessee Titans defensive pass game coordinator /cornerbacks Chris Harris during an OTA practice at Ascension Saint Thomas Sports Park in Nashville, Tenn., Wednesday, May 31, 2023. / Andrew Nelles / The Tennessean / USA TODAY NETWORK

The Indianapolis Colts are looking for a new defensive coordinator, as the team announced they parted ways with Gus Bradley after three seasons in the role.

The Colts' search for a new coordinator should be interesting, as some personnel around the league could see this as being a lame-duck situation with a head coach and a general manager on the hot seat. Still, there are only 32 of these jobs available in the league, so the Colts should be able to nab a quality hire regardless of speculation around the position.

This new series will profile several candidates the Colts are likely to look into in their search. First up is a familiar face, at least to the people running the search, in Tennessee Titans Passing Game Coordinator Chris Harris.

Background

This moment between @CalvinRidley1 & Passing Game Coordinator/Cornerback’s Coach Chris Harris 🤝 pic.twitter.com/Mme5YtfJUW

— Tennessee Titans (@Titans) August 12, 2024

Chris Harris-- no, not that Chris Harris-- may not have the pedigree as the other NFL player with his namesake, but he had a strong career in the league in his own right. He was selected in the sixth round of the 2005 NFL Draft by the Chicago Bears and spent nine years in the league in multiple destinations. As a safety, Harris was a second-team All-Pro in 2010, and his eight forced fumbles for the Carolina Panthers in 2007 remains a single-season franchise record.

Harris transitioned into coaching immediately after retiring from the NFL, becoming a defensive quality control coach for the Bears in 2013. He graduated to an assistant defensive backs coach with the Los Angeles Chargers from 2016-19 before finally becoming the man in charge of the secondary with the Washington Commanders from 2020-22.

In his time in Washington, Harris helped the Commanders rank eighth in the NFL in passing defense and fourth in total defense in three years. He has served as the Titans' passing game coordinator for the last two seasons, helping that organization rank in the top ten in several defensive categories. Overall, Harris has spent 20 seasons in the NFL, with 11 as a coach in a variety of different roles.

Why the Colts Would Consider Him

We Mic'd Up DBs coach Chris Harris, and he did not disappoint 🔊 pic.twitter.com/PTct3EhChW

— Tennessee Titans (@Titans) June 11, 2023

Harris may not have ties to the organization, but he has quite a few connections in the building with the Colts. He overlapped with Chris Ballard in Chicago for a number of years when Ballard was a pro scout for the organization. When Harris made the move to Los Angeles, he worked with Shane Steichen (and Gus Bradley) on that staff for all three seasons.

The last time the Colts had a vacancy at their defensive coordinator job, Harris was one of the first few people interviewed. The job obviously went to Bradley, but the Colts have already spent time in the past with Harris looking into his job prospects.

Aside from connections, which plays a massive part in all of this, the Colts could be interested in the type of tree Harris comes from. As a player, Harris spent a majority of his career playing under Lovie Smith and Ron Rivera, two successful Tampa-2 coaches in the late 2000's. His time as a coach has been spent working under coaches from a similar tree, with a slight branch out these past two seasons with Dennard Wilson (another coach Steichen has worked with in the past).

Harris brings familiarity in work experience and familiarity in scheme that the Colts want to run (at least the scheme the Colts have run for most of Ballard's tenure). He may not represent the major change that many Colts' fans want to see at the coordinator job, but he could offer a different voice that could spark new life into a fading defense.

Overall, Harris is a safe and familiar coach to the Colts' power structure. He wouldn't be the flashy hire that many want on that side of the ball but if we know anything about how the Colts' operate, Harris seems like the type of candidate they would pursue.

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