The DC Defenders have made it to a spring football championship game for the second time in three seasons. They did so despite losing their coach six days before the 2025 UFL season.
Reggie Barlow left the Defenders less than a week before the 2025 season to take the coaching job at Tennessee State, which opened late in the offseason hiring cycle after Eddie George was hired for the same job at Bowling Green.
DC had to pivot quickly with just days remaining until their season opener against the three-time reigning champion Birmingham Stallions. They ultimately decided to promote quarterbacks coach Shannon Harris into the interim coaching role.
That decision delighted Harris’ long-time collaborator, Defenders offensive coordinator Fred Kaiss.
‘That’s who I thought deserved it,’ Kaiss told USA TODAY about Harris’ promotion. ‘I think that’s what this league is all about.’
Why Shannon Harris was ‘the guy’ to take over UFL’s Defenders
Kaiss has been witness to Harris’ growth throughout their 19-year history together. The 66-year-old used to view himself as the mentor to his long-time No. 1 assistant.
The tables haven’t yet turned in full, but in recent years, they have shifted.
‘There’s aspects of the game where he’s passed me,’ Kaiss said.
Despite Harris’ progression, the two still work collaboratively. Kaiss insists they are ‘always on the same page’ and that if you asked the two each to draw up 100 plays without consulting the other, 90 would be the same. That’s one of the perks of their two decades working together – and their decision to live together during the 2025 UFL season.
Their bond was also key in navigating DC’s early-season turbulence. The Defenders didn’t just lose Barlow to Tennessee State. Defensive coordinator Gregg Williams stepped down to join Barlow’s staff while offensive line coach Cody Crill took a job at North Texas in the weeks leading up to the season.
The Harris-Kaiss partnership also allowed the Defenders continuity while quickly achieving stability. They came with built-in chemistry, while the other notable replacements on staff – Brian Braswell, who played for Kaiss during his college days, and Blake Williams, son of Gregg Williams – were able to quickly integrate themselves into DC’s operation.
‘When you got other coaches around you that you trust, that makes the job much easier,’ Harris said. ‘Now, it just turns into knowing how to manage it all.’
Harris successfully managed those goals and expectations. He helped build upon the winning culture Barlow created – something for which Harris is careful not to take too much credit – while also instilling the idea the Defenders would be ‘a player-led football team’ in 2025, as quarterback Jordan Ta’amu described.
Harris’ ability to do so helped allow him to smoothly transition into the Defenders coaching job.
‘We just flowed with it,’ Harris explained of his elevation. ‘Everyone rallied around myself. The team rallied around each other, and it was kinda status quo from that standpoint.’
Because, in part, of that cohesion, the Defenders are playing for a UFL championship Saturday against the Michigan Panthers.
Kaiss, 66, acknowledged he would love to win that game not just for himself, but also for Harris.
‘I think I’ve had more stress on me this year than I have in a lot of years, and it’s mainly because I want this for him,’ Kaiss said. ‘I want to see him succeed. He deserves this. He’s a really good football coach.’
Regardless of the result, Kaiss is coming away with the conviction he was spot-on about Harris’ chances of succeeding as DC’s coach.
‘I believe he was the guy. I believe he was ready,’ Kaiss said. ‘He’s proven it without question.’