Brandon Harmon will begin his third season as Associate Head Coach and 13th season overall on the baseball staff in 2025. He was elevated from volunteer assistant in September 2015, and elevated from pitching coach to associate head coach in July 2022.
Harmon has helped guide the Zags to five West Coast Conference titles in his seven years coaching GU's pitchers  – 2013, 2016, 2017, 2021 and 2022 –  his pitching staff played a large role in the Zags’ first-ever at-large bid to an NCAA Regional in 2016 as well as their highest-ever seeding in a Regional in 2021 and 2022.
In 2022, Harmon's staff shattered the previous record for strikeouts with 596 and finished Top-50 in ERA (4.32, 35th), hits allowed per nine innings (8.35, 28th) and top-10 in shutouts (6, 10th) and strikeouts per game (10.6, 9th) led by First Team All-American Gabriel Hughes, who finished ninth in the nation with 138 strikeouts. Hughes was one of four of Harmon's pitchers to be drafted in the 2022 MLB Draft, becoming the highest draft pick in GU history with his 10th overall selection by the Rockies. Following him were Trystan Vrieling (Round 3, Pick 100) to the Yankees, Will Kempner (Round 3, Pick 106) to the Giants and Brody Jesse (Round 10, Pick 303) to the Reds.
In 2021, Harmon-coached pitchers took home a bevy of honors, led by WCC Pitcher of the Year and Second Team All-American Alek Jacob and Freshman All-American Gabriel Hughes. In the 2021 season, Zag pitchers combined for a WCC-leading nine shutouts.Â
Also in 2016, Harmon’s pitching staff broke the program record with 501 strikeouts, and they eclipsed the old mark once again a year later. He tutored three of the pitchers among the top five on Gonzaga’s single season strikeouts list (No. 2 Eli Morgan, No. 4 Brandon Bailey and No. 5 Daniel Bies), along with one of the top closers in school history in Wyatt Mills.
Under Harmon’s tutelage, eight pitchers have been selected in the MLB Draft: Mills (3rd Rd.; 2017), Bailey (6th; 2016), Bies (7th, 2018), Morgan (8th; 2017), Hunter Wells (23rd; 2016), Casey Legumina (8th, 2019), Alek Jacob (16th, 2021), and Liam Paddack (18th, 2024). Four signed with major league organizations (Justin Vernia, Diamondbacks; Sam Hellinger, Rangers; Mac Lardner and Nick Trogrlic-Iverson, Cardinals) and Bailey, Mills and Morgan have all earned the call-up to the big leagues for their respective organizations.
Harmon spent his volunteer years working with the squad’s catchers and outfielders, where he helped catcher Joey Harris earn 2015 West Coast Conference Defensive Player of the Year. During the 2014 and 2015 seasons, Harmon was also involved with the pitching staff, assisting with in-game pitching decisions.
From 2013 to 2015, Harmon also coached the 19U-level Spokane Expos, leading the club to a record of 103-57. Twenty-three of his Expos players moved on to play collegiate baseball.
From 2011-2012 Harmon served as the pitching coach and recruiting coordinator at Whitworth University in Spokane, Wash. In 2012, the program won the Northwest Conference and Western Regional Championship earning a bid to the Division III World Series. The year previously, he saw the Pirates’ pitching staff break the Division III school ERA record with one athlete signing a professional contract. His staff re-broke that record in 2012.
Harmon is a former player and graduate of Gonzaga. He completed his undergraduate work in 2007 with a degree in sports management and followed that up with a master's degree from Gonzaga in 2009 in Sport and Athletic Administration. During his days as a pitcher for the Bulldogs (2005-08), he etched himself into the program’s record book. Harmon is one of two atop the all-time career appearances category with 88 and owns the most innings in a season, pitching 123.1 frames in 2007. He was named All-WCC Honorable Mention in 2006 and 2007 and finished his career with a 13-17 overall record with 10 saves.
Harmon and his wife Lindsey have three children; sons Charlie and Cooper and daughter Collins. They live in Spokane.
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