At the conclusion of his 16th and final season as head coach of the LeTourneau baseball team, Robin Harriss hung up his spikes and moved into a full-time administrative role as Deputy Director of Athletics for Internal Operations in May 2022.
The 2025-26 academic year is Harriss' 20th overall at LeTourneau.
A two-time member of the American Southwest Conference’s Coaching Staff of the Year, Harriss received the awards in 2014 and 2011.
In his time at LeTourneau, Harriss guided the YellowJackets to unprecedented heights with five appearances in the ASC Championship Tournament in a six-year span, which included three straight appearances from 2014-16. Five YellowJackets, including Justin Jenkins (2015), Cody Whitley (2014), Curt Copeland (2013) and Nate Tomaszewski and Logan Smith (2010) received all-region honors under Harriss. Additionally, 55 of his players picked up all-conference honors, including at least one first team selection in six of the last eight seasons.
The YellowJackets also found success in the classroom in Harriss' tenure, having earned 89 Academic All-ASC honors, including a program-high 15 in 2015.
In the 2020-shortened season, the YellowJackets went 9-7 overall and 6-3 in the ASC. The YellowJackets' season was cut short after a three-game sweep of Mary Hardin-Baylor. The Jackets won two of their three ASC series, and three of four overall. Kolton Eberlan was named ASC East co-Pitcher of the Week in March.
In 2019, the YellowJackets went 24-21 overall, while facing one of the toughest schedules in the ASC. LeTourneau put together an eight-game winning streak that spanned from March 2-18, which included three wins out four games against ASC regular season champion Howard Payne. Entering the ASC Tournament as the No. 8 overall seed, the YellowJackets made a run in the Blue Bracket portion of the tournament by notching wins over Howard Payne, UT Dallas and Louisiana College on consecutive days to win the Blue Bracket and advance to the Gold Bracket Championship series for the first time in school history. The YellowJackets dropped the best-of-3 series the following weekend to Concordia Texas, who advanced to the NCAA Super Regional Round before falling to eventual NCAA champion Chapman.
Eight YellowJackets earned All-ASC honors, including Bryce Brueggemeyer, Andrew Harlan, Brandon Ramirez, Noah Mahoney, Ryder Lognion, Jacob Jones, Raul Martinez and Josh Raies. Ramirez eventually signed with the White Sands Pupfish of the Pecos League.
After a down year in 2017, LeTourneau bounced back in 2018 by qualifying for the ASC Tournament, while posting a 23-19 overall record. The YellowJackets ended the year with a 10-6 mark at home, which included an 8-5 win over eventual national champion Texas-Tyler. LeTourneau qualified for the ASC Tournament as the No. 6 seed, and advanced to the semifinals before bowing out to eventual tournament champion UT Dallas. Five YellowJackets earned All-ASC accolades, led by first team selection Gonzalo Sosa, along with honorable mention honorees Will Bradshaw, Bubba Valdez, Andrew Harlan and Luke Ludwig. Bradshaw was also named the ASC Baseball Sportsmanship Athlete of the Year.
In 2016, Harriss and the YellowJackets returned to the conference tournament for a third consecutive season. Six YellowJackets earned All-ASC honors, five of which were first-time selections. Among the six were three members of the second team, including catcher Taylor Empkey, second baseman Kyle Jacobs and pitcher Boone Privette. Empkey earned numerous honors, including being named to the ASC All-Tournament Team as well as receiving the prestigious R.G. LeTourneau Legacy Award and the ASC Baseball Sportsmanship Athlete of the Year. He became the third student-athlete in LeTourneau University to earn College Sports Information Directors of America Academic All-America honors.
In 2015, LeTourneau returned to the ASC Tournament for a second straight year. The YellowJackets were led by pitcher Justin Jenkins, who finished in the top 15 in the nation in three categories: complete games (tied for sixth, 6), earned run average (11th, 1.33) and strikeouts (15th, 91). Jenkins was named second team all-conference, first team all-region by the American Baseball Coaches Association and third team all-region by D3Baseball.com. Jenkins and the LETU pitching staff finished second in the nation in ERA with a 2.63.
In 2014, LeTourneau had a banner year, earning a berth in the NCAA Regionals, an ASC Tournament title and the first national ranking in program history. The YellowJackets, who were picked to finish ninth in league play, went on to a runner-up finish during the regular season, bringing Harriss and assistants Aaron Gentry and Chad Kinney ASC Coaching Staff of the Year accolades. In addition to the team success, the staff led several standouts to individual honors. Garrett Methvin was named First Team All-ASC and ASC Baseball Scholar-Athlete of the Year, while Cody Whitley was selected to the D3Baseball.com All-West Region Third Team, and was a Second Team All-ASC selection. Seven other players also picked up All-ASC accolades. Five players garnered all-tournament team honors and Curt Copeland was picked as the tournament MVP as the squad made its first-ever ASC Tournament appearance, en route to the conference title. Statistically, LeTourneau batted .289, and outscored opponents, 285-188, while holding foes to a .259 batting average with a 3.32 ERA. The season also featured YellowJacket sweeps of four league opponents, East Texas Baptist, Hardin-Simmons University, Louisiana College and Texas-Tyler.
Prior to taking the helm of the LeTourneau program in 2007, Harriss spent two seasons as an assistant coach in the NCAA Division I ranks at Oklahoma State and Dartmouth. At OSU in 2005, he worked with the catchers, helping one player to honorable mention All-Big 12 honors. At Dartmouth in 2006, Harriss aided the Big Green bats, helping the team raise its batting average from .267 to .286, en route to a second place finish in the Ivy League and three wins over NCAA Regional-qualifying teams, including nationally-ranked Pepperdine.
Harriss started his collegiate coaching career at Bacone College in Bacone, Okla., where he was an assistant for two years and the head coach for one season. As the team’s skipper in 2004, he led the Warriors to a 46-15 record, an NAIA Regional Tournament berth and a No. 17 national ranking. In the summers, Harriss also gained valuable experience as the head coach of the Granbury Generals in the Texas Collegiate League and as an assistant coach with the Wareham Gatemen of the Cape Cod League.
Several of his former players went on to play professionally, including Nate Tomaszewski, who signed a free-agent contract with the Pittsburgh Pirates after completing his playing career at LeTourneau.
A 1995 graduate of Texas Tech, Harriss was an All-Southwest Conference and Southwest Conference All-Tournament team honoree for the Red Raiders. The San Angelo, Texas, native went on to play the next six seasons in the minor leagues within the Cleveland Indians organization. He was selected to the 1995 South Atlantic League All-Star Game, and finished the season with 40 hits, including six doubles and two home runs in 51 games.
After completing his playing career, Harriss earned his master’s degree from Northeastern State University in Tahlequah, Okla.
Harriss also serves as an instructor in the LeTourneau kinesiology department.
Harriss and his wife, Misti, reside in Whitehouse with their son, Winn, and daughter, Adalee.
