Miami Hurricanes close to landing familiar name as new RB coach: Tim Harris, Jr.

When Tim Harris Jr. was a track athlete, he moved fast. Now a member of the UM Hall of Fame, Harris was a four-time NCAA All-American from 2004-08 in the 800-meter event, while also becoming a six-time champion in the ACC when combining his indoor and outdoor victories. He still owns the Hurricanes school record in the 800-meter event.

So when Kevin Smith left Mario Cristobal’s staff to go back to Ole Miss, moving quickly to secure his place in the search was not a problem for Harris. Tuesday he began sprinting to the finish line, as sources told CaneSport he was closing in on being hired to become Miami’s next running backs coach.

Some Miami Hurricanes probably associate the name Tim Harris with the legendary Miami Booker T. Washington High School coach who went by the nickname “Ice” and worked at UM as an assistant under Randy Shannon from 2008-10 and again when Al Golden was coach.

But now it’s Ice’s son, Tim, Jr., that will be working at Miami. He inherits a running back group in a bif of flux with Henry Parrish’s role to be determined, freshman Mark Fletcher not yet on campus and Don Chaney and Trevonte Citizen returning from major injuries.

​But Harris intends to be up to the task of rebuilding the running back U reputation. He has built solid coaching credentials.

After graduating Miami he was offensive coordinator at Booker T. High from 2009-13, taking over as head coach in 2014. He took his first college job at FIU, working as RB coach at FIU from 2015-20,, adding coordinator duties there in 2021. Then it was on to UCF as co-coordinator/RB coach.

Also of note: Tim Jr.’s brother, Brandon Harris, is a former Miami Hurricanes CB who currently serves as FAU’s cornerbacks coach.

As for Tim Jr.’s coaching success?

This past season the UCF team had a two-headed attack with Isaiah Bowser and RJ Harvey, and the duo combined for 1,612 yards and 21 TDs. Harve added 215 receiving yards as well.

In 2021 Johnny Richardson ended up leading the Knights in rushing with 733 yards, ranking seventh in the AAC in all-purpose yardage at 96.92 per game.

Prior to that Harris was an integral part of Florida International’s football success the previous half-dozen years (2015-20) as running back coach and eventually offensive coordinator and play-caller.

In 2020 Harris tutored a Florida International running attack led by Phil Steele third-team all-league selection D’vonte Price, the league leader in rush yards per carry (6.84). Price also ranked 11th in the nation for rush yards per game after averaging 116.2 yards per contest. He finished over the century mark for rushing in all but one game in 2020, earning a career-high 178 yards against Florida Atlantic.

Harris oversaw a balanced rushing attack in 2019 that produced a pair of NFL rookie free agents in Anthony Jones and Napoleon Maxwell. The duo’s highlight of the season came in the win over Charlotte, as Jones (117) and Maxwell (114) rushed over the century mark. It was just the seventh game in Florida International history that the Panthers had at least two players go over 100 yards rushing in the same game. Harris oversaw five of Florida International’s seven games in program history with two or more running backs over the century mark. Jones continued his success over the course of the season as he strung together a streak of three games over 100 yards rushing, becoming just the second Panther to achieve that feat.

During the 2018 season, Harris developed his unit into one of the most productive ground attacks in Conference USA and one of the most successful in program history. Florida International broke the school’s single-season records for rushing TDs (27) and rush yards per carry (4.8), while also logging the second-most rushing yards (2,286) in program history and the second-highest rush-yards-per-game average (175.8).

In 2018 Florida International finished third in Conference USA in rushing yards, rush yards per game and rushing TDs, while averaging the second-highest rush yards per carry in the conference. Under Harris, running backs Jones and Maxwell finished first and third on the team with eight and seven TDs, respectively. Harris developed Jones into a 2018 All-Conference USA honorable mention selection despite only having him available for six games. Harris implemented a balanced ground attack that helped running backs Maxwell, Price and Shawndarrius Phillips all finish with top-20 rankings in Conference USA rushing yards. Maxwell and Price also finished third and fourth on the team, respectively, with 771 and 743 all-purpose yards.

The 2017 season was a banner year for the Panther offense, with Florida International amassing 5,100 total yards to come 37 yards shy of setting a program record. Florida International scored 333 points in 2017, second in program history for a single season. The Panthers were masters at moving the chains as well, with Florida International setting a school record for first downs (269) in a season. Florida International also ranked first in the NCAA for red-zone offense after scoring on 40 of 41 attempts (97.6%).

On the ground, the Panthers earned the second-most rushing TDs (20), yards (2,069) and yards per game (159.2) in school history. Overall, Florida International finished with four games over 200 yards on the ground, while the 379 yards against Massachusetts rank as the third most for a single game in school history. Under Harris’ guidance, three players gained over 450 yards rushing in 2017 with Alex Gardner leading the running back stable with 719 ground yards.

Harris came to Florida International after one year as the head coach of Booker T. Washington (Florida) High School in 2014. In his first season as head coach, the Florida Class 4A Coach of the Year (and son of longtime legendary Washington coach and 2012 and 2013 Florida Dairy Farmers Coach of the Year Tim “Ice” Harris) led the Tornadoes to their second-straight 14-0 record, their third-straight Florida 4A state title and a No. 2 final national ranking (USA Today). The Tornadoes capped the title run with a 54-35 state championship win over Jacksonville Bolles.

Harris Jr. was named the 2014 Florida Dairy Farmers Football Coach of the Year, the 2014 Miami Dolphins George Smith South Florida High School Football Coach of the Year, the 2014 NIKE Football State Coach of the Year and a finalist for the 2014 U.S. Army All-American National Coach of the Year.

Prior to taking over the reins in 2014, Harris was the offensive coordinator for the Tornadoes for five seasons. During that time he also coached wide receivers and quarterbacks. In 2013, Harris helped Booker T. Washington win the 2013 national championship, averaging 41.9 points per game.

He also served as the Tornadoes’ head track and field coach from 2010-2014. During that time, Washington won the 2014 Florida 2A Boys Track & Field State Championship and was the state runner-up in 2013. Harris was awarded the Miami-Dade County Boys Track & Field Coach of the Year honor in 2013.

Harris was a four-time NCAA All-American in the 800 meters and six-time (indoors and outdoors) Atlantic Coast Conference champion in the 800 for the University of Miami track and field team. A 2022 inductee into the University of Miami Sports Hall of Fame, Harris still holds the ‘Canes’ indoor record in the 800.

He earned a degree in English and creative writing from Miami in 2008.