Timing Is Everything: Summer Creek OC Harmon ready to lead Nimitz football as new head coach

HOUSTON – Cornelius Harmon lives by a motto – “It’s all about God’s timing.”

The timing of events and moves in Harmon’s life is unique if you go back far enough for the Port Arthur, Texas native. Now, it is time for the Summer Creek offensive coordinator to take the next step of his career.

On Tuesday, Harmon was named the next head football coach at Nimitz High School, marking the first head coaching job of his career.

“It is a blessing and a long time coming,” Harmon said. “A lot of hard work and tears, grinding it out and now you’re seeing everything come full circle now. It’s the reason that you get into this profession to help mold and build kids. For me to be named the head coach at Nimitz High School, it’s just a blessing and I thank God for it.”

So, back to this whole timing thing.

As Harmon was preparing to enter his junior year at Thomas Jefferson High School, that became one of three schools that were merged to create Port Arthur Memorial. Along with Harmon, who played quarterback, making the move so was offensive coordinator Kenny Harrison.

“When he first got to high school in the ninth grade, he was just a very hardworking and determined young man,” Harrison said. “Was not the most athletic kid we had but he was the hardest working kid in our program in that time.”

After graduating in 2004, Harmon went on to play at Texas Southern University for four seasons. During this time, Harrison was still serving on the Port Arthur Memorial staff. When it came around for Harmon to graduate from TSU, he made a trip back home and came to the high school.

The timing of that visit was perfect. Harrison was in line to become the next head football coach at Port Arthur Memorial and told Harmon that if he got it there would be a job on his staff for him. Harrison got the job and hired Harmon as a junior varsity quarterback coach and in year two moved him up to the varsity staff.

Harmon moved up to Harrison’s varsity staff as a quarterbacks coach and found success. Over the next few years, Harrison saw the “pride” he took in coaching.

“He understood that athletics was the way that he got out of Port Arthur [Memorial],” Harrison said. “Football helped him get out of Port Arthur, so he took a lot of pride in coaching quarterbacks. Just being very mature at a very young age to be a 5A quarterback coach in his second year of coaching just shows how passionate he was about the position and how serious he took it.”

After nine seasons at Port Arthur Memorial, Harrison was hired as the new Summer Creek head football coach and took Harmon with him to be his offensive coordinator in 2018. Over the past four years, the Bulldogs have posted an overall record of 26-20 and two playoff appearances.

In his 13 years of working for Harrison, Harmon will take his “no stone left unturned” mindset with him to Nimitz.

“No matter how long it takes, we’re going to work to make sure that things are in place,” Harmon said about what he takes from Harrison. “Just building relationships with kids and the community to get the whole buy-in process of it. At the end of the day, it’s all about kids and loving kids and just loving the overall grind and work process. You get to see the results at the end of the day.”

For Harrison, Tuesday served as a special day in his heart.

It was not just a coach on his staff getting a new job, but a person that he has watched grow from a young man walking through the doors of Thomas Jefferson High School as a freshman to now being a head coach of his own program.

“I look at Cornelius as a very good friend but also as a son,” Harrison said. “He lost his mom at a very young age, and he had a great support staff with his sisters and myself. Just making sure that he was doing everything he needed to do in college. It’s like when something huge happens for your son and the excitement you get for him is how I feel today.

“I’m extremely excited and almost emotional. Overwhelmed and excited for him.”

Now, it is time to get to work for Harmon.

The newly minted head coach is taking over a Nimitz football program that has not had a winning season since 2012. The Cougars did make the playoffs last season but that was the first time since 2015.

Harmon is ready to dive into the community and get the Cougars back to where they were less than a decade ago – a consistent playoff program.

“Just the whole opportunity to come in and put your plan and vision in place,” Harmon said. “The whole community side of it. I know that’s a great community, great district with a lot of success in the past that wants to get back to the top of the food chain in the State of Texas … I’m always wanting to compete; I always want a challenge. When somebody says ‘no’ that’s when the light bulb goes off in my head to rise up to the challenge.

“Just the opportunity to put my spin on things and put a program in place and put Aldine Nimitz right back where I think they have the ability to be back to.”