Brandon Harmon is the new defensive coordinator for the Warrior. The Marion County Warrior football team practiced, Thursday July 30, 2016, in preparation for the coming season. 
Stephen has covered sports in the tri-state area for the Times Free Press for more than 25 years and was named Sports Editor in February of 2015 after 10 years as assistant sports editor.JASPER, Tenn. – The message, a prayer he had written on a napkin after seeing his daughter born prematurely and fighting for her life inside Erlanger East’s NICU, is now tattooed as a permanent reminder on the inside of Brandon Harmon’s left forearm.
In cursive letters it reads: “All I want is for you to have the best life possible. To live, love and laugh every day. I love you more than life itself.”
It might as well also serve as Harmon’s mission statement for every other relationship in his life, including the players he works with as Marion County’s defensive coordinator and strength coach.
“I truly believe this profession is not a job, it’s a calling,” Harmon said. “The game should never be bigger than the relationships.
“I usually only sleep about six hours, and then I’m at the weight room to start my day. That gives me 18 hours to try and make somebody else’s life better. Whether it’s my wife or my little girl or one of our players, that’s my goal every single day.”
Shortly after his playing career as a defensive lineman at Carson-Newman ended, Harmon knew he wanted to become a coach. Not only would that allow him to remain involved in the game he loves, but it also would provide the means to mentor kids the same way his coaches had been a positive influence on his life.
But before he could truly understand how to relate to the variety of personalities he would come in contact with, the small-town North Carolina kid, who had then spent his college days in a similar environment, began his career path in the oddest, and scariest, of places – a maximum-security federal penitentiary in Alexandria, La. Harmon worked there for a year as a prison guard.
“I had planned to be a graduate assistant at Carson-Newman, but once funds were cut and that position was no longer available, I just needed something financially so my parents wouldn’t have to bear my financial burden,” Harmon said. “Life sometimes is unexplainable. Because of my faith, I believe I was placed in that environment for a reason.
“I was fearless as a football player, but there I was a 23-year-old who was placed in a situation where I was surrounded by 90 to 100 inmates, and at any point during my eight-hour shift there was nothing I could do to stop from getting severely hurt. I had never been in such a vulnerable state. Hearing that eerie clanking sound as the door slid shut and locked, that was very intimidating.”
More than the hand-to-hand combat training or the classes he and all guards were required to take on handling firearms, Harmon said the best survival tool, and the most lasting, was learning to become a better communicator. Particularly with inmates with whom, on the surface, he seemingly had nothing in common.
“The things I saw there were completely different than anything I had known growing up,” Harmon said. “You knew there was evil out in the world, but to actually see the cruelty, it wears on you mentally. That experience reaffirmed my desire to be a coach, because the vast majority of those inmates were just like me or anybody else, but at some point in their life they made a bad decision that led to more bad decisions, and eventually the consequences led them to prison.
“I knew some of those things could have been avoided if they had had a positive male role model to steer them clear when they were younger. Working with kids, you’ll always have some who might not respect authority. I try to build a bond with those guys and find out why they feel the way they do and hopefully help them turn things around while there’s time.”
After a year spent overseeing inmates, Harmon spent the next year teaching and coaching at a nearby middle school before getting a phone call from former Carson-Newman assistant Doug Greene, who was then coaching at Rhea County.
Harmon spent the next four years working as a defensive assistant and strength coach at Rhea, helping turn that program around before accepting the offer to join the Marion staff. In only his first year with the Warriors, Harmon has led a defensive unit that has limited five of eight opponents to six or fewer points for a team that is one win from securing the Region 3-2A title.
“You could tell right away that he cared more about us as people than just as football players,” said senior linebacker Hunter McClain. “That makes you want to go out and play even harder for him, because we want to show him we’re as committed as he is.”
During the same afternoon practice, Harmon can be seen getting fiery with a defensive player for not hustling to the ball, then shortly putting his arm around a kid when he recognizes bad body language could mean the player’s mind is preoccupied with teenage problems.
“I’ve got a tough exterior,” Harmon admitted. “But I choke up every Friday before the game, because when I look out at our players, I think what have I done to deserve to get to influence this many kids. Whatever it is, I’m just grateful.”
Contact Stephen Hargis at shargis@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6293. Follow him on Twitter @StephenHargis