Trent Harris is an assistant coach for Duke football in Durham, North Carolina, where he works primarily with the defensive ends. He joined the Blue Devils in February 2026 after two seasons coaching outside linebackers at Illinois. A former defensive end for Manny Diaz at Miami, Harris arrived at Duke after helping Illinois post 19 wins over two seasons, the most the program had earned in a two-year span. During that stretch, the Fighting Illini recorded six wins over ranked opponents, including victories over No. 14 South Carolina in the 2024 Citrus Bowl and No. 23 Tennessee in the 2025 Music City Bowl. At Illinois, Harris helped develop one of the Big Ten’s top edge defenders in Gabe Jacas. In 2025, Jacas earned First Team All-Big Ten honors after leading the conference in regular-season sacks with 11.0. He also ranked second in the league in forced fumbles with three and fourth in sack yardage with 60. Jacas went on to be selected 55th overall in the 2026 NFL Draft by the New England Patriots. Harris also contributed to one of Illinois’ most impressive defensive performances of the year in the Music City Bowl, when the Illini held Tennessee, which entered the game ranked fourth nationally in total offense, to a season-low 278 total yards. Quarterback Joey Aguilar was limited to a career-low 121 passing yards, ending his streak of 36 straight games with more than 200 passing yards. In 2024, Harris served as assistant outside linebackers coach and later took over leadership of the room for the final four games.
Illinois finished 10-3, tied the school record for wins, and Jacas ranked among the national leaders in sacks and forced fumbles while producing a standout Citrus Bowl showing with eight tackles and 3.0 tackles for loss. Before beginning his coaching career, Harris spent seven seasons as a professional player across the NFL, XFL, and UFL. Following his college career, he signed with the New England Patriots and was on the practice squad during the franchise’s Super Bowl LIII championship season in 2018. In 2019, he played 11 games with three starts for the Miami Dolphins. He then spent two seasons with the New York Giants, appearing in four games in each year and making two starts in 2020. In 2022, he spent part of the year with the Baltimore Ravens in training camp and on the Las Vegas Raiders practice squad. Harris then moved to spring football, earning All-XFL honors in 2023 with the Houston Roughnecks after leading the league with 9.5 sacks while recording 30 tackles and 12.0 tackles for loss. He finished his professional career in 2024 with the DC Defenders of the UFL before announcing his retirement that June. Harris played collegiately at Miami from 2014 to 2017 under Diaz and helped the Hurricanes improve their win total and reach a bowl game in every season. As a senior in 2017, Miami went 10-3 and advanced to the Orange Bowl, while Harris earned All-ACC Third Team honors after posting 37 tackles, 10.5 tackles for loss, and a team-high 8.5 sacks. He finished his college career with 126 tackles, 26 tackles for loss, 15 sacks, three passes defended, three fumble recoveries, and one forced fumble. A native of Winter Park, Florida, Harris graduated from Miami in 2018 with a degree in public relations. He married his wife, Abriana, in 2021.
