New Jackson County coach Benji Harrison will look to carry the offensive success he had at Flowery Branch to the Panthers. Flowery Branch quarterback and recent North Carolina commitment Kanler Coker (above) led the Falcons to a 10-2 record last season and had the second highest scoring average in the state with 44.8 ppg. Sara Guevara/Regional staff
Jackson County was looking for a “renaissance man” when it came to selecting its new head football coach.
According to athletic director Jason Holcombe, they found him.
“We had some great candidates, but he came out on top and we feel he can take our program to the next level,” said Holcombe about Benji Harrison, the former offensive coordinator at Flowery Branch High School.
Harrison becomes the 11th head coach in the 31-year history of the program and replaces Billy Kirk, who resigned as head coach in late November after five seasons with the Panthers.
If there is one thing Harrison knows, it’s winning. He has spent time with three successful programs — Elbert County, Franklin County and Flowery Branch — and has a resume that features impressive offensive numbers at each stop through his career.
As an assistant offensive coach and quarterbacks coach at Flowery Branch (2008-10) and as offensive coordinator for the Falcons this past season, Harrison’s teams have made four straight state playoff appearances and have regularly finished ranked near the top of the state in most offensive categories.
Last season, the Falcons compiled an 11-2 record and reached the state quarterfinals. That team had the second highest scoring offense in the state with 44.8 points per game.
Harrison was responsible for helping to mold quarterback Kanler Coker from a signal caller in a Wing-T option offense, after transferring from North Hall High, to Harrison’s spread passing attack. Coker thrived under the system, throwing for 2,834 yards and 31 touchdowns, while also rushing for 837 yards and 15 scores.
Coker recently switched a previous commitment to East Carolina to play for the University of North Carolina and new head coach Larry Fedora.
Harrison has an impressive resume when it comes to quarterbacks he's coached and developed, including Connor Shaw, the current starting quarterback at South Carolina. Special photo/For The Paper
Other quarterbacks Harrison has coached and mentored include Austin Brown (2010), now at the University of Alabama-Birmingham, and Connor Shaw (2008-09), currently the starting quarterback at the University of South Carolina.
Harrison was a quarterback himself, playing for Stephens County High before becoming a four-year letterman at Presbyterian College (1995-2000) where he played under head coaches Daryl Dickey, now the head man at West Georgia, and Tommy Spangler, current defensive coordinator at Louisiana Tech.
He then began his teaching and coaching career at Elbert County, where he served as quarterbacks coach during the 2000 and 2001 state playoff seasons for the Blue Devils.
Before coming to Flowery Branch in 2008, Harrison spent six seasons at Franklin County (2002-07) as the offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach and helped to transform the struggling program into a playoff team in 2006. The quarterbacks he coached at Franklin currently hold the school records in total rushing and passing yards, touchdown passes in a season and touchdown passes in a game.
The situation Harrison will inherit at Jackson County will be similar to when he arrived at Franklin, however this time he will be the head coach.
Jackson County is 12-37 in the last five years under Kirk and just 86-234-4 in the program’s lack-luster history.
The Panthers are just 14-76 after making a head coaching change and 2-58 for the last six coaching changes since 1989. Only Rodney Davis had a winning or above .500 record with Jackson County in his first year. Davis’ team went 6-4 in 1981, the second year of the program’s existence. The Panthers went 2-8 and 0-10 the next two seasons under Davis.
Harrison believes that the program has brighter days to come, but said that it starts with getting the players, parents and community on board.
Harrison will have some talent to work with next season with a young Jackson County team. Rising senior tailbacks Dustin Scott and Daivon Ledford return, as well as quarterback Kyle Daniel and rising junior wide receivers Xavier Harper (above) and Ben Brissey. Doug Chellew/The Paper
“I know that this school and this community is hungry for a winner and excitement, and to do that it starts with getting everybody to buy into what we’re trying to do here,” Harrison explained. “I think that there is so much potential here and the key is to begin creating relationships, first with the players and then with the parents. That will help gain support from the community,” he said.
Harrison met with the players Tuesday afternoon and will be meeting with current assistant coaches on staff throughout the week. When asked about potential candidates to fill out his staff, Harrison said it was too early to tell, noting that he wants to meet all members of the current staff and find out where they stand before moving forward.
When it comes to coaching philosophy, Harrison plans on bringing his up-tempo spread passing attack to the Panthers. The spread is nothing new to Jackson County, as the Panthers ran a similar scheme under Kirk and offensive coordinator Carl Cole, but Harrison said that his philosophy lies strongly upon a finesse passing attack that relies on the quarterback to make quick decisions with the ball and play in a fast-paced system.
“We want to spread the defense out by spreading the ball around and that starts both up front and from having a solid running game,” Harrison said. “We want to force the defense to cover the entire field and put pressure on them.”
While coming from a strong offensive background, Harrison has spent time coaching on the other side of the ball and said that he knows the importance of having a good defense.
“I have a good understanding of what makes a good defense and believe that it starts with being able to stop the run,” he said.
Perhaps the area that Harrison will be most beneficial is improving the Panthers quarterback play. Jackson County has alternated between three quarterbacks for the past two seasons and has had inconsistent play at times from all of their signal callers.
Harrison noted that every player is different and that is important to keep in mind when coaching quarterbacks. Harrison has coached a variety of different quarterbacks throughout his career, including Brown — who was more of a traditional drop-back passer — and Shaw and Coker, who were dual-threats.
“There is no secret formula to coaching quarterbacks,” he noted, “but you must be fundamentally sound and have an understanding of all positions on the field to be successful. This helps with reading defenses and making smart throws.”
Harrison said that he is looking forward to developing quarterbacks at JCCHS as well as other positions.
“When it comes to quarterback play, you must realize and utilize a player’s strengths while coaching up their weaknesses.”
The Panthers return two players that saw time behind center in 2011 — rising senior Kyle Daniel and rising sophomore Jacob Lewis.
Harrison said that he knows that talking about potential only goes so far and that it is what the team does on and off the field that will be remembered.
“I’ve been blessed to be around some good people and some good places and I’m excited to jump in and get started.”
