Florida football will hire UCF defensive backs coach Brandon Harris as its new defensive backs coach, CBS Sports’ Matt Zenitz reports.
Led by the 35-year-old Harris, UCF’s secondary ranks 25th in the nation in pass defense, allowing an average of 185.1 yards.
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Harris played cornerback for three seasons with Miami (2008-10) before embarking on a five-year NFL career with the Houston Texans, Tennessee Titans and Miami Dolphins.
After one season in the CFL with the Toronto Argonauts, Harris began his coaching career as a graduate assistant at Florida International University (FIU) in 2019 before serving as an analyst at Florida State in 2020. He became the cornerbacks coach at FIU in 2021 before transferring to Florida Atlantic where he served as cornerbacks coach, associate defensive coordinator and interim defensive coordinator from 2022-24 before joining the UCF staff in 2020. 2025.
Harris was favored by Florida State for the defensive back position, but chose to join new Florida Gators coach Jon Sumrall’s staff. He joins offensive coordinator Buster Faulkner (Georgia Tech), defensive coordinator Brad White (Kentucky) and offensive line coach Phil Trautwein (Penn State) as the fourth new hire on UF’s staff. Florida State also retains defensive line coach Gerald Chatman.
Kevin Brockway is a player for the Gainesville Sun Florida Beat the writer. Please contact him at kbrockway@gannett.com. Follow him on X @KevinBrockwayG1. Read his coverage of the Gators’ national championship basketball season in “CHOMP-IONS!” — A hardcover coffee table collection from The Sun. For more information, visit Florida.ChampsBook.com
This article originally appeared in the Gainesville Sun: Brandon Harris reportedly to become Florida State football team’s new coach
