It has taken less than two weeks since arriving at Florida, and Jon Sumrall is already picking up his first victory over FSU and Mike Norvell. It has been reported by 247Sports' Matt Zenitz that Florida is expected to hire Brandon Harris as the next defensive backs coach.
And considering FSU thought they were going to hire Harris, this is an early notch in the belt of Norvell.
Brandon Harris to become Florida’s defensive backs coach
Harris is a Miami Hurricanes great who was in Coral Gables from 2008 through 2010. Along the way he picked up All-American honors and went on to get drafted by Houston in the 2nd round in 2011 of the NFL Draft.
His NFL career was mostly non-descript as he bounced around to Tennessee and Miami before one final season in the CFL with Toronto, where he did win the Grey Cup.
He then started his coaching career as a GA with FIU, then as an analyst with FSU in 2020. He went back to FIU, then FAU, before settling in with UCF this past season as their defensive backs coach. The Knights as a whole were terrible, but they were 25th in passing yards against per game and 38th in yards per attempt.
UCF was middle of the pack in passes defended, interceptions, and opposing QB completion percentage.
Sumrall landing Harris is significant because it was believed he was going to get hired at FSU instead. In fact, FSU insiders were indicating that Harris was litteraly in Tallahassee in the last 48 hours and felt confident he would join Norvell’s staff.
What this also highlights is that Sumrall is poaching almost anyone he wants to come to Gainesville. While some hires, like Brad White for defensive coordinator, were a byproduct of a previous connection, his hiring of Buster Faulkner for offensive coordinator came with no previous connection, and Georgia Tech tried to match Florida’s offer.
Likewise, Sumrall and Harris haven’t crossed paths, whereas Norvell and Harris have, and Sumrall still got him.
Like most Gator fans, we were skeptical of the Jon Sumrall hire at first. But as he continues to assemble his coaching staff, some of those concerns are being put at ease.