From Taylor County Athletics on Facebook:

Taylor County Athletics is proud to announce that Coach William Harris has been named the 14th Head Football Coach of Taylor County High School.

Coach Harris graduated from Mercer County High School in 2007 where he played under Coach Marty Jaggers and was part of the 2006 Class 2A State Championship Team.  He went on to play for Coach Perry Thomas at Campbellsville University as a three-year starter, eventually playing on the 2011 NCCAA National Championship squad.

Harris returned to his alma mater, under Head Coach Chris Pardue coaching the Defensive Line.  He continued to serve under Coach David Buchanan in multiple capacities over 7 seasons including as D-Line Coach, Special Teams Coordinator, Head F/JV Coach, and Defensive Coordinator.  He coached his 10th and final season at Mercer under Craig Yeast as DC and helped produce the 2nd Best Defense in Titan History, behind only the 2006 State Championship Team.  For his efforts that season, he was named as the Frank Broyles Assistant Coach of the Year.  Harris came to Taylor County as Defensive Coordinator at the start of the 2023 season and has continued in that role through the most recent year.  He has helped build the Cardinals Defense into statewide recognized power, earning a number 2 ranking in 4A Defense in 2025 as well as a number 11 state defensive rank.

Harris says his goals at Taylor County reflect a long-term vision for the program.  “We want to build a legacy.  And for our current players, that means they have to build their legacy every single day starting this offseason in order for us to build our program’s legacy for years to come.”  Harris intends on setting the highest standards and believes strongly that hard work is the foundation on which all potential success will be built.  “My entire life has been built on hard work, and every kid, parent, fan, and any other stakeholders can count on a climate and culture of hard work every single day.  We are in pursuit of perfection.  We want to create an expectation of not only winning games, but of winning State Championships and you can guarantee that no other team is going to outwork us.”  Harris says he is pleased with the strength of our weightlifting and conditioning programs and wants to continue throughout the offseason and upcoming preseason to work on getting bigger, faster, and stronger.  On the field, he wants to take his defensive mentality of “11 hats to the football every play” to both sides of the ball.  He also expects his teams to play more physically and outwork his opponents in all three facets of the game.  Most of all, he says that we will “play to the strengths of our athletes, because at the end of the day we have to take our guys and put them in the best position to perform at their highest level so they can achieve success.”

Harris was hired after a lengthy and strenuous process that Athletic Director Greg Oliver describes as “one of the toughest hiring decisions any of our team involved has been a part of making.  We had a great pool of applicants and Coach Harris’s hard work and determination proved itself throughout his interviews.  We all have a vision and an expectation for what this program can become and we are looking forward to seeing what Coach Harris does with this opportunity.  Most importantly, we made the decision that we thought was best for our kids.”

Harris plans to live up to expectations and wants to see the long term vision he has put forward become a reality.  “I love Taylor County and despite not being from here originally I take immense pride in what this school stands for and what it has meant to me since I came here a few years ago.”, Harris says. “This is a job I have had in my sights and I’ve had to work hard to attain it and pass up other opportunities to make this dream reality, but I believe this opportunity is worth it because of what this school and program offers.  I hope to build on past success, while also forging my own legacy with my players here.  And ultimately my goal is to put a product on the field that our students, alumni, fans, and the entire Cardinal Family can be proud of each and every day.”

William is married to Casey Harris and has 2 children, Harper and Lincoln, and in addition to his coaching duties serves as an ECE Teacher in the Taylor County School District.  Congratulations Coach William Harris and Good Luck!!!

#TCPride #GoCards

Congrats Coach Harris!

Booooooom!!!! 

I think this is a great hire !

1 hour ago, BEChargers said:

I think this is a great hire !

You are 100% correct. Congratulations to William and the Taylor County Cardinals!

Great news for the Harris Family and Taylor County Football. 

I like his attitude.

16 hours ago, Breds82 said:

I like his attitude.

The guy has a crazy motor/tremendous work ethic. Extremely intelligent. Genuinely loves kids and is over the top in building relationships... and understands very well that love and accountability go hand in hand. He can have very difficult conversations with people because he cares about them and does what is right. He can look them in the eye and not flinch. 

He was Trosper's freshman coach at Mercer. They were very successful and Trosper would kill for him. My last year at Mercer, he was our DC and did an excellent job. Elite teacher and very creative problem solver. 

We moved him from D-Line Varsity Coach to Freshman/JV head coach in the fall of 2018. Our freshman head coach, Graham Heasley, was an exceptional QB coach and had the personality/intelligence to navigate Trosper and I. William wanted to be a head coach and we both knew that would be great prep, as well as be great for Titan football. Graham and William both excelled in those roles. Our program made significant growth & improvement during that time. Our roster hit 70 players in 2019, 2020 & 2021. William is a big reason for those numbers...exceptional for a 3A program. 

He was my shadow from 2015 until January of 2022. He wanted to learn everything he possibly could learn about running a football program. Even in the offseason, he would come to my office almost everyday and ask questions, why we do what we do & what I would think about his ideas. It was really good for me. It forced me to think through why we operated the way we did, how we could do it better, etc. 

William has been doing head coach type of stuff since the fall of 2018 and he is good at it.

And he is old school loyal to me, and vice versa. I appreciate that about him more than anything else. 

Very proud of him and happy for him. 

Edited January 7Jan 7 by ChiefSmoke

Got to meet with William today, a couple of his coaches as well, and see the Cardinals work out.  These guys are excited about 2026. 

Was also first time I have been in the new Taylor County HS. Very impressive. 

Junior Higdon had a vision for Taylor County Schools and it is becoming a reality. That place is about to boom!

Very cool to see someone's dream come true like it has for William. He loves being the head coach at Taylor County HS and working with those kids. 

Also.... was good to visit with Wes Oliver not have to stop him with the dang rock under his arm. Good grief, he could sure play some football!