Miami great to be hired as RB coach. Fellow UM great (now NFL) interviewed for WR coach
Mario Cristobal is dipping into the University of Miami’s renowned sports well to pull out a former great who is expected to soon be announced as the new running backs coach.
Former Hurricanes four-time All-American runner Tim Harris Jr., 37, the co-offensive coordinator, running backs coach and assistant head coach at UCF, will be hired as the Miami running backs coach to replace Kevin Smith, who returned to coach at Ole Miss.
Harris’ hiring will leave one assistant coaching vacancy at Miami, and head coach Mario Cristobal has spoken with at least one former UM great for that wide receivers coach opening. Two sources told the Miami Herald that former UM record-holder Leonard Hankerson, 34, now the San Francisco receivers coach, has interviewed for the job.
Hankerson, a graduate of Fort Lauderdale St. Thomas Aquinas High, broke Miami’s single-season record for receiving yards with 1,156 in 2011. He’s now third all-time behind Charleston Rambo and Allen Hurns. He was drafted by the Washington Redskins in the third round of the 2011 NFL Draft, and also played with the Atlanta Falcons, New England Patriots and finally Buffalo Bills in 2015. He joined the 49ers in 2021 as an offensive quality control coach before being promoted last season. He spent 2019-20 as the outside wide receivers coach at Stephen F. Austin State University, and was a graduate assistant and then wide receivers coach at UMass in 2017 and 2018.
The other person who had interviewed for UM’s receivers coaching job as of late Tuesday, per a source, was the NFL Baltimore Ravens’ assistant wide receivers coach Keith Williams, officially the Ravens’ “pass game specialist.’’
Deep Miami roots
UM’s filling of the running backs vacancy will give the Hurricanes a man with deep Miami roots and recruiting prowess. Harris, a four-time NCAA All-American in the 800 meters and six-time indoor/outdoor ACC champion, grew up in Miami and coached as an assistant and finally head coach at Booker T. Washington High School from 2009-2014. Harris’ Tornadoes won the Class 4A state title in 2014, when he was named the Florida Class 4A Coach of the Year.
Harris Jr. coached running backs at FIU from 2015-2020, and was eventually promoted to FIU offensive coordinator.
Harris’ UCF Knights finished 9-5 last season and were ranked ninth nationally in rushing offense (228.4 yards a game), 16th in total offense (469.6), 31st in scoring (32.9 points average) and 11th in first-down offense.
Harris’ father, Tim Sr., is known as Ice Harris, a longtime South Florida football coach who won three state titles at Booker T. Washington then left for Florida Memorial University in 2019 to help restart the university’s football program. He recently stepped down at Florida Memorial after two seasons.
Ice Harris spent three seasons as the running backs coach in Coral Gables from 2014 to 2016 before returning to Booker T. Washington. Harris also spent four years as Miami’s assistant director of football operations from 2008-2011 and made additional coaching stops at Northwestern, Miami Central and Miami High.
Harris graduated from Miami in 2008 with a degree in English and creative writing.
“I’m very humbled to be considered one of the best ever to do it here at the University of Miami,’’ Harris Jr. told the Miami Herald last April on his induction into the UM Sports Hall of Fame. “I’m super excited to go through this night and have my family here with me. It just brings back so many memories of all the things I’ve done.
“This whole deal is surreal.’’
Brandon Harris, Tim’s younger brother, was a star cornerback from 2008-1010 at UM and is now the FAU cornerbacks coach.
Ailing offense
The Hurricanes had one of the nation’s worst running attacks this past season, ranking 96th of 131 FBS teams by averaging 128.1 ground yards a game. The Canes’ running backs ustained several injuries, including two that were essentially season ending. Miami was led by Ole Miss transfer Henry Parrish’s 616 yards and four touchdowns.
Leonard Hankerson
As for Hankerson, he’s another South Floridian who knows the Hurricanes history and landscape well. He has the UM single-season record with 13 receiving touchdowns. He’s second all-time with his 72 single-season receptions.
This story was originally published February 22, 2023 at 10:07 AM.
