Bio

Kiyoshi Harris was announced as the 24th head football coach in Garden City Community College history on Tuesday, Nov. 28, 2023. 

Harris comes to Garden City following a two-year stint as the recruiting coordinator at Boise State. Prior to that, he was the Head Coach at Independence where, in 2019, he was named the Jayhawk Conference Coach of the Year after leading the Pirates to an 8-2 record.  

“Our search was keyed off several important ideals, none bigger than accountability and integrity,” Director of Athletics, Mike Pilosof said. “We wanted someone who was student-centered, and a person who could completely change the culture of our program. We wanted someone who preached success off the field being as important as wins and losses on it.”

Harris, 48, began his coaching career at the prep level in 1998. After six seasons, he moved into the JUCO ranks as the offensive line/tight ends coach at Chaffey College in Rancho Cucamonga, Calif., from 2004-06. 

Harris has helped more than 100 student-athletes earn scholarships to the four-year level. In fact, his 2019 Independence team had 45 players sign to play major college football including Tank Dell, who after earning all-conference honors in back-to-back seasons at the University of Houston, was drafted by the Houston Texans in the third round of the 2023 NFL Draft. 

Harris spent two seasons as the offensive line coach/run game coordinator at College of the Desert (Palm Desert, Calif.) before returning to Chaffey as the recruiting coordinator/offensive line coach in 2009. He held that role for two seasons and was promoted to assistant head coach/offensive coordinator in 2010. 

After a stop at the University of Redlands in 2012 as the tight ends/fullbacks coach, Harris returned to Chaffey for a third stint. As the run game coordinator/recruiting coordinator/offensive line coach, he helped Chaffey win the Mountain Conference in 2013 and capture the 2015 Western State Bowl.  

He spent the 2017-18 seasons at Independence at the offensive line coach/recruiting coordinator before becoming the head coach in 2019. 

Harris graduated from Rocky Mountain College in 1998 with a degree in physical education/health and added a master’s in physical education from Azusa Pacific in 2001.  

He and his wife Julie have four children: Mariah, 29, Jordan, 27, Christian, 25, and Kaleb, 24. They have one granddaughter, Carter, 13 months.