Will Harris, former UW secondary coach, directs his Florida defensive backs. Doug Engle/Gainesville Sun / USA TODAY NETWORK

Ex-UW Secondary Coach Will Harris Goes from Florida to Miami

Originally posted on Washington Huskies on SI
By Dan Raley | Last updated Feb 14, 2025 3:57 PM ET

Somber and listless would best describe the University of Washington football team in 2021 after coach Jimmy Lake and offensive coordinator John Donovan were fired with the schedule still in play, several players were lost to season-ending injuries and the losses began to pile up in a hurry.

Yet during those tumultuous times, secondary coach Will Harris was one of the people who tried their best to lighten the mood.

Before the Arizona State game that year in Husky Stadium, with UW players conducting their pregame Dawg Walk to the pulsating beat of "Atomic Dog," Will Harris, wearing a full-length overcoat, strode onto the field and began to dance up one sideline.

It was a reminder to his guys that the game should be fun, that the Huskies needed to pull out of their despair and enjoy themselves. It was reason enough why this extra chic Harris has been considered one of the more popular UW assistant coaches and persuasive recruiters to come through Montlake in recent times.

Miami is Hiring Florida Gators DB Coach Will Harris, who is a monster recruiter. Was involved in Ben Hanks, Hylton Stubbs, and Dallas Wilson recruitments as well as 2026 Jaelen Waters. Harris is expected to work with the Canes safeties pic.twitter.com/9sTfeOXQdn
— CanesInSight (@CanesInSight) February 14, 2025

Since leaving Seattle, Harris, 36, has remained an in-demand coach.

After going to Georgia Southern as the defensive coordinator in 2022, to the Los Angeles Chargers as an assistant secondary coach the following season and to a secondary coach for Florida this past season, Harris on Thursday was hired away by the Miami Hurricanes, according to multiple news outlets.

His departure was met with great surprise within the Gators football program, which only recently had hired a pair of former Husky defensive coaches in Vinnie Sunseri and Robert Bala to become co-defensive coordinators while directing the safeties and linebackers, respectively.

A former USC strong safety, Harris played for Pete Carroll throughout his career and earned All-Pac-10 honorable-mention accolades as a senior in 2009.

As a coach, he remains on the fast track to do just about whatever he wants. The players relate to him. Coaches want to hire him, in this case Mario Cristobal. The Huskies won't forget him.

This article first appeared on Washington Huskies on SI and was syndicated with permission.

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