Shannon Harris (born August 30, 1980) is an American professional

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

coach who is the head coach of the

DC Defenders The DC Defenders are a professional American football team based in Washington, D.C. The Defenders compete in the United Football League (2024), United Football League (UFL) as a member of the XFL Conference. The team was founded by Vince McMaho ...

of the United Football League (UFL). He has previously served as assistant

college football College football is gridiron football that is played by teams of amateur Student athlete, student-athletes at universities and colleges. It was through collegiate competition that gridiron football American football in the United States, firs ...

coach for the

Tennessee State Tigers The Tennessee State Tigers and Lady Tigers are the intercollegiate athletic teams of Tennessee State University (TSU), located in Nashville, Tennessee, United States. The Tigers athletic program is a member of the Ohio Valley Conference (OVC) an ...

Alabama State Hornets The Alabama State Hornets and Lady Hornets represent Alabama State University in Montgomery, Alabama in intercollegiate athletics. They field sixteen teams including men and women's basketball, cross country, golf, tennis, and track and field; wom ...

Alcorn State Braves The Alcorn State Braves and Lady Braves represent Alcorn State University in Lorman, Mississippi in intercollegiate athletics. They field 15 teams including men's and women's basketball, cross country, golf, tennis, and track and field; women's- ...

, and Virginia State Trojans. With the Defenders in 2025, Shannon won a

UFL championship The UFL championship game is the annual championship game for the UFL at the end of its season in order to determine its league winner for that season. It began in 2024 and has continued ever since, usually taking place in the second week of June ...

and was named the UFL Coach of the Year.

Coaching career

HBCU

Harris began his coaching career in 2003, after playing two seasons with

. Between 2004 and 2009, Harris was moved through various roles with the team. From 2010 to 2014, he was the wide receivers coach at Alabama State. From 2015 to 2017, he served as the wide receivers coach at Alcorn State. He returned back to Tennessee State for two seasons before being hired as the offensive coordinator at Virginia State. He was named the Interim head coach in late March 2022, a perfunctory promotion that lasted less than six weeks before Henry Frazier III was permanently hired in early May.

DC Defenders

Shannon was hired by the DC Defenders in 2023, where he served as the quarterbacks coach for the next two seasons. On March 22, 2025,

Reggie Barlow Reggie Devon Barlow (born January 22, 1972) is an American former professional football player and coach who is currently the head coach for Tennessee State University. Barlow was previously the head coach of the DC Defenders of the United F ...

departed the Defenders, and Harris was named the head coach for the 2025 season. Three days later, Barlow stated that Harris would be among the Defenders coaching staff joining him at Tennessee State. He clarified the next day that Harris would finish out the 2025 season in DC before he and the rest of the Defenders staff joined Barlow at Tennessee State. Harris guided the Defenders to a 6–4 record, culminating in a 58–34 victory over the

Michigan Panthers The Michigan Panthers were a professional American football team based in Metro Detroit. The Panthers competed in the United States Football League (USFL) as a member of the Western Conference and Central Division. The team played its home gam ...

in the 2025 UFL championship game. Harris was named the season's UFL Coach of the Year.

Head coaching record

UFL

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Harris, Shannon Living people DC Defenders head coaches Place of birth missing (living people) 1980 births