The Citadel Athletics

The Citadel defensive coordinator Blake Harrell is entering his fifth season on staff with the Bulldogs. In addition to directing one of the top defenses in the SoCon, Harrell also coaches the Bulldogs' linebackers and nickels.

Harrell, who has been with the Bulldogs since the 2014 season, has helped groom some of the top players in the SoCon over the last five years during the most successful stint in program history. 2016 SoCon Defensive Player of the Year Kailik Williams, and middle linebacker and Reese's Senior Bowl invitee in 2017, middle linebacker Myles Pierce have been two of the key pieces of the Bulldogs' defense with Harrell as defensive coordinator.     

The Citadel boasted one of the top defenses in the SoCon during the 2017 season, leading the league in Scoring Defense, Total Defense, and Rushing Defense, among others until late in the season after facing then-No. 2 Clemson. The Bulldogs would hold four of their first eight opponents under 100 yards rushing and allow less than 18 points per game through eight games. Only one of The Citadel’s first eight opponents amassed more than 315 yards of total offense. The Bulldogs would finish No. 2 in the SoCon in rushing defense and No. 4 in total defense to close out 2017 after losing All-American safety Kailik Williams and All-SoCon defensive end Ja’Lon Williams to injury in the season’s final month.

Junior safety Aaron Spann III, sophomore Ja’Lon Williams, and senior linebacker Myles Pierce enjoyed breakout seasons on Harrell’s defense. Spann was among the national leaders in interceptions with five, while Williams was among league leaders in tackles for loss and Pierce led the Bulldogs in TFLs and tackles (91).

In 2016, the Bulldogs earned a program-record 10-game winning streak, a single-season school-record six road victories, only the seventh 8-0 conference record in 84 years of SoCon football, a second consecutive conference championship, a No. 6 national seed in the FCS Playoffs and the first home playoff game in 24 years.

He helped produced the coaches’ Southern Conference Defensive Player of the Year in Kailik Williams and first-team All-American Dee Delaney, who ranked first in the SoCon and 10th in FCS in interceptions. Williams recorded 103 tackles, tied for the third-highest single-season total in program history, while Delaney’s six interceptions tied for third on the Bulldogs’ single-season list and his 14 passes defended tied for the fifth-highest mark.

The Bulldogs ranked seventh in FCS in pass defense and eighth in the country in total defense, improving by more than 50 yards from the previous season to allow only 302.7 yards of total offense per game. The Bulldogs also ranked first in the Southern Conference with 30 touchdowns allowed in 12 games, an average of 2.5 per game, and were second in the SoCon with 28 sacks, tied for the third-highest single-season total in school history. Harrell also coached five defenders to All-Southern Conference honors, including four first-team selections.

Linebackers Tevin Floyd and Myles Pierce helped anchor the strong defense in 2016. Under Harrell’s direction, Floyd finished his career third on The Citadel’s all-time career tackles list with 295 and Pierce ranked second on the team with 11.0 tackles for loss in his first season as a starter.

In 2015, The Citadel earned a co-Southern Conference championship behind a then-school-record-tying six SoCon wins and finished 9-4 overall after advancing to the second round of the NCAA FCS Playoffs for only the second time in school history. The Bulldogs, who finished the season with a conference-best +117 scoring margin that included a +100 margin in SoCon play, earned the program’s first road playoff win with a 41-38 victory at Coastal Carolina in the first round of the playoffs.
 
The Bulldogs’ physical defense showed remarkable improvement from 2014, lowering its points-per-game allowed average nearly seven points and allowing 86 less yards per game while forcing 19 more turnovers.

Kicker Eric Goins broke the single-season school record with 16 made field goals and moved into second on The Citadel’s all-time career list with 25 made field goals. Goins earned second-team All-Southern Conference recognition after scoring 90 points, the second-highest single-season kicking total in school history, with 42 made PATs that ranked fourth on the program’s single-season list. Goins also moved into fourth on the program’s career kicking points list and sixth all-time in career PATs made.

Linebacker James Riley led the Bulldogs with 103 tackles, tied for the third-highest single-season total in program history and the first 100-tackle season for a Bulldog since 2011, and his average of 7.9 tackles per game ranked ninth in the SoCon. Floyd was a second-team All-Southern Conference selection after he tied for first in FCS with two interception return touchdowns and topped the SoCon with 123 interception return yards, the third-highest total in FCS.

Under Harrell’s direction in 2014, Cam Jackson ranked fourth in the SoCon with an average of 21.1 yards per kickoff return, Will Vanvick was fifth in the league with a punting average of 39.5 and Goins tied for second in the conference with nine field goals. Floyd was seventh in the conference with 6.7 tackles per game.

Harrell came to Charleston after an extended tenure at Lenoir-Rhyne. 

In 2013 Harrell helped coach a Lenoir-Rhyne team that reached the National Championship Game. The Bears set a school record with 13 wins and finished the year ranked No. 2 in the nation in Division II. Defensively, Lenoir-Rhyne led the South Atlantic Conference in total defense, rushing defense, quarterback sacks and scoring defense. The Bears’ linebacker corps featured Rodney Singleton who was named the league's Defensive Freshman of the Year and Tanner Botts who was named an All-American, first-team All-SAC and second team All-Super Region II.

Harrell’s special teams also excelled in 2013 as kicker Zach Neumann set a new program record for scoring in a season en route to earning All-American honors. Neumann also was named first-team All-SAC and first-team All-Super Region II. Michael Green also set new program records for punt return yards in a career and single season to go along with his Defensive Player of the Year honors.

In 2012, Harrell coached both of his inside linebackers, Botts and Demetrius Green, to first-team All-SAC honors while Neumann was named to the second team.

Harrell coached Green to SAC Defensive Player of the Year honors in 2011, and the Bears led the league in total defense for the second straight season. On special teams, the Bears finished fourth in the country with an average of 17.4 yards per punt return and with a kickoff return average of 25.1 yards. Kicker Colin Corpe finished his career as the Bears’ all-time leading scorer.

Prior to Lenoir-Rhyne, Harrell coached the 2005 and 2006 seasons at Franklin (N.C.) High School where he headed up the linebackers and added defensive coordinator duties in 2006. Harrell was part of a Franklin team that was 22-4 over those two seasons, and his 2006 defense held opponents to just nine points per game.

Harrell also coached at Fuquay-Varina (N.C.) High School in 2004 and McDowell (N.C.) High School in 2003 following his first stint at Franklin High School from 2001-02.

Harrell graduated from Western Carolina in 2002 with a bachelor's degree in physical education and was a student assistant for the Catamount football team in 2000. He earned his MBA from Lenoir-Rhyne in 2012.

Harrell and his wife, Jessie, have three daughters, Kennedy,  Kingston, and Aspen.