Gary Harrell

Gary Lamar Harrell ,affectionately known as “The Flea,” [1](born January 23, 1972) is an American college football coach and former professional gridiron football player. He is currently the running backs coach at Jackson State University. Harrell was a wide receiver in the National Football League (NFL), World League of American Football (WLAF) and Canadian Football League (CFL) for three seasons during the 1990s.[2] Gary Harrell joined the Alabama State staff in January 2019, after serving a two-year stint under Lane Kiffin at Florida Atlantic.

For the U.S. Army general, see Gary L. Harrell.
Gary Harrell
Current position
TitleRunning backs coach
TeamJackson State
ConferenceSWAC
Biographical details
Born (1972-01-23) January 23, 1972
Miami, Florida
Playing career
1990–1993Howard
1994-1995New York Giants
1996Frankfurt Galaxy
1996Montreal Alouettes
Position(s)Wide receiver
Coaching career (HC unless noted)
2002–2003Howard (WR)
2004–2005Texas Southern (WR)
2006–2007Florida A&M (WR)
2008Morgan State (QB)
2009–2010Bowie State (OC)
2011–2016Howard
2017–2018Florida Atlantic (WR)
2019Alabama State (AHC/RB)
2020–presentJackson State (RB)
Head coaching record
Overall20–36


Playing Career

College

He was a four-year letter winner as a wide receiver and punt return specialist. He started every game for Howard’s undefeated 1993 team and was a member of the MEAC Championship team that same season. Harrell holds the Howard record for most receptions in a game (13) and in a career (184). He was inducted into the Howard University Hall of Fame in November 2005, and also received a proclamation from the City of Miami declaring it Gary “Flea” Harrell Day. Prior to attending Howard, he was a varsity athlete for Miami’s Northwestern High School.

Professional

Harrell played two NFL seasons, seeing action in four games in 1994 and 1995, with the New York Giants. He also played one season (March 1996-June 1996) for the World League’s Frankfurt Galaxy and two seasons in the Canadian Football League with the Montreal Alouettes (1996–97).

Coaching Career

Harrell got his start in coaching at his alma mater, focusing on Howard’s wide receivers from 2002-2004. Howard posted a 6-5 record in 2002, a 4-7 mark in 2003 and a 6-5 mark in 2004, including splitting two overtime games. He moved away from his alma mater to gain collegiate coaching experience in another environment. He served as a Texas Southern assistant coach, for wide receivers, from 2004-2006. Harrell returned to the east coast as an assistant coach in 2006. His two-year stint was made easier due to his familiarity with the MEAC.

Before going to Howard, Harrell spent two seasons as the offensive coordinator for Bowie State, from 2009-10. Harrell began at Morgan State in 2008 where he remained through 2009 before seizing the opportunity to move from a position coach with the Rattlers to an offensive coordinator position at Bowie State. He was a part of a team that finished 6-6 in 2008 and 6-5 in 2009. While at Morgan State he also served as the wide receivers coach for Team Michigan, a member of the All-American Football League (February 2008 - May 2008).

His alma mater came knocking on his door and asked the Miami native to return to the program, but as the head coach in 2011. [3]All told, Harrell served as Howard University’s head coach[4] for five seasons. [5]During his Howard tenure student-athletes worked under the premise that athletics and academics were evaluated equally. In 2012 he was honored by the D.C. Touchdown Club as the Local College Coach of the Year at its inaugural awards dinner. During his time at Howard, he finished with a 20-36 overall record including a 7-4 mark in 2012.

He joined the Florida Atlantic staff in January 2017. His attention was given to the wide receivers who rotated throughout the season seeing the quarterbacks utilize a total of nine receivers. Senior Kalib Woods was named the Conference USA Championship MVP, and Willie Wright, just a freshman, was the team’s most consistent wideout and led the Owls with 56 catches and a total of six scores. Following the year, Wright earned a spot on the C-USA All-Freshman team. He left Lane Kiffin’s staff after the 2018 season.[6][7]

In 2019 Harrell served as assistant head coach and running backs coach for at Alabama State.

Gary Harrell joined Jackson State in November of 2020, as the team’s running backs coach under Deion Sanders.[1]

Personal Life

A native of Miami (Fla.), Harrell earned his degree in Marketing from Howard in 1994. He and his wife (Tenika) have two children, a daughter – Jasmine – and son – Gary, Jr. – who is a member of the Howard football team.

Head coaching record
Year Team Overall ConferenceStanding Bowl/playoffs
Howard Bison (Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference) (2011–2012)
2011 Howard 5–64–4T–4th
2012 Howard 7–46–22nd
Howard Bison (Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference) (2014–2016)
2014 Howard 5–73–5T–7th
2015 Howard 1–101–7T–8th
2016 Howard 2–92–610th
Howard: 20–3616–24
Jackson State Tigers (Southwestern Athletic Conference) (2021)
2021 Jackson State 3-0[n 1]3–0
Jackson State: 3-03-0
Total:23–36

Notes
  1. Harrell served as interim head coach for Jackson State while Deion Sanders recovered from surgery.[8]

References
  1. Donaldson, Maxwell. "5 things to know about Gary Harrell, Jackson State football's coach while Deion Sanders is out". The Clarion-Ledger. Retrieved 2021-10-27.
  2. "Gary Harrell NFL Football Statistics". Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved July 14, 2012.
  3. "HBCU notebook (Oct. 5)". ESPN.com. 2011-10-03. Retrieved 2021-10-27.
  4. Detweiler, Eric (2013-03-11). "Howard University football coach Gary Harrell takes voluntary leave of absence". Washington Post. ISSN 0190-8286. Retrieved 2021-10-27.
  5. "Howard not renewing Harrell's contract". FOX Sports. Retrieved 2021-10-27.
  6. Post, Jake Elman Special to The. "FAU's Kiffin reportedly parts ways with WR coach Harrell". The Palm Beach Post. Retrieved 2021-10-27.
  7. Sun-Sentinel (2018-11-25). "Florida Atlantic fires wide receivers coach Gary Harrell". www.chatsports.com. Retrieved 2021-10-27.
  8. Arend, Alek (November 20, 2021). "Look: Deion Sanders Is Back On The Sideline For Jackson State's Game". The Spun by Sports Illusrtaed.
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