It was an unforgettable journey, but one that got off to a shaky start. A little bit of advice and got a long way. In the case of the DC Defenders, it took them all the way to the 2025 UFL Championship.
A few days before DC’s season opener against the defending UFL Champion Birmingham Stallions, Head Coach Reggie Barlow left the team to take up the head coaching reins at Tennessee State. The Defenders had to find an interim head coach and fast. Enter Shannon Harris.
An 18-year veteran coach at the collegiate level who had joined the DC coaching staff in 2023, Harris would be making his head coaching debut in the 2025 season opener. Instead of rocking the boat by introducing a new philosophy and a new playbook, Harris decided to stay the course by adopting the advice of his friend and mentor Barlow.
“Reggie used to say to the team, ‘We must maintain the terror or the empire is doomed,’” recalled Harris. “It was pretty much our theme coming into the season and we just maintained it. I told the team to not lose focus on what we've started and what we've created and keep that same fire and burning desire.”
In his head coaching debut, Harris shocked the spring football world by directing DC to a surprising 18-11 win over the three-time champion Stallions in front of a home crowd at Audi Field.
“The system was already set and the biggest part of stepping in as interim coach was making sure we maintained the things that we've been doing up until that point," said Harris. “Let's not stray away from that, let's build off of it.”
The Defenders went on a strong run to begin the 2025 season with four wins through their first five games. During that stretch, Harris emphasized the team’s grit and resilience that played a major role in the victories.
“The resiliency of the entire team was what stuck out to me most," said Harris. “We lost our offensive line coach on Day One of camp and then we lost Coach Barlow. Next, we lost our defensive coordinator after Week Two. The grit and resiliency of the entire team – the players, the coaches, and the support staff – kept us locked in.”
The motto rang true in Week Seven when the Defenders spread the wealth and crafted some trickery to cement their 32-24 win over the San Antonio Brahmas. Leading 25-24 with less than two minutes left in the game, quarterback Jordan Ta’amu lofted a floater to offensive tackle, Gunner Britton, who made a one-handed grab in the endzone. Britton celebrated the score with a choreographed dance that was weeks in the making, according to Harris.
“They couldn't wait to run it because they had been practicing that dance for weeks and were waiting for that play to get called to see the big man celebration,” said Harris.
As the Defenders maintained the terror, the good times rolled the following week when they hosted the Arlington Renegades at Audi Field with a chance to clinch a playoff berth. Holding a slim 33-30 lead with six seconds left in the game, Renegades quarterback Luis Perez threw a pass towards DC’s sideline, but defensive back Deandre Baker snagged the ball for an interception to end the game and send the team to the playoffs.
“I was yelling to the players to guard the sideline as he was going underneath the center,” said Harris about the nail-biting moment. “It's Luis Perez, man. He'll try anything.”
With the team playoff bound, the Defenders had to square off against the St. Louis Battlehawks for the XFL Conference Championship in St. Louis. While it seemed like a disadvantage playing away from the hometown crowd at Audi Field, Harris turned the narrative on its head with two words: “Audi West.”
“We've had a lot of success out there in St.Louis so anytime you have success on the road, you kind of get comfortable,” said Harris. “Throughout the course of the week on our itineraries, we had ‘Audi West’ and they bought into it. The team started to feel comfortable. They started believing in all the things that we were saying so that's kind of how it came to be.”
The result was that DC entered The Dome at America’s Center with a chip on their shoulders and finished with a 36-18 win to advance to the 2025 UFL Championship Game at the same stadium six days later. One of the strongest performers during the XFL Conference Championship was running back Deon Jackson, who finished with a career-high 110 rushing yards on 21 carries and added two touchdowns.
“Throughout the course of the year, you saw big run after big run every week so having him here this year was huge for us and we were very grateful to get him” said Harris.
Prior to the UFL Championship, Harris was recognized with the UFL Coach of the Year Award for a season, which at the start of the season seemed impossible.
“It’s such a blessing to hear how appreciative the players, the coaches, support staff and our fans were of me being there,” said Harris. “I can't thank everyone enough for all of that.”
With one final game of the season, Harris coached opposite Michigan Panthers Head Coach Mike Nolan, who coached the San Francisco 49ers, a team that Harris was a fan of. After toe met leather, the Panthers gained an early 13-0 advantage but Harris kept a cool head and gave a simple message to the team: don’t press.
“Let's not press in this moment,” recalled Harris telling the players after the Panthers took the quick lead. “I told them to just do their assignments, do their job right and let everything else take care of itself.”
DC’s offense soon went into overdrive as Ta’amu had his best game of the season, finishing 21-for-29 with 390 yards, five touchdowns (four pass, one rush) to lead DC to a 58-34 victory. His standout performance led him to being named the UFL Championship Game MVP.
“Over the past three years, our relationship has grown tremendously,” said Harris about his star quarterback.“ I was telling Jordan all the time, ‘It's going to be a huge year for us’ and it turned out to be just that.”
During a season that began with question marks, Harris maintained the terror and ended it with an exclamation point…and a UFL Championship.
“We did it, we did it right, and we did it our way,” said the proud coach. “We busted our butts and worked so hard to get to that moment and see the fruits of our labor come into existence and to see so many people happy and excited. That's the part for me where I was most proud of. It was the excitement that I saw on everyone else's face.”
Hail to the Defenders…and Hail to Coach Harris.