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Florida football coach Billy Napier has another assistant coach position to fill on his coaching staff.
According to 247Sports’ Matt Zenitz on X (formerly Twitter), Napier and the Gators are expected to lose assistant coach and secondary coach Will Harris to Mario Cristobal and Miami.
Harris, who spent just one season on Napier’s staff, is expected to serve in the same capacity on Cristobal’s staff at Miami as a defensive backs coach per Zenitz.
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Harris came to Gainesville in December 2023 as the Gators defensive backs coach after serving the previous year in the NFL with the Los Angeles Chargers as their assistant secondary coach.
The Gators secondary saw an uptick in production and growth under Harris this past season, as the unit ranked No. 61 among FBS teams in passing yards allowed per attempt (7.3) and No. 81 in passing yards per game per 247Sports. Florida ranked 125th and 87th respectively in those two categories before Harris’ arrival.
Additionally, Florida’s secondary improved its pass defensive efficiency rating from 146.29 in 2023 to 124.42 in 2024 and jumped from No. 13 to No. 9 within the SEC in that same category under Harris per Saturday Down South.
In 13 games this season, Harris’ unit came away with 11 of the Gators’ 14 interceptions on the year. Per Harris’ Florida profile page, the Gators secondary finished with at least one takeaway in 10 straight games (and in 12 of their 13 games) this past season.
Before his stint at Florida and in the NFL with the Chargers, Harris served as the defensive coordinator/defensive backs coach at Georgia Southern (2022) and defensive backs coach at Washington (2018-21) on top of other stints at several other college football programs.
Harris and Miami are scheduled to face Florida at Hard Rock Stadium…
Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/florida-football-db-coach-harris-021027714.html
Author : The Gainesville Sun
Publish date : 2025-02-14 02:10:00
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