Former Miami defensive back Brandon Harris hits the ground as Florida coach
It costs $26 a day for wifi on Disney cruises. Stretch that over a week, and you’re staring down a $200 investment. Plus, this whole boat endeavor was theoretically once a holiday vacation with your wifi and children, and now you’re spending Christmas day making calls, talking over Mickey and Goofy.
How did we get here?
“I got to get to all these guys,” Florida’s newly-hired defensive backs coach Brandon Harris remembered thinking. “I need to convince them that staying here at Florida and playing for us and playing for me as a position coach, it’s the right thing for them.”
Days before his pre-planned vacay, Harris — a Miami Booker T. Washington alum, former University of Miami cornerback and the son of former well-known Miami high school coach Timothy Harris — had been one of the hottest commodities in the Sunshine State. That’s a theme, you’ll find. He’d been coaching DBs at UCF since the spring after spending two years at FAU and one at FIU doing the same. He was an analyst at Florida State back in 2020, and the Seminoles wanted him back. Negotiations reached the point where multiple FSU reporters claimed a deal had been set.
And then, Florida, under new coach Jon Sumrall, parachuted in. Easy marketing, at that point.
“All the guys give me a hard time because I have actually worked at every D1 school in the state,” Harris said. “It’s still a dream to me. … Being able to coach in the SEC, you hear about it all the time, you watch it on TV. You want to be able to coach with the best.”
But to compete with the best, once he signed the papers, it was time to recruit and re-recruit. Thus, the endless seasick Facetimes with each of Florida’s defensive backs. He lost three contributors — Aaron Gates, Sharif Denson and Jordan Castell — yet his cornerback room remained intact.
Even then, this spring will be invaluable. The Gators allowed 222.9 yards per game through the air last year, which wasn’t especially porous, but their 44.4% conversion rate on third down was. For Sumrall’s first campaign to go off without fault, Harris will need to revamp his position group in short order.
Florida returns the top four cornerbacks in its depth chart, including starters Cormani McClain and Dijon Johnson. Each closed this fall with season-ending injuries, though they’ve already hit the ground under Harris’ tutelage. Florida’s defensive back room has started having position-group meals. The first came about at Johnson’s direction, and it was only a couple of hours before the Gainesville Cheesecake Factory had an NIL-infused tip.
While 21 page-menus might frighten the coach of a position where speed and agility are crucial, these types of moments are exactly how Harris thinks his unit will mesh. They’re also exactly why Sumrall brought him in.
“Coach Harris is one of the best up-and-coming coaches in the country, and we are thrilled to be able to get him on staff,” Sumrall said at the time of his hiring. “He has a tremendous amount of in-state ties and has a proven track record, not only with performance on the field, but developing his players into NFL draft picks.”
He ain’t wrong.
Under Billy Napier, Florida’s previous coach, the Gators experienced their worst four-year recruiting run in South Florida in program history, only bringing in four top-200 recruits, in 247Sports’ rankings, during his time. Given the sheer amount of talent in the area (six of the top-200 players in the 2026 class are from SoFlo), Sumrall wants to lean into stealing some of the talent Miami has held onto lately. Who better than a former UM man to do the job?
“The kids that come from that area, in general, they get introduced to playing with a lot of pressure and a lot of high stakes at a young age,” Harris said. “When guys learn how to play with that amount of pressure and that amount of accountability early on in their career, that’s something that when they come to college and play at a major college program, they don’t shy away from that spotlight.”
And Harris won’t either, even if it means missing some vacations.