Former NFL and CFL player and Virginia Tech standout Justin Harper enters his fourth season as the Towson wide receivers coach, also serving as the pass game coordinator.
The 2019 campaign saw Shane Leatherbury tie the Towson single season record with 12 receiving touchdowns plus tie a single game program record with five receiving touchdowns in a game, picking up All-CAA Second Team honors with 52 catches and 667 yards. Three different receivers earned at least 33 catches and 450 yards, with another pair having over 200 yards.
In 2018, his wide receivers helped Towson have the top passing offense in the CAA. Shane Leatherbury earned All-CAA First Team honors after making 67 catches, third-most in Towson single season history. Leatherbury and Jabari Allen each were in the top-10 in the CAA in receiving yards per game and receptions per game.
Harper was at Virginia State as a wide receivers coach in 2015, being the interim head coach for part of the 2016 calendar year. He helped the Trojans to its third consecutive winning season in 2015.
Previous to VSU, he was an assistant coach at Lenior-Rhyne as a wide receivers coach for two seasons, assisting the team to win the South Atlantic Conference title and reach the NCAA Division II Championship Game in 2013. In 2014, he helped Lenior-Rhyne to its first-ever undefeated regular season and third consecutive South Atlantic title.
Harper was with the Baltimore Ravens from 2008-10 in the National Football League and the Saskatchewan Roughriders from 2012-13 and the British Columbia Lions in 2013 in the Canadian Football League.
While playing at Virginia Tech, he helped the Hokies win Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) championships in 2004 and 2007, making 83 catches for 1,338 yards and nine touchdowns in his career.
Harper graduated from Virginia Tech in 2008 with a Bachelor of Science in apparel housing & resource management.
