CB Coach Brandon Harris' Many Ties Could Lead to Success with Florida Gators

GAINESVILLE, Fla.-- Brandon Harris was on a Disney Cruise with his family over the holidays after accepting a job as the Florida Gators' corners coach. So when he had to re-recruit members of the current defensive back room, he paid the $200 to get unlimited wifi, and, with his wife's support, went to work.

“My wife is a football wife," he said. "She’s all in, and she understands when you take a new job, she’s like ‘we better keep these dudes here, we wanna make sure we can keep this job.’ She understands that. She actually helped me out.”

Those efforts and Harris' ties to South Florida paid dividends as the Gators retained the bulk of its corner room, including key young pieces in J'Vari Flowers and Ben Hanks III. That being said, it almost ended up not being that way.

Harris, previously at UCF, was set to take a job at Florida State, where his brother, Tim, currently serves as the receivers coach and where he previously served as an analyst in 2020. But when Jon Sumrall and defensive coordinator Brad White came calling, the decision was easy.

"I was extremely excited about it. It didn’t take me long," he said. "From first conversation to agreeing and taking a job and signing a contract, I’m talking about like three hours.”

With his hiring, Harris has nearly come full circle in many ways.

Full Circle

Growing up in the Miami area, Brandon Harris spent three seasons with the Miami Hurricanes before spending four seasons in the NFL. After that, he coached at FIU, FSU, FAU and, most recently, UCF. The only FBS school in the state he hasn't coached at now is USF.

"It's still a dream to me. I walk around in the Swamp, in the stadium and I look around at that place and it's amazing. It has such high energy about it," he said. "... Just putting on this logo and sharing a locker room with this group of guys, I'm extremely excited about being here."

Florida is expected to hire UCF defensive backs coach Brandon Harris, sources tell @CBSSports.

Florida State had been working to hire him. Ultimately, he’s headed to Florida. The former Miami and NFL cornerback helped UCF rank 25th nationally in pass defense this season. pic.twitter.com/vTJYOC6X5l
— Matt Zenitz (@mzenitz) December 13, 2025

Those walks around the Swamp are not his first time he has been in the stadium. In 2008, Harris was a freshman for Miami, and in his second collegiate game, the Hurricanes saw its six-game winning streak against Florida snapped with a 26-3 drubbing.

Harris only remembers three things from the loss: how loud it was in the Swamp, the Hurricanes kicking a field goal in the second quarter and Brandon Spikes blitzing and blowing up a play early in the game. Spikes, still at UF working with the GatorMade program, still jokes about the play.

"It's not very fun on the other side," Harris said.

Taking the job at Florida has also caused Harris to come full circle in his personal life. Harris' brother, Treon, was Florida's starting quarterback for parts of the 2014 and 2015 seasons. He also remembers watching Hanks III and Flowers grow up in South Florida.

"Certain players just got that 'it' about them," Harris said. "When their games are going on, certain people, certain guys people gravitate to see, certain guys people want to see play, and J Rock was one of those guys, that’s J’Vari, I call him J Rock. 'Man, I want to watch J Rock play. I’m here to watch Ben’s team play.'

"When certain guys just have that aura and that 'it' about them, I knew they were gonna be pretty special, and they’re still on the way to doing some really good things.”

Ben Hanks III (12) and J'Vari Flowers (6) saw extensive time on the field at the end of the season. | Kyle Lander / Florida Gators on SI

Then there's the parental ties. Harris' father, Tim Harris Sr., coached Hanks III's father, UF legend Ben Hanks, in high school. Harris' mother is Hanks III's godmother. Growing up closely with Hanks III's family caused Harris to become best friends with Hanks III's older brother, Devon Johnson.

"Our parents signed us up for Little League football at six years old at the same time, and we were teammates from the time we were six to the time I got drafted," Harris said. "So I didn't play a snap of football without Ben's older brother being my teammate and my best friend until I got to the league."

While he may have been a Hurricane in his playing days, Harris is now a Gator with plenty of ties to prove it. Now, those ties and his own personal history could set him up for success at Florida.

SoFlo Roots Sets Harris Up for Success

It is one thing to grow up in South Florida. It is another to grow up as the son of legendary high school coach Tim Harris Sr.

"My dad was a high school coach in Dade County before I was born," Brandon Harris detailed. "And so kind of from the time I was in diapers, I grew up -- my daycare was walking around some of the most prestigious high school teams in South Florida and just watching him coach, being on the field, competing with my brothers. That was what we did. That was normal."

