Get to know the staff: Charlie Harbison
In a series of stories over the next few weeks, PowerMizzou is going in-depth with Missouri's assistant coaches to give Tiger fans a better idea of who the coaches are and what led them to this point. You can find our most recent Q&A, with defensive coordinator Ryan Walters, here.
After Eliah Drinkwitz accepted the Missouri head coaching job in December, one of his first new hires was veteran defensive assistant Charlie Harbison. Harbison has more than 20 years of college coaching experience to go along with stints coaching In the Arena Football League and two seasons in the NFL. He most recently coached under Drinkwitz at Appalachian State in 2019. Harbison will coach the secondary for Missouri.
PowerMizzou: When did you first set your sights on coaching and what drew you to the profession?
Charlie Harbison: “Well, actually, I sort of stumbled into coaching, to be honest with you. I was playing in the USFL back in the early 80’s, and then I went back to school to finish up my credits, and Ellis Johnson became my mentor — he was the head coach at Gardner-Webb when I started. So I started with him and then it went from there. And then later on, after my playing days in the USFL, I helped out a little bit at high schools and little teams like the Minor League Football System and the World League of American Football, stuff like that, and then got into coaching a little bit of Arena Ball. Actually got into coaching D-I at UTEP, and then after UTEP, I got back coaching with Ellis Johnson at Clemson, with him and with Tommy West, and then my career just went from there.”
What was playing in the USLF like?
“It was awesome. A lot of people nowadays don’t even probably remember the USFL. Steve Young played in the USFL, a lot of big names. Reggie White, Kevin Mack, guys like that. And then also, it was great, because I went to Buffalo and I got cut, and then that was the next year when the USFL started, I had my opportunity to play some pro football, and I was with the Boston Breakers, and then the team was sold to an owner in New Orleans, and they became the New Orleans Breakers, and that was when Marcus Dupree joined our team. And then the team, from there, the next year, went to Portland, became the Portland Breakers. And then I was released and my playing days ended and I got back into coaching.”
You mentioned you coached in the Arena League, what were some of the challenges and the things you took away from that experience?
“Well arena ball, everything’s quick. A lot of times it’s like in a coliseum, basketball arena-type venue. You’ve got the walls, you had to know how to defend the field, everything’s real quick. People don’t realize that Kurt Warner played in arena ball. He played here with St. Louis. And arena ball, you had to be quick. A different kind of player had to play in arena ball, because when we coached, a lot of guys played both ways, except for a specialist or if you were a quarterback. On offense, if you were a receiver, you had to be a linebacker or so on the defense. So you had to know how to read formations, you had to know how to look at the splits, and there was only so much you could do, so you had to play a lot of man. You had to be quick, you had to be able to tackle in space, and go from there. And play the ball off the net. The ball always stayed live when it came off the net.”
Were you coaching like a specific position or side of the ball at that point or did you just have to coach everything?
“I coached receivers and defensive backs during that time, and also special teams.”
A lot of people who make it to coaching at the Power Five level will say they had to get a break along the way. When would you say was kind of your break?
“Actually, I was coaching arena ball, with Galen Hall being the head coach. I was with the Rage and we went out to Arizona to play, and he had a close friend that, one of his coaches, Pete Kuharchek and Charlie Bailey, were looking for a defensive backs coach at UTEP at the time, and so Galen Hall gave my name to Pete Kuharchek, who was the DC at UTEP at the time, and little did I know he came to the game and he watched me coach, and Galen gave me his blessings, and that’s how it all started. So I give a lot of credit to my mentor, Ellis Johnson, who I really pattern my coaching style, and I pattern a lot after him, and I’ve coached with him five different times over my career.”
I know you’ve coached at a lot of different schools, at the SEC and elsewhere. Is there anything you feel like you’ve learned from working with so many different people?
