Player retention is the most important factor in building a roster in today’s college football landscape. At a place like the University of Florida, there is already talent spread across the roster that may not be available in the transfer portal—or interested in coming to the school. Additionally, it is often more cost-effective to retain a current player than to acquire someone of the same caliber through the portal.
Florida’s staff aced this assignment, retaining key players at nearly every position. The cornerback room in particular was one the Gators needed to keep intact, given the youth and talent within the unit.
J’Vari Flowers, Ben Hanks III, Cormani McClain, and Dijon Johnson all ranked inside the top 110 of their respective high school classes, according to the 247Sports Composite.
Also retaining Onis Konanbanny, Florida returned all five of its scholarship cornerbacks. Newly hired cornerbacks coach Brandon Harris made retaining the current Gators a priority from day one.
“When I got hired, the first thing I did was ‘okay cool, I got to get to all these guys’. It wasn’t about getting on the 2027 class, it wasn’t about seeing who we can make relationships with in high school recruiting,” Harris said. “It was about ‘okay, I need to recruit these guys like they’re in the portal now.’ I need to convince them that staying here at Florida and playing for us and playing for me as a position coach, it’s the right thing for them.’”
They were such a priority for the 36-year-old coach that he spent the first week of his new job FaceTiming current players and their families during his Disney Cruise.
“I take the job, get Christmas break, we go on a Disney cruise, and my entire Disney cruise was just facetime calls with our players,” Harris said. “Facetime with them and their parents, talking to them about staying here at Florida.”
Harris already had a strong connection with J’Vari Flowers and Ben Hanks III through their Miami ties, having watched them grow up since their youth league days. Both played in Harris’ seven-on-seven circuit in South Florida, and Hanks III’s older brother, Devon Johnson, is Harris’ “absolute best friend in the world.” Furthermore, Harris’ mother is Hanks III’s godmother.
“It didn’t take much convincing because they all love this place,” Harris said. “They just wanted to know, okay what was gonna be the plan for me next. They all knew me, they all had relationships with me but I told them get to know me as a coach, because I’ve never coached none of you guys.”
Harris let his resume and references speak for themselves.
“Go do your research, take a couple of days, this is my resume, these are the places I’ve been, these are the guys that I’ve coached, go call them. Call the ones that not only had successful careers but the ones that probably didn’t make it after college, after college their careers were done. Ask them how was our relationship now, was I still there for them, was I still there to support them,” Harris added.
“After making a few phone calls, they talked to some of the right people, they were like ‘alright, we good’.”
The effort unfolded during a family vacation, with Harris paying $200 for unlimited Wi-Fi so he could remain in constant contact. Naturally, that meant time away from his wife.
“My wife is a football wife. She’s all in, and she understands that when you take a new job, she’s like, ‘We better keep these dudes here; we wanna make sure we can keep this job.’ She understands that. She actually helped me out,” Harris said.
As soon as Harris got off the boat, he headed to Gainesville to show his players just how important they were to him and the Gators’ staff.
“The minute I got off the cruise, I went and saw every last one of the current players here,” Harris said. “And I saw them multiple times to make sure they knew how important they were to our position room and how important they were to the staff.”
“It was a big deal. We felt like that room had a lot of potential, and that room had a lot of room to still grow and be really, really good. So we wanted to spend our time recruiting them as opposed to spending time recruiting a bunch of guys in the portal.”