Harris Joins Football Staff
December 17, 1999 | Football
Dec. 17, 1999
LUBBOCK, Texas - Ron Harris has been hired as defensive line coach at Texas Tech, making him the fifth assistant coach named to head coach Mike Leach?s new Red Raider staff.
A former head coach at Western New Mexico University (1995), Harris comes to Texas Tech from Paradise Valley High School in Phoenix, Ariz., where he served as defensive coordinator the last three years.
?We are pleased to have Ron join our staff,? Leach said. ?He is somebody who has worked with Coach (Greg) McMackin before, somebody who knows the system we want to employ and somebody we feel comfortable with.?
Harris, 41, coached alongside new Texas Tech defensive coordinator Greg McMackin at Navy and Utah, handling defensive linemen, linebackers and defensive backs for the Midshipmen from 1992-94 and tutoring defensive backs at Utah during the 1990-91 seasons.
?Coaching at Texas Tech is a fantastic opportunity,? Harris said. ?Everybody I have met so far has been so personable and on board wanting this program to succeed. The sky is the limit here, that?s for sure.?
Prior to hooking up with McMackin at Utah, Harris was the defensive coordinator and defensive line coach at Glendale (Ariz.) Community College (1988-89) and defensive line coach at North Arizona (1986-87). For seven years prior to that he coached at the high school level.
Harris, who is single, played his college football at Cal Lutheran. He was a center for the Kingsmen from 1977-80.