“I try to be a sponge, actually. The Lord has blessed me to be around different coaches, and I tried to take something from every stop I made and the guys I worked for. Tommy West at Clemson — Charlie Bailey first, then Tommy West and Ellis Johnson at Clemson, and then from there, I followed Ellis Johnson to Alabama with Mike DeBose. And then I went from Alabama to working with Nick Saban, where I learned a tremendous amount about defensive back play and game management from him. I learned a lot from him as well as other coaches out there. And then I learned a lot from Sylvester Croom at Mississippi State. He first gave me the opportunity to be a DC. And being at Mississippi State, again, I got to be with my mentor, Ellis Johnson. And then later, I learned a lot from Dabo Swinney. Dabo is a great friend, we coached together at Alabama, so he would work with receivers and I was with defensive backs ,so we went against each other every day at practice. So he blessed me to work with him, so he saw something in me to help him his first four years (at Clemson), and then again I went with my mentor to Auburn to work with Gus Malzahn, and we took a team that was 3-9, and that team went to the national championship. So I was blessed to be with Ellis Johnson and Guz Malzahn during that time. And it’s a journey. Sometimes we wonder why we go through these changes, and I look at it as a positive. The Lord was putting more in me to be able to learn. I look at myself as a servant, and if can serve the players, serve the head coach, serve the staff — and with all that being said, I’ve been blessed as well, getting the chance to be around great athletes and being able to pour into them, not so much just football, but also as a man and making their life better and helping push them to get their degree. So it’s been a blessing. And one blessing that’s been important to me was the fact that I was able to coach for one of my players that I coached in arena ball, Steve Wilkes, who was the coach of the Arizona Cardinals. He later hired me to help coach his back end, the secondary. So it came full-circle, and you can only thank God for something like that, because I made an impact in his life that he saw fit to bring me to coach at the highest level of football, the National Football League. So that was a blessing, and then where I’m at right now with coach Drink, man this is a blessing. I tell you, he’s going to do great stuff here, and people just don’t really know what they’ve done when they hired a man like coach Drink. I believe in his vision, I believe in what he’s doing and I worked for him at App State and I’m glad to be a part of his staff here, to help these young men and help the university and coach again in the SEC. And this time it’s in the East. I’ve always spent my time in the West.”
As you said, you’ve worked under a lot of coaches, what was it about coach Drinkwitz that prompted you to want to follow him from App State to Missouri?
“Number one, he’s authentic. He’s true to form. He means what he says and he says what he means. And the vision he has — I saw him work firsthand, had a front row seat to see him work at App State, how he took a team and made it his own and put his own spin on everything, and how he responded and how he interacted with players and also with coaches to get the most out of them and get them to buy into his vision. I respect him a great deal, and I also love him, and that’s one of the reasons why I came to help him, because I believe in him.”
I know one thing you all are doing in Missouri is having three coaches with a hand in the secondary between you, coach (Ryan) Walters and coach (David) Gibbs. Is that unique for you, and how have you liked it so far?
“Actually, it’s I think the first time, for me, going to work on a staff with three secondary guys, but it’s a blessing, because the fact that, in bad times you have to be able to stop the run, but also the ball is in the air a lot. And coach Walters has a great mind, and I’m blessed to work for him, and also David Gibbs has a great mind, spent a number of years in the NFL. So we don’t have an ego. What we do is do whatever coach Walters wants, we work hard to get what he wants. When a man calls you, he has to get what he wants, get what he sees. And he listens.”
Rewinding a little in your career, I read somewhere that you were involved in making the ‘kick-six’ play happen for Auburn the year you all won the national title in 2013. I guess you kind of suggested that Chris Davis be the one back to stand under the goal post. What do you remember from that play and your role in it?
“Well, my role was, Ellis Johnson was up in the box along with coach (Erik) Link. Link was a part of that staff as well, a lot of people don’t realize that. And we were on the sideline, and actually, Ellis Johnson and I were talking, and I said, hey, we should just put Chris back there because he’s a return person for us already and he’s a starting corner, so we didn’t have to make no substitution, so boom, that happened, and next thing you know, we beat Alabama and that took us to the SEC championship game.”
You’ve had a chance to work at a lot of places and be an SEC defensive coordinator. Do you have any more personal goals in mind in the field that you’re still working toward?
“My goal is to make sure I do the best job for coach Drink, coach Walters and the players. Like I said earlier, I’m a servant, and my goal is to be the best we can be here at Mizzou, and that’s mainly my goal. I don’t chase different things. If something presents itself, that’s one thing, but I can’t be in two places. I’m going to grow where I’m planted, and I’m going to be where my feet are. I’m blessed to be here and I’m going to do the best job I can for coach Drink along with this staff and coach Walters and these young men, because it’s a player-driven league, and the best thing I can do is, again, grow where I’m planted, be where my feet are, and every day try to do the best that I can and try to give God the glory.”