James Harrell

James Clarence Harrell, Jr. (born July 19, 1957) is an American former professional football player who was a linebacker for nine seasons in the National Football League (NFL) and the United States Football League (USFL) during the 1970s and 1980s. He played college football for the Florida Gators, and thereafter, he played for the Detroit Lions and Kansas City Chiefs of the NFL and the Tampa Bay Bandits of the USFL.

Early life

Harrell was born in Tampa, Florida, in 1957. He attended Chamberlain High School in Tampa, and he played high school football for the Chamberlain Chiefs.

College career

Harrell turned down athletic scholarships from smaller colleges; he wanted to play for a major college football program. He was a walk-on who wanted to play linebacker, but Dickey discouraged it and said that the Gators needed more depth at strong safety, so Harrell set out to learn a position he had never played. He also played for the USFL's Tampa Bay Bandits from 1984 to 1985. During his two USFL seasons with the Bandits, he compiled three interceptions and 5.5 quarterback sacks.

During his eight NFL seasons, Harrell appeared in eighty-nine games and started thirty-two of them. and in the next four years the Panthers won two Florida Class 4A state championships. In February 2009, Harrell became the head coach of the Freedom Patriots of Freedom High School in Tampa, Harrell was previously an assistant coach at Jesuit for eleven seasons from 1994 to 2004.