UCF DB coach Brandon Harris leaving for FSU football
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UCF suddenly has a second spot to fill on its coaching staff as another assistant heads north to Tallahassee.
Defensive backs coach Brandon Harris is joining Mike Norvell’s staff at Florida State, two team sources confirmed to The News-Journal. 247Sports’ Zach Blostein and Matt Zenitz first reported the news Wednesday, Dec. 10.
Harris, who turns 36 next month, completed his first season with the Knights after arriving from Florida Atlantic. According to an executive summary provided by UCF Athletics, Harris was set to make a guaranteed $275,000 in the second year of his two-year contract.
UCF ranked 25th in the Football Bowl Subdivision against the pass during the 2025 season, allowing 185.1 yards per game. Florida State finished 29th, allowing 190.8 yards per game, but Norvell chose not to retain Patrick Surtain for a fourth season.
Harris spent the 2020 season with the Seminoles as a defensive analyst. He is the younger brother of Tim Harris Jr., the former UCF offensive coordinator who serves as FSU’s wide receivers coach.
Earlier this week, Harris was named to the AFCA 35 Under 35 Coaches Leadership Institute class — a prestigious program designed to identify and develop premier, future leaders in the football coaching profession.
Florida State’s 2026 coaching staff could have at least five assistants with recent UCF ties: offensive coordinator Gus Malzahn, running backs coach Kam Martin, offensive line coach Herb Hand and the Harris brothers. 247Sports’ Chris Hummer reported earlier Wednesday that Martin emerged as the top choice after one year at Tulsa.
During his Dec. 3 press conference, UCF head coach Scott Frost expressed a desire to find a full-time offensive line coach to fill the void left by the late Shawn Clark. He did not plan to make any further staff changes, but added, “You never know. You could be surprised by some things.”
Travis Fisher, Frost’s defensive backs coach at UCF from 2016-17 and at Nebraska from 2018-22, spent the past year as a senior defensive analyst for the Knights. He could be a sensible choice, though Frost showed a willingness to hire assistants with whom he had not previously worked when building his staff last winter.
This article originally appeared on The Daytona Beach News-Journal: UCF Knights football DB coach Brandon Harris leaves for Florida State
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