Because of that, Harris' heroes did not come from college football or the NFL. His heroes were the local high school players. He remembers watching Andre Johnson at Miami Senior High, where his dad was the offensive coordinator. He remembers watching Willis McGahee, Torrie Coxx, Antonio Bryant and former Gator Marquand Manuel.

"I mean back then, when I was nine and ten years old, like I was dressing up as those guys," Harris said. "That's what I wanted to play like."

Watching those players set Harris up for success when it was his time to play. Signing with Miami as a member of the 2008 recruiting class, Harris went on to be a First Team All-ACC selection in 2009 and Jim Thorpe Award Semifinalist in 2009 and 2010. That led to the Texans selecting Harris in the second round of the 2011 NFL Draft.

"I get drafted to the Houston Texans and the first person to pick me up at the airport is Andre Johnson," Harris said. "He remembered me just watching him as a kid, and he became a big brother to me."

So, when it became time to transition from being a player to a coach, going back to South Florida was the obvious choice, and it was a decision that has set Harris up for success in his career. His first post-playing job was as an assistant under his father, who had some non-negotiables.

First, the staff was required to go to various coaching clinics around the state. Second, they had to do a report on what they learned from the clinics. Third, they had to lead in-staff clinics. All of those, plus his teaching duties, allowed Harris to become more effective as a coach.

"When I transitioned into coaching, so many of those characteristics just followed through with me," he said. "It was very smooth, because I had done it at the high school level with no resources and kids with not much going on, and we didn't have equipment, we didn't have a whole bunch of fancy stuff. We just learned how to do it with what you got. And when you have a plan and the guys believe in your vision, like it's amazing how much better you can get guys."

Now, Harris is one of the rising young stars in coaching circles and an effective recruiter. It is what first drew Sumrall to hire Harris.

"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 in the press release announcing Harris's hiring. "Coach Harris 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."

Now, Harris will look to do the same at Florida. So far, it is paying off. Harris landed Florida's first commit of the 2027 class in four-star corner Amare Nugent from Plantation (Fla.) American Heritage, marking the first step in the staff's goal to have recruiting success in the area no matter the position.

Beyond blessed and forever grateful I want to thank God for every step of this journey my fam for their love and sacrifices, and all the coaches who believed in me. After a lot of prayer and thought, I’m proud to be committed to the University of Florida. 🐊💙🧡#Gatornation pic.twitter.com/hR0FKyDL0t
— Amare Nugent (@marenuge4_) January 27, 2026

Even though he is just the corners coach, Harris can help with that.

"Whether it was my position or not, I felt like any kid that came from South Florida at any program I was at, I had a deeper connection with because it was a personal relationship," he said. "It wasn’t just a coach - player relationship because the majority of the guys, I’m gonna know somebody in your family. Like I probably went to school with your aunt, I went to school with your sister, so it becomes personal.

"It ain’t just a recruiting thing, It’s very much a family situation."

Year One

Brandon Harris, paired with defensive coordinator Brad White, safeties coach Chris Collins and nickels coach Dae'one Wilkins, is now tasked with helping rebuild Florida's pass defense after poor outputs since 2020. Since that 2020 season, the Gators have had only one defense ranked in the top 10 nationally in pass defense (ninth in 2021). All other seasons saw Florida ranked no higher than 74th.

Despite the rankings, Harris believes Florida has the pieces to be an effective pass defense in 2026. It's why he spent time on his vacation re-recruiting pieces. It's also why as soon as he got back to Florida, he met with each corner in-person.

In addition to Hanks III and Flowers, Florida retained veterans Cormani McClain and Dijon Johnson and high-upside redshirt freshman Onis Konanbanny.

"It was a big deal," Harris said. "Like, we felt like that room had a lot of potential, and that room had a lot of room to still grow and be really, really good."

Great time hanging with the guys tonight Looking forward to building with this Unit
Go Gators 🐊!! pic.twitter.com/LvMuXgiydE
— Brandon Harris Sr. (@HarrisNOFLYZONE) February 5, 2026

Florida also added high school recruits CJ Hester and CJ Bronaugh and transfer Jordy Lowery to the room to provide depth. With spring camp starting on Tuesday, Harris and staff will look to establish the rotation over the next month ahead of the season-opener against FAU on Sept. 5

And, as if he needed any more pressure or any other personal ties in taking the Florida job, he will match up against his older brother when Florida takes on Florida State on Nov. 27.

"I think it's so far removed and we're both enjoying where we are in this moment," Harris said. "He has a lot on his plate right now, and me being in a new place. But we'll get there eventually."