Born April 25, 1984,[2] Harris attended Mexia High School where he was an all-district quarterback and led his team to the regional semifinals as a junior.[3] At Mexia, he played under his father Craig, who was the head coach.[4] Harris played college football for the Mary Hardin–Baylor Crusaders from 2003 to 2005, being a member of their 2004 national championship finalist team.[5] He graduated from the school in 2008 with a bachelor of science degree in education, later receiving a master's degree in education administration the following year.[5]
Coaching career
After serving 2006 as a student assistant at Mary Hardin–Baylor, Harris became the wide receivers coach and recruiting coordinator for the team in 2007, where he served through 2009.[6][7] He helped them win the conference championship four times, and reach as far as the NCAA Division III quarterfinals in 2006.[7] He left to become the safeties coach at Waco High School in 2010, serving in that position for only one season.[5]
Harris began coaching at the Division III school Texas Lutheran in 2011, spending his first season as defensive ends coach and recruiting coordinator.[7] The next season, he remained recruiting coordinator but switched to linebackers coach.[7] He began serving as assistant head coach, special teams coordinator, and co-defensive coordinator in 2013, while retaining his roles as recruiting coordinator and linebackers coach.[7] Harris helped them win the conference championship in 2013, while coaching a defense that contributed to Texas Lutheran's placement of sixth nationally in the category of turnover margin.[7]
Harris became head coach of the Howard Payne Yellow Jackets in 2017, and posted a record of 1–9 in his first year, while the team allowed an average of 56 points per game.[8] The Yellow Jackets again won only one game in 2018, but the following season Harris led them to a 5–5 mark, the best record the team had posted since 2006.[9] He announced his resignation in December 2020, after three years with the school, prior to their postponed 2020–21 season.[9][10] Harris compiled an overall record of 7–23 at Howard Payne.[10]
