Darren Harmon enters his third season as an assistant coach with the UNG softball team.
In his role as an assistant coach, Harmon works closely with North Georgia’s outfielders and hitters while also serving as a recruiting coordinator and the first base coach.
Harmon joined the Nighthawks in 2024 after having spent the previous five seasons as an assistant with head coach Brooke O'Hair at Mississippi College.
During his second year on the coaching staff, the Nighthawks finished the 2026 season 52-11 to accompany their second-straight appearance in the NCAA Division II Championship in Chattanooga, Tenn. Along the way, UNG secured its twelfth-straight Peach Belt Conference (PBC) Regular Season Title, a PBC Tournament Championship and a Southeast Regional Championship.
Harmon helped shape a decorated UNG team in 2026, including two All-Americans, eight All-Region selections, six All-Conference selections, the PBC Player of the Year Sydnee Reaves and Pitcher of the Year Chloe Poss.
Harmon played a crucial role in guiding Reaves to one of the most decorated seasons in Division II softball in 2026. The Ashland, Ala. native was named the Schutt Sports/National Fastpitch Coaches Association (NFCA) Player of the Year, Division 2 Conference Commissioners Association (D2CCA) Region Player of the Year, an NFCA and D2CCA All-American, an NFCA and D2CCA All-Region First Team selection, a PBC All-Conference First-Team selection and the PBC Player of the Year.
During the 2026 campaign, Harmon helped shape one of the best hitting teams in the country. As a team, UNG led all of Division II softball with 131 doubles, while ranking top 10 nationally in hits (586), home runs (67), RBI (417), slugging percentage (.537) and total runs (458). The Nighthawks also drew 238 walks, setting the new single-season record while also ranking sixth in Division II.
Harmon played a key role on North Georgia’s staff that was named the 2026 NFCA Regional Coaching Staff of the Year.
In his first season in the dugout, Harmon helped lead the team to one of the best offensive seasons in program history. The Nighthawks went 48-16 and won the Peach Belt Conference Regular-season Championship and NCAA Southeast Regional Championship while breaking records along the way. The team's 83 home runs and .579 slugging percentage were far and away the best power marks for a single season in program history. In the program's 29-year varsity history, the 2025 Nighthawks also sat second for single-season totals in RBIs (448), runs scored (489) and triples (28) while ranking third in on-base percentage (.421), at bats (1,789), hits (612) and doubles (118). UNG also showed record-setting discipline at the plate, recording the fourth-most walks (205) in a season and the second-fewest strikeouts (173) in the NCAA era in program history.
UNG’s accolades were highlighted by four PBC All-Conference selections including the PBC Freshman of the Year in Carleigh Knowles, a trio of All-Region honorees and three All-Americans including Knowles who was an NFCA First Team selection and the NFCA Freshman of the Year and Catcher of the Year.
During Harmon’s tenure at Mississippi College (MC), the Lady Choctaws won over 130 games. Over the course of the 2023 and 2024 seasons, O'Hair and Harmon led MC to a 91-21 record which included appearances in the 2023 NCAA South Regional Tournament and the 2024 South Super Regional.
Prior to joining O'Hair's staff at MC, Harmon spent nine years as a youth softball and baseball coach for various organizations throughout Mississippi. He spent three seasons as the head softball coach at Canton Academy High School in Canton, Miss.
Updated: August 2026
